By lemastersdesigns on
May. 15, 2009
Forums:
I am a graphic designer and lately I have had some requests to start screen-printing. I am looking for advice on the equipment that I will need. I have been looking around but I am not sure what is sales hype and what I would really need to buy to start up. I want to be capable of doing at least qty of 500, 4 color, and plastisol and water based printing.
Are some brands/ companies that are better than others?
Is their anything in hindsight that you all wish you would have done/bought different?
What am I looking at in cost?
What should I not forget?
Any advice from some of you veteran printers would be appreciated.
Location:
United States
Re: I need advice—going from Graphic Design to Screen printing
I don't mind mentoring people. send me an email with your phone number and I can give you a call and give you some advice. I wish someone would have done it for me. chopperparts@msn.com
Re: I need advice—going from Graphic Design to Screen printing
I can help out, too.
I teach a class for those getting into screen printing and a fair portion (2 of 7 hours) is spent on what each feature of the machines is for and when / why you need that feature.
The decision is then up to you to figure out which options are really important to you based on what you plan to do.
I would be happy to give you a down and dirty...
Must have:
- 6 color manual press with true micros (M&R, Workhorse, older Hopkins are sure winners)
- 8' conveyor dryer
- 18 x 18 flash
- 400 square feet and 220V power
... anything less and you will find that you are severely limited in what you can do.
Nice to have:
- Exposure unit that can burn a 23x31 screen
- Graphics Design programs (Illustrator, Corel... to at least edit artwork)
... and the list goes on
Re: I need advice—going from Graphic Design to Screen printing
You teach classes? Where are you located?
Re: I need advice—going from Graphic Design to Screen printing
Vastex is great. Buy all used equip starting out. But make sure you get good screens. Get some 86's,110,156,200,230,280 and 305 mesh counts if you can. You need a good film output, laser or inkjet is common. You need a washout booth, and a pressure washer. You need a good light table, you can build one if you need. Get a smaller dryer at first and run your WB stuff through two to three times, but if you find a good 8' one grab it. Get water resistant emulsion if you are doing WB. Find a good distributor to get supplies from and most likely they will help you with any tech questions. If you had 4-5K that would be enough, just find deals, they are out there. It depends on patience. Build what you can if you are short on cash and work your way up. Search the net for what you don't know.