Discuss the different types of equipment needed for screen printing. Topics include manual screen printing presses, automatic presses, dryers, folding machines, starter kits and high end machines.
One of the benefits to using roller frames is not having the necessity for a mesh stretcher. Well, Newman sells a table that's made to help with their frames, but it costs as much as a mesh stretcher. Like I assume a lot of people on this site, I don't represent a huge company, so I like to build things myself when possible. Also, I plan to be using belt-printer sized frames, so I can't imagine how you could pull a screen and keep the mesh square by hand unless you had four people, or... you built a table to hold the mesh the way a Newman table would. Problem is, I don't really know how they work, I've never seen one in person or used one, only seen a couple small pictures. Has anyone built a table for retensioning roller frames before? Or, does anyone use one of these? How could you make one for large format size and small format price that would do the basic job of the newman minus fancy features? I imagine a table with risers and clamps is pretty much the basic idea. Am I on track? Thanks in advance!
On track. I've seen a homemade one. Had crescent wrench type heads on the corners. I
think it was made to just hold down the corners while tension was applied, whereas
the Newman tables apply the tension for you, which is their real beauty.
I think you'd have more trouble keeping the frame flat than inserting the mesh square. Just get a bag of alignment clips from Newman, and remember to always rip your mesh along a thread, not cut it. Square to the edge, and go from there.
Thanks a lot, you have given me some very helpful information. I'm new to roller frames, and I have a lot to learn. Do you know of any good DVDs or books that teach roller frames in and out? I've heard there is a 'newman school', although I imagine it is out of my price range.
Just go to the newman site and look for their instruction manual (.pdf).
Has everything you need to know. Once you get the hang of it,
there really ain't much to it. I can rip down and stretch a screen in about
10 minutes.
Start with low mesh, 83-125. It's tougher to rip and cheaper when you do.
Yeah, don't do like I did when I got my Newman table and go nuts with 305 mesh. I think I busted 3 in a row.
If you follow the instructions from Newman TO THE LETTER, the frames are pretty easy to stretch, and if you keep a few pieces of mesh handy, if you tear one or get a hole, you can be back in business pretty quickly.
DIY Roller Frame Stretching Table 
