Adventures in Screenprinting - Episode 5: One Step Closer

After my setback on Thursday, I was a little discouraged, but, I have come too far to quit now. So, I went to my local Utrecht store and picked up some different emulsion. Their screenprinting section is small, but, they carry the basics. So, I picked up a big bottle of Speedball photo emulsion and Diazo. I've used this product in the past with a small amount of success, so, I felt comfortable with using it again.

I wanted to go for overkill on the darkness of the room that I covered the screens in, so I chose a room that had no windows - as opposed to the way I did it last time, in my basement with very little light - this room had NO LIGHT...I mean, I lit a candle to work by. I should probably order a yellow safety light to work by, but, i'm impatient and couldn't wait...so, I'll do that next time. the room I used was at my husband's funeral home next door (the flower room, where florists can deliver flowers without traipsing all through the building).

So after spilling about half of my photo emulsion because I couldn't see what I was doing, I finally got a really nice even coat of emulsion on the screens. I let them dry with the print side down, propped up by flower stands on the corners. I made sure that I used a thinner coat of emulsion this time - I think that was part of my problem.

The screens were dry very quickly...so, of course I wanted to get them burnt asap - I didn't know how long my light-tight room was going to stay that way - someone my open the door and turn the lights on inadvertently and expose my screens. I brought them home, covered in a black table cloth and exposed the first one. I let it cook for about 13 minutes. I then brought it outside to wash it off with the power washer...I held my breath. after several passes with the power washer - SUCCESS!!!

A wonderful stencil - even better than i thought it would come out - I really got a lot of detail to show up. I was so happy!!! There was only one little hiccup...I had a very minor blow-out around the "A" in PA - the emulsion is still there, it just bubbled off the screen...so, I'm going to have to figure out a way to secure that before I print. But, other than that, no problems. All three screens came out beautifully.

Here's some photos of my beautiful screens.

Adventures in Screenprinting - Episode 4: DISASTER!

well, it was bound to happen. I was bound to get tripped up somewhere. I covered my screens with the photo emulsion on Wednesday. I set them up in a box laying horizontally, as per the instructions. I made sure the box was light-tight, no light was getting in this sucker. I let them dry overnight and then took one out at a time to try and burn the stencil onto the screen with my exposure unit. Well, I must have done something wrong because not one of the screens worked. Not one. I carefully followed all instructions (and since this isn't really the first time I've done this, I kinda knew what to expect) but, no, when I went to wash them out, the stenciled part would not wash out - it was as if the entire screen got exposed (although I could see the stencil in the emulsion) So, not sure what happened - maybe they did get exposed prematurely, maybe I am using the wrong photo emulsion, maybe I put it on too thick, maybe my transparencies are not opaque enough (I did use a big piece of glass to make sure they were touching the screen, so contact isn't an issue).

So, I'm going to try another type of photo emulsion. I'm going with Speedball - I've used it in the past, and it's worked out fine for me. I'm using speedball ink, so what the heck, right?

I was afraid of the reclaimation of the screens. Thought that wouldn't work out either- but, it seems to be OK. I just removed the emulsion, and the screens are back to pristine white. So, that makes me happy - atleast that worked out, and I can try again this weekend.

So, any suggestions???

Adventures in Screenprinting - Episode 3: Everything Arrived!

Well, it's about a week since I ordered all my supplies and I'm happy to report that everything arrived - although not everything arrived safely.

the paper and the ink arrived on the same day -





but, the paper had some damage to the corner...


it's OK though, I am going to cut that portion off - I can get three posters out of one sheet with about 4" at the bottom and on one side that is excess...I still wasn't happy about the damage. other than that, the paper is beautiful. Lovely French Speckletone White - I would have gone for another color, but, the white will really work best with what I'm doing.

The other supplies didn't arrive until Tuesday - so, I had to wait, and waste a nice long weekend. Oh well.


All this stuff arrived in one huge box, with a TON of packing peanuts. Seriously, I thought I was missing stuff because I couldn't find things lost in the packing peanuts. I hate those things.

So, now I have everything...I also went to Kinko's yesterday to get transparencies made of the artwork. They couldn't print a big transparency, so I had to settle for tiling on 8.5"x11" sheets. But, of course, they didn't follow my directions and forgot the overlap. So, I had to call them and tell them to do it again, the right way...which meant another trip out to pick them up. I'm just glad I didn't have to argue with them about charging me.

It took forever to piece the transparencies together

(don't want to show you too much of the image just yet)

I hope it works...If anyone knows where I can print big transparencies, please let me know.

Next episode...how do you use a scoopcoater?

Adventures in Screenprinting - Episode 2: Shopping

After putting together my table, I realized I need a lot more supplies than the ones I already gathered. I need screens, emulsion, ink, paper, squeegies, emulsion remover, an exposure unit, etc. So, where does a fledgling screenprinter go to get all this stuff...and more importantly, how much will all this cost? I'm sure I made some mistakes, but, this is what I ordered, why I ordered what I did, where I got it and how much it cost me.

Supplies - I went to silkscreeningsupplies.com - this is a great site for EVERYTHING screenprinting. Although, as with most screenprinting stuff, it's more or less centered around printing t-shirts rather than printing on flatstock. There's a ton of educational videos and lots of descriptions on this site. It will tell you what emulsion you should use with what inks. Here's what I bought...


