Silk Conspiracy
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- unknown
how come there is almost no information on the net about how to silkscreen
are all the silkscreen(ERS) part of some kind of global silkscreen world domination>?
can ANYONE DIRECT ME TO A PAGE PLEASE
i said PLEEEEEEEEEASE
- monNom0
what's to know? you make your screen, or cut out a stencil, toss some ink on that bad boy, squeegie until satisfied and iron the bitch.
or you could try buying a book if you can't find anything on google.
- unknown0
merci monom
but as usual, it doesnt really explain shit,
but merci quand meme
- monNom0
what do you want to know? I've done a bit of silkscreen.
- unknown0
i want to know how to make the screen
- monNom0
THE SCREEN
there's two ways.
the first ans easiest is to cut out a paper stencil and place it underneath the screen, securing it with masking tape. you then mask off the rest of the screen with paper (again underneatht he screen, so the only part of the screen that is visible is the cut out areas of your stencil.
the other way is to use photo sensitive emulsion.
convert your graphic to a halftone dot patern that will work with your screen and print it out.
(if you can print it on acetate, great, orhterwise you'll need to photocopy it onto acetate)smear your screen with the emulsion and place the acetate witht he image on it over top. leave it out is the sun, or under a florecent light (or if you've got access to a developer bed,use that) for a while(if the sun, probably a couple hours, if the lightbulb, maybe a day)
you then take your screen to the sink and with a soft bristle brush, scrub it to remove the undeveloped emulsion (the emulsion that ws under the black areas of your design)
do a test screen on some scrap paper to make sure there's no tiny holesin the emulsion... if there is, tape the off.
you've now go a screen ready to print with.
- monNom0
PRINTING:
you need a squeegie and ink.
I hear plastisol is good, but it's not water soluble, so you'd have to deal with nawsty chemicals to clean up.it's best to not have a solid base to screen on... i always used a stack of newsprint which has just enough give for good screening.
spread out a line of ink across the tp of your graphic (off the printing areas)... how much depends on a lot of things, it's kind of trial an error, but if in doubt, use to much, you can always wipe some off at the bottom.
pull your squeegie (and the ink) down with even preasure...you don't need to press hard, but be relativly firm.
once you hit the bottom, flip your squeegie around and pull it back across the graphic... you might want to do another pass but you should be okay with the two.pull off your screen and marvel at theshirt you've just created...
after the ink has dried get a piece of cotton and place it ovet the graphic and iron it good (according to the instructions on the ink)
voila!
- monNom0
t-shirts:
you need to wash most store bought t-shirts before you can print them... they have a starchy stuff called 'sizing' that's in the fabric and wil wash out on the first wash... potentially taking some of your ink with it!
I think you can order shirts in bulk without the sizing in them.
remember to clean your screen!
waterbased inks are nice for that sort of thing because you can stick your screen in the bathtub and scrub it out... whereas you need a dedicated washing facility for solvent (can't put solvent down the drain you know!)removing emulsion requires some solvent though... you need to soak the screen to loosen up the developed stuff... it's almost worthwhile just to buy a new screen though... that way you'll always have that screen incase you want to reproduce the design.
you need heavy duty opaque inks for dark shits. or you can usethinner inks over top of an opaque white backdrop (as a lot of companies do when they need to get fine detail onto dark shirts).
that's about it... any questions?
- unknown0
thanx a lot dude,
really reall needed to know how to do that thing
- monNom0
you can send me a shirt when you're done
=P
- mrdobolina0
BonSeff and I are in the screenprinting cartel.