Laserable Photo Emulison

[Alexander Stein]

Hello all,

Wondering if anyone has heard of a photo emulsion for screen printing in which the graphic could be lasered away?

Thanks,
A

[Larry Bratton]

I'm not sure how that could work? Correct me if I am wrong..the emulsion is applied to the screen, then the positive placed on screen that has been printed on transparency is exposed to light and the resulting soft areas left where the light did not harden the emulsion are subsequently washed out with water. The voids left in the emulsion after washing are where the ink is squeeged through to the material being printed on. I would think it could be something else, but not emulsion. I know that some screen printers user plotter cut sign vinyl that they adhere to the screen in lieu of emulsion. I'm not a screen printer but I considered getting into it and subsequently did a good bit of study on it. The vinyl thing is pretty popular, especially for short runs of printing.

[Garrick David]

Well, you can't use standard vinyl because the inks will cause it to "melt" rather quickly.

What I used to do was cut thin sandblast stencil with the vinyl cutter. Then I would put the sandblast stencil on the screen for short runs. Of course if you let it sit overnight, it too would "melt".

For short runs (especially a person's name) it was an easy way to get a job done.

[Martin Boekers]

Hello all,

Wondering if anyone has heard of a photo emulsion for screen printing in which the graphic could be lasered away?

Thanks,
A

What are you looking to do? I'm not sure if the screen would hold up to a laser.

Marty

[Rodne Gold]

You could use stainless mesh screens and use a polyester vinyl or something else like the conventional screen emulsion and laser it away (after its been hardened)
Are you wanting to print or etch? You obviously want to make a resist of some sort.

[Larry Bratton]

Garrick,
I won't debate that point, as its off topic, but they are people using regular sign vinyl for this process. They may be using water based inks instead of plastisol but it is being done.

[Alexander Stein]

In theory I am wanting to screen print some shirts. I was thinking that I could use a metal screen like stainless, laser away the emulsion, and then have a usable screen. My initial thoughts are that the emulsion would cover the top and bottom of the screen so when I went to laser it away there would still be emulsion on the bottom side of the screen where the screen was blocking the laser. This may result in flipping the screen, trying to align perfectly, then lasering the reverse image to clean the bottom side of the screen.

I figure this method is not really the best idea, I was just curious if anyone had heard of it being done....

thanks for the response's!

[Larry Bratton]

In theory I am wanting to screen print some shirts. I was thinking that I could use a metal screen like stainless, laser away the emulsion, and then have a usable screen. My initial thoughts are that the emulsion would cover the top and bottom of the screen so when I went to laser it away there would still be emulsion on the bottom side of the screen where the screen was blocking the laser. This may result in flipping the screen, trying to align perfectly, then lasering the reverse image to clean the bottom side of the screen.

I figure this method is not really the best idea, I was just curious if anyone had heard of it being done....

thanks for the response's!
Again, I'm not a screen printer, but I do know that to screen print on shirts and garments (or anything else for that matter) specific mesh sizes are used for each task. The screen also has to have a certain amount of flexibility. You probably wouldn't get a good result unless your screen was made for printing. I cannot post a link, but there is a huge forum online that has posts and information on practically any subject relative to screen printing, t-shirt printing, vinyl cutting etc etc. Do a search on t-shirt forums.

[Rodne Gold]

Kiss cut rubylith or vinyl with the laser if you HAVE to use a laser to do this (a cheap 2nd hand plotter might just be a better bet) and apply it to a silk screen , easiest way.

[Dee Gallo]

How many shirts do you want to print with this screen? You can pull about 10-15 good prints from a paper mask, depending on the quality of the paper and the delicacy of the design.

1. Cut the design on the laser and place it on top of the shirt.
2. Position the screen on top and mark off the edges of the mask with a pen.
3. Put a single layer of masking tape on the bottom of the screen to cover the extra areas up to your mask. The bigger your mask the better for printing.
4. Put the shirt down, position the mask over it and then the screen. Check for gaps.
5. Pull the first print and the paper will stick to the underside of the screen.

Cheap and easy for a few shirts. For a run of 100, you'll have to go with something more traditional. You can also use a direct method like hand drawn. Just print out the design, place it under the screen, trace it with a pen, then flip the screen and paint it from the bottom with anything not dissolved by your ink. Not as horrible as it sounds.:)

cheers, dee

[Larry Bratton]

Dee, you never cease to amaze me. All of us guys will go around the world to get somewhere a woman can get to by walking across the street!