Hi guys,
I'm back!
Finally we got rid of the "Panini press",do you remember it?
We bought a flash dryer and we had a try yesterday..well..
The design was perfect but the T shirts ripped apart, they got shredded..I reckon they were burnt!
So..we have no instruction whatsoever coming with the curer.
We put the flash 10 cm above the T shirt,as that's what we read, and kept it for 1 minute.
Can any of you see where's the mistake?
Hope the threads are going to be fun like last time..
Thanks!!
ary
What do you mean, "they got shredded"? What happened?
When I used a flash, I would usually cure my shirts at about 3-4 inches for about 35 seconds. Of course it will depend on your flash. You just have to keep trying until you figure out the right combination.
Many flash dryers are 1600-2000 watts power. The purpose of the flash dryer is to "gel" the inks SURFACE so subsequent coats can be applied without being pushed down into the weave of the shirt. With many plastisol inks this "gelling" occours at about 275ºF., and some slightly less. If you have a non-contact thermometer you can use that. If not, once the shirt has cooled down, touch your gloved hand to the ink. If none comes off on the glove, it is gelled enough to put down another coat of ink (and may in fact be overly gelled and close to fully cured). With my flash dryers, I find it takes anywhere from 6 to 12 seconds to achieve the proper temperature with the heating surface about 2-3 inches above the shirt.
Many flash dryers are 1600-2000 watts power. The purpose of the flash dryer is to "gel" the inks SURFACE so subsequent coats can be applied without being pushed down into the weave of the shirt. With many plastisol inks this "gelling" occours at about 275ºF., and some slightly less. If you have a non-contact thermometer you can use that. If not, once the shirt has cooled down, touch your gloved hand to the ink. If none comes off on the glove, it is gelled enough to put down another coat of ink (and may in fact be overly gelled and close to fully cured). With my flash dryers, I find it takes anywhere from 6 to 12 seconds to achieve the proper temperature with the heating surface about 2-3 inches above the shirt.
True enough, Nick. I know when we are just flashing, it only takes five to ten seconds usually to get the desired result. Sounds like the OP was interested in using it to cure the ink, though. If not, they were leaving it on way too long for a flash cure to be followed by another coat.
Guys thank you.Ron you re right,we were talking about fully curing the ink.
On the other hand though,Nick got it right,in the way that we also tried to do the second coat after the first one,but we sorted it out by drying the first coat with the heat gun.Everything looks ok, now we put the t shirts in to the washing machine to see if the job is fine.
I'll let you know soon..If in the meantime you have any other tip...you re welcome!I have a long way ahead!!!!
Cheers
ary
I used to cure my shirts with a flash unit and I found that for a larger design the center of the print will reach cure temperature much sooner than the edges. A laser thermometer is one of the best investments you can make. You can check the temperature of the ink layer and be sure that it's reached the proper temp without getting too hot. Also you can check the difference between the temperature in the center versus that on the edges of the print.
Get a data sheet fro the inks you're using. You can probably get it off of the manufacturer's website. It'll tell you how hot and for how long to fully cure the ink. Get an IR thermometer and measure it.
To add to the "here's what I do" part of the thread:
I've got my Flash unit about 2.5 inches above the print and cook it there for about 15-20 seconds.
flash dryer and headaches 
