DIY screenprinting

[kyle]

So I'm curious, what sort of initial investment would I need to make in order to get into doing screenprinting on my own. I'm not talking about doing it for profit or as a commercial endeavor, but just to make my own record covers, t-shirts and other merch. What sort of equipment and supplies are necessary in order to do it efficiently and with high quality?

Any links or resources would be very much appreciated!

[xlovecolouredx]

http://www.silkscreenbiz.com/silkscreen3.htm

i hope this link can help you,kyle korn....

[rtw88]

Flicker made a thread about this like a month ago. You might be able to find the thread if you search.

[tanukichu]

That's a pretty good site. I've never used that method before. I think I might try it one day when I get extra money. I like this site and this is usually what I do when I silk screen:

http://www.reuels.com/reuels/Silk_Screen_Printing_Instructions.html

I like doing handmade silkscreening myself. You can buy starter kits that have the most basic things you need to start out/learn for about 50 bucks give or take at most art supply stores. I'd say practice with that first before you start investing too much money because it can get expensive after a while. Though if you want super efficient and super high quality, that's usually when you have to find some one with a machine.

[flicker]

here you go dude.

some great info here.

http://vinylcollective.proboards79.com/index.cgi?board=etc&action=display&thread=18835

im still looking around pricing stuff and building making my workstation.

[cj]

great threads!

[ericxthexred]

kyle! just come down to tampa before fest and ill give ya a special 1 on 1 screenprinting workshop at my shop!

(you may have to fold shirts and be shop bitch in return tho... haha!)

[qskapunk]

If anyone is looking to buy professional equipment check out the company I work for! The best in the business!

http://www.mrprint.com/en/Home.aspx

[geezfools]

Basically get a screen printing kit like the one speedball makes and start doing it until you get to questions. There are a couple little things that will help make it smoother, but really, just need to jump in and as you do it more, you will get better tools and tricks of the trade. Here are some super quick steps if you do buy a kit that includes most everything you need to get at least started.

1. Design something, obviously nothing with super fine detail. Print it out and go to kinkos and get TWO transparencies made. Stop at the store and get a six pack of your favorite beverage. Swing back at the art store you were at and get a piece of glass that will fit inside your screen from the kit. An 8x10 piece should work and it will be cheap.

2. The kit should have come with emulsion, it comes in two parts generally and you have to mix it to a certain ratio. Before you mix it up though, find yourself a room with no lights on and maybe leave a TV on or something, just enough light to see what the hell you're doing and so you don't spill your beverage of choice. Mix up the emulsion. If you're doing the screens that come in most kits, you won't need very much, but better a little more than a little less. This stuff can get messy, so I should have mentioned, put some newspaper on the ground so you don't ruin your girlfriends carpet. Anyways, pour some on and start spreading it across the screen, coating as much as you need to cover the screen. Some people will just do enough to cover what image they're burning into the screen, but I just go all out, easier in the end I think. So continue to spread it out over the screen. But do it from both sides. So flip it over and spread it on. Your kit should have come with a squeegee. So be using that, if not, use a piece of cardboard. Once it's all over, continue to spread it, taking the extra emulsion and putting it back in the cup you originally mixed it in. You want it thin, but not too thin. Once you think it's spread good enough. Put it somewhere 100% dark and let it dry, if you can, point a fan at it to speed up the process. Couple hours should be good, anything more and you should be scraping your screens for more emulsion.

3. Go finish your six pack and grab another six pack or have someone grab one for you if you're that much of a lightweight. If you're kit didn't come with a bulb to burn the image on, might as well have that person grab one as well. I use 150watt clear bulbs or 200watt if I can find them. No matter how many of these I've bought, they always vanish. It's also smart to use these in one of those construction lamps with the big silver thing and the clamp. Helps direct the light at the screen. But check your kit, check your emulsion for burning times and it should hopefully be clear. Hopefully. If you burn too long, it will be a bitch to get the emulsion back off the screen if you're doing that. If you don't burn long enough, the emulsion will come off when you rinse and you will be hating life because you will probably have to start over. Anyways, back in the dim room. Screen is laying down. I've heard of some people laying it on a black sheet to help with reflection messing up the burn, whatever. Put your transparency on the screen. Be a smart human being right now to save yourself even more time and think about yourself screen printing and make sure it's laying down the right way. You will want the screen to be lying as if you could pour water in it and it would hold, so the wood is facing up and the screen is basically touching the ground or whatever. Put your glass on top of the transparencies and then shine your light down onto it per the instructions from the kit or emulsion. I think I was 18 inches above and burning around 45 minutes. It's been a while now. Set a timer, "don't burn the cookies"

