I would like to use the G. Knight DK20S Swinger Heat Press to Flash and Cure plastisol on Clothing. Do any of you have experience good or bad doing this?
Thanks, Joe
If you are trying to use a heat press to flash...how will you move the shirt back to your printing press and get it to register with the screen again? You really need to buy a flash cure unit.
Even curing plastisol on a heat press is difficult and messy. Some of the plastisol will stick to your teflon sheet each time, so you have to clean it between each shirt cure.
So, a heat press really isn't practical for flashing or curing plastisol.
Sorry,
Ken
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Let me explain how I was going to set it up. It would be located on an adustable ht. mobile work top. This could be located close to the screen press and the top swinger part of the heat press swings 100 degrees out away from the bottom and over the garment. It could be adjusted to keep a 1" gap or so above the garment. Does that give you a better idea of how I was thinking of using it?
Not sure if it would radiate enough heat to flash, almost certain it wouldn't radiate enough to cure properly. The heat press is designed to heat by contact. It might work (you can always give it a try), but would probably be very slow.
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I was not aware of that. I thought the top of the press got pretty hot (one of the reasons I was looking at the swinger type, they say your not working over the heat). I thought I read this in one of the books I bought reecently that you could use a heat press as a dryer, but I don't believe everything I read, thats why I wanted to check it out and see if anyone was doing it.
I was not aware of that. I thought the top of the press got pretty hot (one of the reasons I was looking at the swinger type, they say your not working over the heat). I thought I read this in one of the books I bought reecently that you could use a heat press as a dryer, but I don't believe everything I read, thats why I wanted to check it out and see if anyone was doing it.
JMD: Was wondering if you actually went through with using the heat press as a flash unit. Were you successful? I'm actually in the same position you were in more than a year ago..
as i don't have a flash unit or a conveyor, i use only a heatt press to cure plastisol on textile.
it is not the fastest method, but it works perfectly ok and it involves a heat gun, also.
i flash the image with the heat gun, then i take the shirt, put it in the heat press with a piece of kraft paper on top.
350 degrees for 20 seconds at high pressure.
(as a conveyor drier is much to expensive for me right now, and screen printing is not my main activity, i plan tu buy a more affordable flash unit, because the heat gun can take 30 - 45 seconds to flash a logo. and then i will use the heat press for the final cure)
one advantage is that when you're dealing with rough white ink on dark shirts, the pressure and the heat combined give you a smooth white ink surface
Although I've never used one to cure a screenprinted shirt and am not an "expert" at screenprinting just yet, it says it can be done in "How to print t-shirts..." by Scott Fresner.
Now, I'm sure it isn't the best or fastest way to go but if you are just starting out doing only a few shirts once and a while, I don't see what it wouldn't work. As long as the ink is brought up to the proper temperature (300 deg??) which I think is possible since the heat press can get up to 400 deg and should radiate at least 300 deg if it is close enough to the shirt....even if you don't allow the press to actually touch the shirt but adjust it to sit just above it.
Worked great. I still have the swinger, we use it for transfers and foils. Since then I have upgraded and bought a M&R Economax dryer, a primos auto flash, and we are running a 6/6 Chameleon. We got all this equipment used from different parts of the country, cleaned it up, replaced a few parts and I couldn't be happier.
Heat Press to Flash and Cure 
Although I've never used one to cure a screenprinted shirt and am not an "expert" at screenprinting just yet, it says it can be done in "How to print t-shirts..." by Scott Fresner.
