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.
Okay I have scoured the site for details on either Speedball starter kits, or the Yudu machine.
I'm looking to start an apparel company one T-shirt at a time. I basically want to buy some of my favorite colors (blanks) print designs that I wear around town, and then print and sell the shirts as individual requests come in. I'd like professional looking shirts that last a reasonable amount of time before design fades etc. My designs will generally be between 2 and 3 colors.
My resources are limited so I cannot afford to spend more than $400 initially. Can I get simple vote for which product you personally prefer? And a brief explanation if you can.
My vote is for the Speedball kit. You will learn skills that will help you as you advance such as screen coating/burning and troubleshooting. In addition, your initial investment will be approximately half that of the Yudu, after you buy extra emulsion sheets, frames and inks. You will learn practically zero about the actual practice of screenprinting by using the premade sheets and the same burning time.
One thing to keep in mind also is the size of the prints you want to make. With the SB kits, you have a few different screen size options. With the yudu, you are confined to one size imprint, which is pretty small.
The money you save buying the SB kit you can spend on better inks and a better emulsion.
However, it will be difficult to do 2 or 3 color prints with either machine.
In my opinion, the Yudu is a hobby toy, whereas the Speedball kit is a very entry-level screenprinting kit.
The inks are not for shirts they are for boxes etc.
If I was you I would save some more money and get some good used equipment. Or you can become a broker and contract out to someone else to print for you.
I wouldn't recommend either. The yudu is a toy, the Speedball is low quality hobbyist equipment.
Instead I would suggest either buying a better quality kit from a different brand (Permaset do them locally for example), or just buying the equipment that would be in the kit. Use the kit as a checklist in other words.
Find a decent screenprint supply shop and buy a screen, a squeegee, a quart of emulsion, etc. It will cost a bit more than the kit (not outrageously so) and give you much better equipment to work with.
some good insight so far. I saw a one color one station machine on one of the websites for about US$500. I'm sure its much slower to do two or three color with this machine, but would it be worth the extra money to get a 3 color one station for double the money, if I don't even know if my designs will sell?
Doing a three colour print on a one colour press won't even be possible unless your design only requires loose registration. If you buy secondhand equipment, it holds its value pretty well if you later decide to sell up.
There is guy that can help you out. Go to Home Page and check out his system. You can get started with the funds you have available and get great results. One thing about this guy. He is smart and rants a little and that can make it little hard to set through all the videos but you will be better off if you do. Good luck.
Terry
There is guy that can help you out. Go to Home Page and check out his system. You can get started with the funds you have available and get great results. One thing about this guy. He is smart and rants a little and that can make it little hard to set through all the videos but you will be better off if you do. Good luck.
Terry
If you are a DIY-type and handy with tools, Youtees is definitely the way to go. I have been using a similar setup for over a year and it works great. I probably have maybe $150 in the setup, and I'll put it up against almost any rotary.
If nothing else, you can learn a TON from his videos.
I spent the better part of my day watching his videos. I can honestly say that my mind is made up and I would have been crazy to go the route of the Yudu, or speedball. Glad this forum was able to steer me right. Hey Midwaste, if I'm working out of my kitchen, which a large room living room, diniing, kitchen no walls, will this affect my emulsions with premature exposures? is there an easy way of exposing my films with this kind of setup? Or perhaps I should ask, how do you do this step, do you have a special dark room or will a dim lit bathroom work?
Get a yellow bug light bulb, turn off the rest of the lights and coat screens under it.
Search the forum for DIY 500W Halogen exposure unit. Youtees has videos on both those subjects, and shows an exposure unit using a cheapo 500W halogen work light. It's pretty slow by comparison (takes me 18 minutes to expose), but it's cheap and it can be disassembled for storage if you have limited shop space.
Edit: There's a long thread about the Youtees system here
There is guy that can help you out. Go to Home Page and check out his system. You can get started with the funds you have available and get great results. One thing about this guy. He is smart and rants a little and that can make it little hard to set through all the videos but you will be better off if you do. Good luck.