4. Time to work on that six pack a little more and come back to this thread and tell everyone you've had to redo the screen twice now, but you THINK you might have it this time. That's okay, one way to learn right? We've all been there. Your timer goes off. Turn on the sink and grab an old toothbrush(or girlfriends). Put the water to almost hot. Grab the screen and turn on the lights. You will be trying to remove the parts where the ink will go through. You should be able to see the lines from the burn. If they aren't very clear, maybe think about a little more time. But you should be able to see your final image burned onto the screen. So using the water and the toothbrush to help it along(not roughly). Remove those parts as best you can. As lame as it might be, you might have to go back and use a needle to clean up your image. Shit happens...

5. So you should have a screen with your final image. Now this is the part I'm always lame at. So I won't spend much time on it. Hopefully people bitch and tell me how to do this right since I've never had anyone show me tricks of the trade. I'm getting better, but this is where the DIY can cause problems and not give you the pro quality. If you're kit didn't come with hinges, you're really DIY, the way I was for my first four or five shirts. So you have your screen, you have your ink, you should have a squeegee. If you don't have the latter, an ice scraper works good if you're gentle with the screen. I also use a stack of about 50 pieces of paper at the very base of this. So grab a some paper, tape it all together, put it on the table. Put your shirt or whatever on top of that. Now grab some ink, throw it in the screen. Put it on top of the shirt. Straight helps, but if you want it to look DIY, don't worry about it being straight. Once it's on there, don't move it until you remove it. If you move it, it won't look DIY, it will just look shitty at this point. AKA your girlfriend just got one more mess up shirt to wear to bed. push down on the screen as best you can, maybe have a friend hold it down. Pull the ink up and down as much as you think will give it enough ink to make it through. This should be where I fuck it up, but who knows. When you think it's good. Pull it off nice and easy. Set it somewhere, admire your fresh ass shirt and hang it to dry. Once it's dry, it probably needs to be set with heat. Depending on the ink, you can see a heating iron for clothes or you may have to use the oven set to around 350.

6. Clean up is simple. Wash it all out and make your girlfriend proud or just have her do it. If you're planning on reusing the screen for a different burn. Grab Mr. Clean, lemon scented is what I enjoy, and have at it. Can be very tedious, but it will eventually come out, I promise. Grab the girlfriends toothbrush because you will be needing that some more.

So yeah, that's a quick rundown of how I do it. I know it's shitty, but you said DIY and that's how I've always done it. It's been perfect, but it's gotten better and I'm slowly getter better at it. If anyone has any advice for me, let me know!

[qskapunk]

http://nomediakings.org/doityourself/howto_silkscreen_posters_and_shirts.html

another good walkthrough

[qskapunk]

http://www.rocketfuelpress.com/SPTutorial.pdf

another good one

[kyle]

Thanks for all the info everyone!

Eric, I'd take you up on your offer but I'm not sure there would be any time. I don't get into Tampa until Thursday morning and I'll be at the basement pre-Fest show and then heading over to the Skatepark. I appreciate the offer, though!

[geezfools]

http://www.rocketfuelpress.com/SPTutorial.pdf

another good one

now that's legit, thanks dude!

I'm still wondering if when the screen goes down to print, how far it needs to be from the substrate/shirt/poster/whatever. This makes it seem as if it needs to be very close, but not actually touching when it's fully down. Which I've always thought that once the screen is completely down, it needs to be actually touching. Can anyone clarify this for me?