OK, after MUCH trial and error (and some indispensible advice from this here forum!) I finally managed to get decent prints last night! Not as good as i'd like, but at least we're getting somewhere!
So.... Now time for the next round of questions!
First off, I have a question about off-contact. The image i've been printing is about A4 size (roughly 'letter' I think for you guys across the water). Now, when I pull the print stroke I can see the mesh hit the fabric and it stays on the fabric until I clear the iamge then it 'pops' off. It doesn't pop off behind the squeegee, if that makes sense. I think this is having the effect of slightly blurring the edges of the print. Would this be because off-contact is too high, or too low? Or something else?
Secondly, what sort of print should I expect from waterbased ink? I was printing white on colour and, though it was good, I was kind of ecpecting something more opaque. If I pulled the image again, it became slightly better but then there was way too much ink on the shirt - meaning when it dried it goes sort of 'cardboardy'. What i'm getting is a slightly retro 80's type look - which is very good but not what I was expecting! Am I expecting too much from my ink? Would a plastisol be a better bet for a really opaque finish?
And finally....! Should I be expecting ink to travel through the shirt onto the platen? On a one-pull there was the faintest of leakage, but pulling more than once resulted in a fairly substantial pass-through of ink. Would a better quality shirt help? (i'm currently 'testing', on the ones that came with my kit - which, frankly, aren't great)
Apologies for the continuing questions, but without you guys help I wouldn't even have got this far!
I've never used water-based so I'm not sure how different it is from plastisol, but if the screen is sticking to the shirt long than it should, there could be a few reasons including: ink is too thick for the mesh count, off-contact is too low. If ink is reaching the platen, you are pressing too hard. You don't want the ink to go into the material. You want to lay it on top of the material. If it goes into the material, the image will fade after washing.
Mark, 43 is to low for a good print. Too much ink is passing through. And a high off-contact will not let the screen touch in the same spot each time you stroke the squeegee. That is most likely the reason you get fuzzy edges. Off contact should be no higher than 1/8 of an inch. And if you want really white prints, then go to plastisol or use a discharge water-based ink. Plastisol will be more affordable. Get a flash dryer...print one stroke, flash, then print another...pop! The color is bright and crisp.
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what sort of print should I expect from waterbased ink?
Printing light on dark as a new printer, perhaps not a very good one. It gets better though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grumpyvulture
Should I be expecting ink to travel through the shirt onto the platen?
As others have said you might be printing too hard, but if the shirts are truly crappy you could be getting ink through anyway, not just from pressing too hard. I do a lot of test-prints on calico for example, where it's quite normal to have the ink go through onto the backing cloth or platen because the fabric is very thin (and the ink quite wet - I have no idea for sure, but it seems plausible that waterbased ink soaks through more than plastisol).
Thanks guys, I knew about the mesh count thing (see previous threads!) but I thought that printing white ink needed a slightly more open screen - glad I hadn't imagined that!
On a seperate note, when I test-washed these shirts the white ink practically washed away! It had been left for at least 48 hours so it should have cured properly. I havent had a problem with other colours i've tested.
Does anyone think i'd get better results using plastisol until I get some more experience?
Yayy! I've done it - but questions! 
Re: Yayy! I've done it - but questions! 
