Silk Screen inks

[Martin Boekers]

Just a thought...
Has anyone here ever tried screen printing inks using a laser cut mask?

I know some are air dry, some heat cure and others UV.

This would have got me out of a jam awhile back and I hadn't
thought of it before.

Good, bad or indifferent experiences?


Thanks

[Dan Hintz]

I thought I saw a post a few months back that did it...

[Larry Bratton]

Martin,
It is pretty common for people that print t-shirts to use plotter cut sign vinyl instead of stencils made with emulsion sheet, especially for short runs. You could probably cut a stencil with the laser. I would say some adhesive backed media of some sort work. Vinyl would be a no no because of the pvc. Watch this YouTube video on using vinyl cut with a plotter.

[Joe Pelonio]

Premium cast vinyl will adhere well enough to a screen for short runs, any other material is not likely to be flexible enough to conform to the porous surface, with strong enough adhesive.

In the old days when I had only a Gerber 4B plotter, that did only lettering, I did logos by taping a line drawing onto the vinyl and hand cutting with an exacto. For larger images even projected it onto a large sheet of paper on the wall and trace by hand. No, I'm not that old, this was the early '90s.

Anyway, I don't know of a laserable material that I'd trust for a screen block.

[Martin Boekers]

I guess what I meant to say, is if I put masking over
say a wine glass, vector cut a logo out then "weed" it,
is there an ink I can "fill" with that will hold up to a
good washing as screen or pad printing would do.

If so what would be the best, an air dry, heat cure or
UV cure type ink.

I had a job request awhile back for 100 wine glasses with
a black logo and didn't think of this as a possibility.

Not enough time for testing so I turned it down as I wasn't
sure it would be a viable solution.

I have another "opportunity" coming up that this may work
with, it is to be on a brushed metal surface.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks!

[Joe Pelonio]

I would say not. Screen print ink is not meant to be applied in any other manner than through a screen, where the fine mesh allows for a very even, smooth application with full coverage yet thin. Anything else would result in either uneven color or unsightly highs and lows. Probably one of those situations where if there was an easier way everyone would be doing it.

You can get them done, glass and all for $2 or even less, perhaps order them and resell at a dollar apiece markup. You might have to get 24 though!

[Steve Clarkson]

Marty, I had thought the same thing as you.....why wouldn't it work?

But Joe is right too.......you can get glasses for a dime a dozen these days.

[Martin Boekers]

Thanks for the help, typically the time frames I deal with are quite a bit less than what I could get from a supplier.

Most of my work is short turns, 1-3 days, so that makes me the "go to" guy on tougher "time framed" projects.

Shipping on glasses is a killer! Also when you order these type projects (promo items) you aren't guaranteed an exact quantity, as well as breakage may occur, so the possibility exists you could be "short" for an event. Did that before :(

I'm always looking for something to give me that extra hand up.

Marty

[Mitchell Andrus]

Just a thought...
Has anyone here ever tried screen printing inks using a laser cut mask?

I know some are air dry, some heat cure and others UV.

This would have got me out of a jam awhile back and I hadn't
thought of it before.

Good, bad or indifferent experiences?


Thanks

It's quite simple to adhere a laser cut stencil on the screen and expose the emulsion to sunlight to set it. Wash out the screen and you're there. much more stable than sticking the vinyl to the screen and hoping you don't scrape it loose with the squeegee. My dad's been making silk screens for 57 years, I've gotten materials from him and made a few for a HS art class demo.

From left field: I know an artist that paints resist directly onto the screen to produce limited edition prints. Her prints typically have 5 to 8 colors.

http://www.dorothymarkert.com/

Look at the link for how she does it down low on the left menu.

Seek out a local T-shirt shop for a supply of materials and have a little fun.

[Dee Gallo]

Martin, read this post:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=142326&highlight=rubylith

Even though you didn't want to make a screen, you might want to learn how. To make small ones is easy and will solve your problem for multiple prints. I've done some with plastic frames which are flexible enough to curve a bit and they actually make some premade curved ones for hats and mugs.

I have also cut airbrush masks with my laser and it's fine, saves time in some instances depending on how good you are with a knife. If you only have one to do, an airbrush might be a good way to apply glass paint to a curved glass surface. Check out liquid masks (Bear Air has it) which can be kiss cut and weeded right on the glass.

:) dee

[James E Baker]

Back in the 70s, when I was first learning about screen printing, I did screen printing with hand cut paper stencils. You could pull 4 maybe 5 images from the stencil before it started to disintegrate from the water based paint.

What I would do for your job would be to LASER cut the design in reverse from a masking material with a low tack removable adhesive. I'd attach the mask to the underneath side of the screen, and spray sufficient light coats of a laquer over the cut-out and screen to seal the pores in the screen, and then peel off the paper mask.

[Martin Boekers]

Now I can't wait to try this out when I get a bit of spare time. :D (that just never seems to happen!)

Right now I'm doing "emergency" Service Dress AF Nametags (brushed nickle over brass) by putting masking over the the tag, vector cut the mask, fill with Laserbits Pro fill, then vector cut again after the fill dries, to keep a nice edge around the letters. Then remove the mask.

This works ok for temporary use, but if I had an ink that was more durable I believe it would last longer.

Traditional ways these name tags are made is with a rotary with an epoxy paint fill. I recently purchased a small rotary unit just for this, but I haven't had a chance to get it up to speed yet.

These nametags are required for particular events and most shops on line take a couple weeks to get, so the temporary ones I do has saved many an Airman that needed one quick!;)

I will do a bit more research on inks though.


Marty