How long do screens last, and how many should you start out with.

Tshirtforums has great advice for beginners, this forum is more for advanced commercial operations.

Nametags: The lack of a response might be related to the lack of information provided in your original post, for example:

• What type of screen-printing are you looking to dd example; Garment or Flat Stock/Graphics?
• How big an image, and how many colors are you planning to print?
• What type of equipment are you planning to use?
• What type(s) of inks are you planning to use?

We started with $10,000 of screens, we now hold about 13,000 screens with images on them, all static frames over a dozen mesh counts, and from 5 x 11 inches up to 6 x 18 feet....

We have an inventory of only 150 screens, half newman rollers and half shurloc ez frames with about 10-20 static alums that we keep around for kicks. We don't keep any images on screen and reclaim them within days of running a job. We do keep the film around but since 80% of the jobs we do aren't ever printed again, it makes no sense for us to keep a large inventory of exposed screens around.

Like Peter mentioned, it's really hard to point you in the right direction with what was given, so depending on if your going to just print some tshirts on the side or get involved fully it could be 10 screens of wooden stretch and glue or 1000 newman rollers, 25x36 or 18x20, or the average sized 23x31, the options are plenty. Give us a few more details and I'm sure some of us could help you out more than we have so far.

While there is no concrete answer to the lifespan of screen because of different variables from shop to shop I would say unless you tear or pop one from not being careful a screen should last a new startup shop around a year or more depending on how much it is used. I say this because if you only have 4 screens they are going to get used more often then if you have 40.

I personally have screens still in use after 5 years and have had others that I took out of production after just 6 months. The thing to keep in mind is if you are pricing your work right you will have recouped your cost of a screen in just a couple of jobs at most and then it is just along for the ride until it wears out.

Unlike the other comment about not getting answers here because the site is mainly "advance commercial" type people, to me it is better to ask questions and get answers from people who do this day in and day out for a living instead of people that may just be playing around with it.

Well said nametags... but I fear that it fell on deaf ears.

All the advice you've received is good advice from experienced operators. I would just add 2 things.
*Your question is a little premature since I would'nt be worried about buying screens until the business dictates it. As l and probably many others can attest to is that we often get excited and purchase equipment and supplies that we THINK we will use and it turns out your customer's demands may be slightly different or completely different. At this point, you won't know to buy wood or aluminum, low mesh or high mesh. It's not like you can't get screens in a day or two when you need it. My opinion, save your money until the orders come in.
**If you just want some on hand... I wouldn't buy more than 10... do a variety of mesh counts. I do mostly simple 1 color logos so I use mostly 110s and 155s. I use wood screens since it's cheaper. If you think you will be doing lots of multi color designs or 4 color process... I would avoid wood since they tend to warp.

Hope that helps.