There are a few basic principles involved in the process of drying screens after they have been coated. You can make a “drying closet” out of very simple materials. Lack of sophisticated materials is not a problem when drying screens, but violation of certain principles IS a problem. I have been in beginner’s shops and…
Pinholes Pinholes piss off customers when you send shirts out without you having found them and removed them from your prints. They waste time and money and brain cells with shooting them out with dry cleaning fluid. They make you ruin most garment-dyed shirts (not Comfort Wash or most SanMar) because they can’t be shot…
Usually Tom and I relay a story of our own mistakes, which folks seem to enjoy hearing about. Today it is a mix of my woes and someone else’s. On a Facebook group this morning a fellow traveler in the world of screenprinting was having trouble with screens that would not wash out. What can…
This question comes up often with screenprinters: why can we not hold detail? The answer is an idea similar to the art department concept of problems with source artwork where we say “garbage in, garbage out.” We are now are transferring that idea to print production. Basically, if you have a crappy stencil you have no chance…
Question: Our printing doesn’t seem to be getting better, what are the best ways to go about improving our printing abilities? Answer: My two cents? Stop being penny wise and pound foolish. Saving twenty dollars and buying a gallon of inexpensive but inferior emulsion is a terrible idea. Inferior emulsions don’t have the resolution…
The Ink Kitchen visited the KIWO in Wiesloch, Germany. Wiesloch is a nice little town just outside of Heidelberg, probably the most beautiful city in Germany. I’m going to just say a few words about the company and then let the photos do most of the talking. I have worked with KIWO for over 20 years and the…
Stop being penny wise and pound foolish. Saving twenty dollars and buying a gallon of inexpensive but inferior emulsion is a terrible idea. Inferior emulsions don’t have the resolution of most of the more expensive emulsions because they don’t have the solids content. Without the resolution you will you lose detail in your printing. …
A few refections as the busy trade show season is mostly over. I think the biggest trends of the past ten years have been digital printing and environmental concerns. Developments in the environmental realm have slowed but still do continue and will not stop, we have to find increasingly safe and sustainable ways to do…
An emulsion bucket that is a bit like a teapot? Hey, I sometimes like the little innovations better than the big ones. You can pour the emulsion better–more smoothly, with less mess, and you can also do it with only one hand. Having the bucket close to the scoop coater and pouring it slowly and…
When we switched to custom-made rigid frames last year one of our goals was to go tapeless. The cost of taping screens, in terms of both labor and material, is huge. We were spending over $5000 annually on tape alone and who knows how much on labor. A very large shop may spend many times…
