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Drying Rack recommendations



 
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Old March 5th, 2007 Mar 5, 2007 8:38:59 AM -   #1 (permalink)
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Default Drying Rack recommendations

Hey everyone. I'm about to receive some new equipment and was thinking about a screen drying rack / cabinet. I've ran a search here on the board and ran across this link ( http://screenprinters.net/articles/pdf/DG-drying1.pdf ).

I'm thinking about building a small cabinet that will house about a dozen or so screens (6 on each side) and I can put my exposure unit on top. I was going to add an air chamber in the back of the unit with holes leading in to the box similar to those in the plans in the link above.

I was wondering though about the fan and heating piece? I was planning on running a small squirrel cage type fan that I ran across the other day at wally world. Didn't look too powerful, but still looked like it could move some air through the box.

I'm not sure about the heat part. What kind of heater would you use in an application like this? Or, it it totally essential for a small operation? I figured I would be in pretty good shape if I was able to coat a dozen screens and have them drying at the same time.

Thanks for the input.
 
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Old March 5th, 2007 Mar 5, 2007 9:08:36 AM -   #2 (permalink)
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Default Re: Drying Rack recommendations

I think you should be ok with just a fan, it will just take them a little longer to dry.
 
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Old March 5th, 2007 Mar 5, 2007 9:17:23 AM -   #3 (permalink)
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Default Re: Drying Rack recommendations

I agree with Jasonda. No need for a drying element.

We keep our screens in a large office converted into a darkroom Screweed 2X2's on the walls and squeeze the frames between them. Works great, cheap and we can rack up to 60+ screens easily. We use a dehumidafyer (sp?) in the room to keep moisture out of the air. With our set up we can dry a scree, coat and be ready to burn in about 15 min.
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Old March 5th, 2007 Mar 5, 2007 9:24:08 AM -   #4 (permalink)
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Default Re: Drying Rack recommendations

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fluid
With our set up we can dry a scree, coat and be ready to burn in about 15 min.
What kind of emulsion are you using? Does that play in to your fast dry time? Or do you just try to move a lot of air across them fast.
 
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Old March 5th, 2007 Mar 5, 2007 11:07:03 AM -   #5 (permalink)
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Default Re: Drying Rack recommendations

Our dehumidifyer removes all the water in the air which causes the screen to dry faster. We do not use any fans or moving air.
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Old March 5th, 2007 Mar 5, 2007 6:11:29 PM -   #6 (permalink)
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Default Re: Drying Rack recommendations

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fluid
Our dehumidifyer removes all the water in the air which causes the screen to dry faster. We do not use any fans or moving air.
15 minutes... now that's an argument for a dehumidifier if ever I've heard one!
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Old March 5th, 2007 Mar 5, 2007 9:24:25 PM -   #7 (permalink)
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Default Re: Drying Rack recommendations

I agree, the dehumifier is more important than a fan or heat. Even with a fan and heat, if it's humid the screens will not dry properly no matter how long they sit.
 
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Old March 5th, 2007 Mar 5, 2007 10:26:51 PM -   #8 (permalink)
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Default Re: Drying Rack recommendations

Emulsion is 90% water....pull out the water as fast as possible is the name of the game....cooking screens is NOT good.
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Old March 6th, 2007 Mar 6, 2007 7:49:03 AM -   #9 (permalink)
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Default Re: Drying Rack recommendations

Any recommendations on where to find a really small dehumidifier for a cabinet?
 
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Old March 6th, 2007 Mar 6, 2007 8:35:33 AM -   #10 (permalink)
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Default Re: Drying Rack recommendations

You can get them at places like Home Depot, Lowes, Sears... Just make sure it's a DEhumidifier and not a Humidifier. Humidifiers are much easier to find and much cheaper. DEhumidifiers are pretty expensive, relatively speaking.
 
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Old March 6th, 2007 Mar 6, 2007 11:37:22 AM -   #11 (permalink)
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Default Re: Drying Rack recommendations

Well, I really need to get started on this so I sat down this morning and sketched out a quick rough plan. It's actually almost to scale. I am in the process of setting up a small shop and waiting on my gear to arrive. So, with my small space in mind trying to maximize function, I figured I could build a rack that would house screens even if I wasn't drying them, hold my exposure unit, and hold a bug light for me to use to coat screens. That way all my screen stuff is in one spot.

Anyway, here's my rough sketch.


http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/3600/dryingrackyv5.jpg

Figured I would try to build it out of ply or mdf and 1x2's. I was going to build an air chamber in the back that the fan would blow in to and then force the air through the holes in the back of the main screen drying compartment. The only thing missing from the diagram is the exhaust vents. I was going to vent it with some pvc elbows at the top near the front on either side. It may be cheaper and easier to buy a couple of premade cabinets and just modify them.

Anyway, just thought I'd share this in case it helped anyone or gave any ideas.

Last edited by Solmu; March 6th, 2007 at 07:36 PM. Reason: changed image to link to prevent sidescrolling
 
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Old March 6th, 2007 Mar 6, 2007 11:52:53 AM -   #12 (permalink)
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Default Re: Drying Rack recommendations

looks good. let us know how it turns out.
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Old March 6th, 2007 Mar 6, 2007 12:03:22 PM -   #13 (permalink)
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Default Re: Drying Rack recommendations

Nice sketch!

It looks like the door is hinged on the top and lifts upward? Won't that be a little awkward? You will have to lift up the door and hold it up while you reach underneath it to get to the screens.

Might be better to hinge from the bottom and put some chains on it so it doesn't hit the floor, or just make two "cabinet style" doors.
 
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Old March 6th, 2007 Mar 6, 2007 12:14:47 PM -   #14 (permalink)
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Default Re: Drying Rack recommendations

Quote:
It looks like the door is hinged on the top and lifts upward? Won't that be a little awkward? You will have to lift up the door and hold it up while you reach underneath it to get to the screens.

Might be better to hinge from the bottom and put some chains on it so it doesn't hit the floor, or just make two "cabinet style" doors.
I agree. Didnt even notice it at first. Either on the bottom or even the side would be better to work with.
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Old March 6th, 2007 Mar 6, 2007 12:15:43 PM -   #15 (permalink)
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Default Re: Drying Rack recommendations

Good point. My thought was that it would only have 1 door and would always close and wouldn't accidentally come open and expose screens. Maybe I can add a prop of some sort to hold it up. Then again, I may set it up where the door opens all the way up to the top and leans back toward the exposure unit. That will work until it swings down while I'm leaning over in it and it smacks me on the back of the head and puts me on the floor! That would be my luck.

But I do like the bottom hinge idea with the chains. Then it would just latch at the top.
 
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