Adventures in Screenprinting

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Fri May 13, 2011 4:16 am

Nothing to report yet, but I just got a Yudu and will be doing some hobbyist screen printing including band merch and posters for MakeWay...

This is just a placeholder for me to report in when things go horribly horribly wrong.

I just unboxed and setup the machine, screen printing fun starts this saturday.

gaybear · Post by **gaybear** » Fri May 13, 2011 4:20 am

looking forward to it!

serfx · Post by **serfx** » Fri May 13, 2011 6:13 am

i borrowed one from some friends...
it has sat in my apartment for 2 weeks now totally unused...

Yarko · Post by **Yarko** » Fri May 13, 2011 1:24 pm

I sell those... at Michaels.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Fri May 13, 2011 2:45 pm

do you get a discount on the screens...

I could use some more 110's and a few 220's.

holyCATS1415 · Post by **holyCATS1415** » Fri May 13, 2011 3:26 pm

screen printing is so much fun when it works. that said, its the most irritating thing in the world when it doesn't. i have spent hours setting up screens only to find out that there was a little
bit of emulsion remover left on the screen during the final rinse. then having to start all over.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Fri May 13, 2011 3:36 pm

holyCATS1415 wrote:screen printing is so much fun when it works. that said, its the most irritating thing in the world when it doesn't. i have spent hours setting up screens only to find out that there was a little
bit of emulsion remover left on the screen during the final rinse. then having to start all over.

try doing 4-colour photographic separations on a large scale. mind melting.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Fri May 13, 2011 3:37 pm

I'll be sticking to simple 1 or two color prints, thank you.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Fri May 13, 2011 3:41 pm

nowt wrong with a bit of ambition, son! keen to see what you come up with. how much did the machine cost?

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Fri May 13, 2011 3:54 pm

200 with a bunch of extras and the "hack the yudu" kit so I can emulsify my own screens.

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Fri May 13, 2011 8:57 pm

endsemulsifyscreens wrote:

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Fri May 13, 2011 9:04 pm

hahahahaha... took me like 2 solid minutes of staring to get that...

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Sat May 14, 2011 2:28 am

Day 2.

Applying emulsion

Result: total failure.

I have two still screens with no emulsion, an orange bathtub and blue steps. This is not going to go well.

Will try again tomorrow, or I'll set the screens on fire. Tune in to find out which.

aen · Post by **aen** » Sat May 14, 2011 2:45 am

IM PULLING FOR YOU!

I have a feeling this is partly the kit's fault. Kits are usually pretty shit.

Personal Shit Kit experience.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Sat May 14, 2011 3:42 am

Actually the kit part of it is great, it's the "do it yourself part" that I'm fucking up. If I wanted to spend the money I could get the premade emulsion stick sheets, but then my price per shirt skyrockets so I'm doing manual emulsion loading and it's... messy.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Sat May 14, 2011 4:53 pm

Nicole and I made about 10 t-shirt platens out of foamboard last night.

Just re-coated a screeen with emulsion, went far better and less messy this time. We'll see if it's usable when it dries.

If all goes well, test prints start tonight.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Sat May 14, 2011 7:32 pm

screen #1, complete.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Sat May 14, 2011 8:30 pm

Just did a run of practice shirts to get my pulling technique down. I'm having a hard time getting the ink to pull evenly and the bottoms of teh shirt end up with very little ink, requiring a second pass and losing clarity on the image. I'm also having to use WAY too much ink and alot is getting stuck on the squeegie. I think it's the piece of shit squeegies fault more than anything and have already ordered a professional one.

I'm out of practice shirts but this was the best of the bunch. Once I get the new squeegie I'll do a few more practice runs, but after that I think I'm ready for prime time.

rps-10 · Post by **rps-10** » Sat May 14, 2011 9:33 pm

Hmm on wife beater vest too

Hope this goes well for you I never fancied it myself, I gave upon iron ons let alone screen printing!

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Sat May 14, 2011 10:22 pm

fuck, i think that looks punk as shit.