Ridiculed13

I am new to screen printing and haveing some troubles.. I have a fairly new Printa system in great shape and I am having problems with my registration moving slightly while doing two colors... Is it common to make slight adjustments during a job or once i get everything fit should it stay.. Second im having problems with getting a clean print onto my merchandise (shirt, hoody, etc..) sometimes it stays dull even with 3 or 4 swipes, other times I seem to just get missing parts in a certain part and when I go back over it I either end up smuding to much ink or getting a super think uneven surface to my print... Also how high should a screen be off the product.. I know there needs to be some seperation just thow much exactly?? Thank you so much for help and any advice will be greatly appreciated!!

 

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Uncle John

Sometimes you will have to do a micro adjustment when printing. Your off contact should be about the thickness of a quarter on all four corners of the screen. Hope this helps.
John

 

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fdsales

Once your job is setup "in register", it should remain that way. Your could be having a problem with either your press holding proper registration, or your screen itself may be shifting. IF it's a wood screen, check the corner joints to make sure they're good & tight.
Good printing takes time; it's all about the right amount of pressure on the squeege. It sounds like to you have uneven pressure, where one hand is "heavier" than the other, and/or your not maintaining constant pressure thru out the entire stroke. This just takes lots of pratice. You'll need to train your hands to apply even pressure thru out th entire stroke, and also the same amount of pressure on both hands. Also, proper squeege angle is important. Should be about 45 degrees from the screen. The lower angle toward the screen lays down more ink, the higher angle lays down less ink.
Once again, it just takes a lot of pratice, and different garments (t/shirts vs. fleece) will require different pressures and squeege angles.
There's a really good book called How To Screen Print For Fun & Profit by Scott & Pat Fresner. Your local library may have a copy, or your could order it direct from www.usscreen.com. It's great for beginners; and it's how we got started over 20 years ago. Good Luck.

 

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