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ryandean · May 23rd, 2008

Hello forum, I have been on an information overload for the past month learning about the joys of screen printing. It took me a while to decide to go down the screen printing route after learning all the other ways you can actually print onto t-shirts but it seems like the perfect choice for me. The question that has been mostly on my mind is wether it is possible to make your own screen printing machine using 3 colours or more? I have been looking at all the different screen printing machines and they seem to be very simply put together apart from the micro-registration parts. I consider myself to be quite handy when i comes to building stuff A-TEAM style. So the question is , Has anyone made there own screen printing machine and how much of a challenge was it? Thanks in advance.

Robert H. Bigart · May 23rd, 2008

You certainly can if you can weld and work with metal.Plan your project carefully and make it as sturdy as possible.

wormil · May 23rd, 2008

What is your goal in trying to build your own machine? I think its great to turn your hobby into a business but in this case you seem to be turning a business into a hobby. IMO it's a waste of time. All the time spent building, tweaking and fussing with the machine could be spent marketing or printing. If you want to have a real business then focus on what makes you money. If it's more of a hobby or you have an idea to improve on existing presses then go for it.

Maybe you can hook up with this guy: YouTube - YouTees's Channel
He occasionally posts on this forum.

out da box · May 24th, 2008

Worm, excellent point. A press is too important and too time consuming to build, even if you're handy.
An exposure unit-maybe, but a press can pay for itself in no time.
Buy one now, play with building one later.

ryandean · May 24th, 2008

Thanks all for replying, I have taken on board everything that you are saying. The idea behind it was that if i build my own press and anything ever went wrong with it i would be able to fix it myself rather then try to contact a company that is over the other side of the water trying to get spare parts and stuff. I want to start this as a hobby and make it into a buisness i supose. Thanks again, you gave me something to think about.

midwaste · May 24th, 2008

Check out Wormil's link. I built one exactly like Youtees from stuff I found in the hardware store. I estimate I have about 100 bucks in it and it works awesome.