Screen Printing Zone
MakerFX has two Silk Screen presses and two heat presses
If you want to make a few shirts, have you considered heat transfer vinyl? It is WAY cheaper and faster for a few shirts...and is durable!
Contents
General Policies for the Silk Screening Zone
Note really a policy, but please note that this stuff is messy and can be expensive. Please ask Ian if you want to start screenprinting so that we can make sure you are properly trained, and we set you up for success. You will need to provide your own screens and consumables, BUT if its something we already stock we can prorate the cost of the consumables to reduce the cost to you.
Equipment
- Merchmakr Screen Printing Machine
- Heat Press Nation HPN-SIG-1515-A Heat Press
- Porter Cable PC1500HG Heat Gun
Consumables
- Cryocoat Emulsion - Ian has had good results from this, even though it states that it is not designed for DIY style lights. Ian uses 4 minute exposure time.
- Cryoprep Screen De-greaser - this is used to clean the screen before coating with emulsion. It isn't required, but if you want the best results, take the time to clean well.
- Emulsion remover is used to "reclaim" a screen. Removing the art to prep for the next screen.
- Spray Adhesive from screenprinting.com - This is designed for screenprinting. Don't use standard spray adhesive.
- Plastisol inks can be purchased from MerchMakr, or screenprinting.com. Note that white inks typically also require reducer.
- Masking tape is used around the screen edges. Ian uses standard 3M tape and avoids blue tape. He's trying some special tape from screenprinting.com soon
Note: screenprinting.com has a local pickup option from a fulfillment warehouse. M-F only. Not all products are available via this fulfillment house. YMMV.
Pre-burnt Screens
For the maker that doesn't have time to do the darkroom processes, consider ordering a pre-burnt screen. Note these links are to the companies - you still need to decide which size, which mesh count, etc. Note that these screens won't have the alignment tab for the MerchMakr system, but that isn't a big deal for a single color shirt.
- Never The Less Screenprinting Supplies - Andrew Rudolph used them, and was happy. Note that placement is critical since the screen size is larger. We also have discussed that it might be better to rotate the art 90 degrees so that the screen size front to back is more similar to the MerchMakr screen.