Terry
HA!! Thanks DT... yeah...I know I "rant" a little (actually I prefer to think of it as free flowing verbiage)because I love SP and there is so much that the 'non-ranters' leave out. When I did those videos it actually went very fast for me. Time flies when you like what you do. I LOVE what I do and I know it inside and out. thanks for the link/ plug! (:
I wanted to talk a bit about the YUDU. NOT because I offer something different but totally objectively. Objectivity and what works is ALL I ever cared about and it is why I do what I do...PERIOD. YES...you can print with a YUDU. As long as you do not care about having a REAL squeegee; a REAL screen; a REAL way of doing multiple shirts or REAL ink to print with. I IS a toy. Two 'pretty' girls standing in a kitchen stumbling through the production of ONE tee shirt is NOT the sign of good knowlege or a good piece of equipment. I can do what they do with no screen printing press at all.(Screen/board/squeegee/ink!)
Whatever one does or buys they MUST learn that SP comes down to using REAL support supplies; having the REAL knoledge to do/duplicate with quality; and equipment that will balance all of those things toward an accurate end...a great looking tee and a printer that is HAPPY printing. You can get a YUDU that can let you down...or you can even buy a rotary that will let you down. You need to know WHAT actually matters about printing and the process and it is NOT a brand name. I do not even put a label on my equipment. Because I am not about labels. it is about working equipment and processes. I'm not happy about what I do in a 'brand' sense...I am happy that I build what works for others as well as me. When it is you and the inks...labels on the equipment mean nothing. One either knows what to do and is having fun...or not. I like to halp others learn AND have fun. One does not really happen without the other...or very well.
Speedball?...Hmmmm you can get better things even to start. There emulsion is not too bad though. I cannot stress enough though how important it is to use really good screens and squeegees and inks. Ironically they are little more than the overpriced art store 'lesser forms' of these items. Why learn good SP techniques on supplies that will not support the best learning?
Get a yellow bug light bulb, turn off the rest of the lights and coat screens under it.
Search the forum for DIY 500W Halogen exposure unit. Youtees has videos on both those subjects, and shows an exposure unit using a cheapo 500W halogen work light. It's pretty slow by comparison (takes me 18 minutes to expose), but it's cheap and it can be disassembled for storage if you have limited shop space.
Edit: There's a long thread about the Youtees system here
18 minutes to expose???? How can that be if you are doing it the way I show which takes 3 to 5 minutes? Did you take the GLASS OFF the front of the halogen(you must do that). How far are you from the emulsion? what kind of emulsion are you using? The video is your clue that it does NOT take 18 minutes...you have something not right in your method. 18 minutes...YIKES!!!!!
The inks are not for shirts they are for boxes etc.
If I was you I would save some more money and get some good used equipment. Or you can become a broker and contract out to someone else to print for you.
Frank
BE VERY CAREFUL buying used equipment! Do NOT assume that a rotary press has good registration. Infact, the registration mechanics can easily be compromised by the spinning function of a rotary press. ONE way to test: Load a good tight frame screen on one of the press clamp/arms---put a small dot(very)on the mesh. Place a piece of paper (taped)on the platen and with all basic and micro-registration components tight, drop ths screen down into printing position. Check that mesh and platen dots line up perfectly. Now...spin both screen carousel AND platen carousel around a few times. Do not be too lightweight about it(nor abusive)but do it in the way/speed you would be doing this while operating at your print speed. Do this 5 or 6 times and each time the screen and platen come back to eachother, drop screen again and recheck for alignment. It is VERY common for it to NOT line up the same every time. OR...you will find some arms that perform this perfectly, only to have one or two arms that do NOT perform perfectly or consistently. so you really need to do this on ALL the arms. Don't be surprised or intimidated if the seeler of the press does NOT want you to do this check. DO it...or you are likely wasting your money. If you do the check and all arms pass...thank the screen printing gods...for they have smiled on YOU today! Just do NOT assume so-called pro equipment is accurate. it is not a pleasant surprise to learn that the hard way; after the money is spent.
Speedball Starter Kit or Yudu Machine 