SCREENS - Aluminum 23x31" 156 White Mesh $32.56 each (x3)$97.68 - I went with Aluminum rather than wood, even though they are more expensive. The reason I did that is because in the long run, these will last a lot longer, and if I take care of them, I will be able to use them for a long time to come. Wood tends to warp - especially since you will be getting them very wet when you wash the screens out, etc. so, the Aluminum, in my mind, was the way to go. As far as size goes - I am planning on my first print being 12x22" - they had a screen that was 20"x24" that I initially going to get, but, a 20"x24" screen is only actually 18"x22" of screen area and you want to make sure that there is plenty of breathing room around the screen. The next bigger size from 20x24" was 23"x31" - a big jump - but, Now, I know that I will have ample room to print. I went with a 156 threadcount to be sure to get the detail that I want.

CCI SWR Water Resist Dual Cure Emulsion Quart $27.77 I plan on using non-toxic water based opaque ink to print, so I had to find an emulsion that would stand up to the water based ink.


CC ER80 Emulsion/Stencil Remover Concentrate (Makes 1 Gallon!), $14.00 So, once I'm done with the screens, I will want to reclaim them. I had to get this emulsion remover to do the job.


Emulsion Scoop Coater 19 Inches, $19.00 One I reclaim the screen and want to use it again, I will use this scoop coater to help me place an even film of emulsion on the screen.


Screen Exposure Stand, $49.95 This is kind of a budget exposure stand, and I'm taking a gamble that it can be modified to fit the screens I purchased. It seems to be made out of PVC pipe, and should be able to be modified easily.


Screen Tape 2" Wide Low Adhesive $3.80 Not sure if this was needed, but, I think that This tape will not leave a residue on the screen.

Squeegee By The Inch 14" $16.80 This is a crucial instrument in screen printing...but, we will see if I got the right one.

Water Based Screen Opener and Cleaner For Water Based Inks $4.95 This was recommended to me by the operator I spoke to. He said that if I am printing with waterbased inks, they tend to dry quickly, and perhaps clog the screen. This will clean it out.

A few tips - I got free shipping because my order was over $100 and I found a coupon online (RetailMeNot.com) for 10% off. Grand total $210.55

PAPER
3076 by French Paper Company/French Paper
Speckletone Starch White
Brand: Speckletone
Paper Type: Cover
Size: 26 x 40
Weight: 80
Packaging: 100

Subtotal: $98.50
Shipping:$25.95

Purchase Total: $124.45

I purchased 100 sheets of 26" x 40" paper because in the end, I can get 300 sheets of paper out of it and even though it's more than I need for this initial print it was cheaper per unit (once I cut it into 3's) than the smaller sheets. More money upfront (and and extra $10 for shipping) but, I think worth it in the long run


Ink
While there are inks on the silkscreeningsupplies.com, I haven't used any of them in the past. I'm not really familar with them, so I opted to purchase my ink through Dick Blick.com. I purchased one quart of White, one of Black and 2 8oz. of medium yellow - Speedball Opaque screenprinting poster ink - for a total of 43.66 - with shipping and tax added the grand total is $56.83.

So, all in - my supplies, what the table cost me, etc...Grand total $471.48

The art is done, I'm just waiting for the supplies to arrive.

Be sure you sign up for my newsletter - once these babies roll off the press, I'm going to put them on sale through my newsletter first. Since the editions will be really low, you'll want to be the first to know that they are available. Plus, I'm going to give a special discount to newsletter subscribers only.

See you next episode.

Adventures in Screenprinting Episode 1 : My Vacuum Table Sucks

What is a vacuum table?, you may ask - it's a table with a shop vac attached to create a light suction to hold a piece of paper secure so it's easier to screen print. That's right - I am one step closer to screen printing my own posters!

I am so excited! It's been a long held dream of mine to produce and print my own posters. However, that dream has been put on the back burner as of late (the last couple of years actually) while I have been building my design business. One of my goals for this year was to actually get started gathering supplies I needed, giving myself the education I needed and build a proper place to print. So, I spent the majority of a rainy Saturday gluing and screwing together pieces of plywood to create a wonderful vacuum table. A quick credit - the table plans are from Andy Mac a printing guru over at Gigposters.com - you have to be a premium member to access his plans, so, i'm not going to give away his secrets here - just show my progress in photos.



All my materials...ready to go. It took me a while to get to this stage. my biggest hang-up was getting all the wood cut since I don't have a table saw. Special thanks to my Step-brother Tyson for giving me a hand with that.



wow! drilling all those holes! that was the most tedious part...I thought my arm would fall off. By the way, for those of you who have these plans. I didn't laminate the Formica onto the plywood, I actually cut up an old countertop that was in my garage.



The underbelly



The hingeclamp base


i had no idea what a blind mounting screw was before this.



Boring the holes for the carriage bolts was a pain. literally - I had to boar a 1 5/8" hole though a counter top and a piece of plywood. My drill hated me so much that it spun the wood around and smacked it into my shin. ouch.





I wanted to show how the hinge clamp asssembly fit together - it actually floats so you can move it back and forth when you are registering the screen. I didn't get that from the directions.


The finished table complete with the little shop vac I bought to go with it. ($23 at walmart)The copper pipe arching over the top will be a counterbalance for the screen (so the screen doesn't smack down on your print when you lift it up - or more to the point, so you don't have to prop it up with you head)

All in - creating the table cost me aprox $79 - it would have been more except my folks covered the cost of the plywood ($30) and I was able to cut up an old countertop saving me the cost of the Formica - (could be as much as $50 for a sheet)

Next entry - ordering supplies.
Since this is the first time I will be printing my own posters with a semi-pro screen printing press, I would love it if you followed along. I hope to post my enter process from building the table to pulling the first print.

Let me know you're here by posting a comment. talk soon!