Related to my previous post on screenprinting the cheap but correct way. What would work best: cheap hinge clamps or a $150 one color press from Ryonet. Of course the hinge is cheaper and might work better for me but I really don't want to risk paying $20 for a pair and not having them work with what I am trying to achieve. I heard about the hinge s from here:
Seems simple, just screw it to a table but is that really all? I;m just printing fabrics (towels) maybe will do t-shirts once I get the hang of things. I'm only doing one color and the screens are 18x22.
Screen printing is, by definition, an off-contact medium.
It is the job of the mesh to pull itself out of the ink film. We need the force of the mesh to resist the blade; these opposing forces combine to make the ink transfer through the mesh like toothpaste from a tube.
When you have poor tension, it is common to raise the off-contact and use the blade as a mesh tensioning device.
Stiff blades don't bend as much, as you push down to overcome the mesh resistance and finally, actually, touch the towel you want to print.
If you print on-contact, you might as well use a sponge or the wooden handle to print.
Nobody can tell you what distance to set your off-contact because they don't know your mesh tension, ink tack or the size & shape of your image.
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How are you measuring? retired Ulano Technical Support Screen printing since 1979 - SGIA Academy Member
Screen printing is, by definition, an off-contact medium.
Only if you count the emulsion as causing the ink to be off-contact from the substrate. In which case off-contact is built in and we need never worry about it
Was screenprinting off-contact when it was invented? I don't know, but I seriously doubt it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardGreaves
If you print on-contact, you might as well use a sponge or the wooden handle to print.
Richard, I know you're the expert, and generally speaking I would defer to your greater knowledge and experience, but this is just one area where I do not agree with you.
Your standard t-shirt is printed off-contact. So are posters, signs and graphics like that.
But, in a small to medium production environment, fabric lengths, soft furnishings, etc. are not. That isn't how it could theoretically be done, that's the way they're actually printed.
I've seen the print facilities and the actual printing of three high end fashion labels that print this way. I've done it myself. I know of other companies that do things this way, including companies that sell yardage for a living. On-contact printing is a reality.
I'm sure there is some minute loss of quality, but there are also advantages. I also don't foresee an end customer ever being able to tell the difference.
I'm curious to know, is there a reason for the on contact when printing on towels.
Towels have an extremely high nap that gets in the way when printing. It is possible to lay the ink too high, so that the print looks okay at first, but is actually sitting only on the top fibres. It'll look terrible after washing.
(may not be a consideration for the original poster, since it sounds like they're not towel towels )
For that reason you'd at least want to use a somewhat low set off-contact; the aim being to really get the ink in there so to speak.
As Richard indicates, on-contact printing can be seen as unorthodox (here in the land of waterbased ink it's much more common).
What do you want this 'towel/hanging' printer (who asked "What is printing contact?"), to use - off or on contact?
I don't know much about plastisol (I don't use it), but judging by the general resistance to on-contact people have, I'm guessing it does need off-contact. So if it's plastisol (which you wouldn't ordinarily use for towels), a normal off contact.
But if they're using waterbased ink... It doesn't sound like they're using what I think of when I hear 'towels' (sounds like the fabric is smoother than that), which means it probably doesn't matter so much either way.
I'd suggest trying it both ways and seeing which works better (one of the nice things about on-contact printing is it takes pretty much no effort to do a test print).
I'm definitely not professing to be an expert on this though; I'm just saying on-contact is possible, and that this is one particular instance where if I was doing the printing, that is the way I would begin.
Froom Richards and Lewisis advise it seems that jiffy hinges are Ok to use.
You might also have to create some system to hold up the screen while loading the material on the table.
For God's sake use Jiffy clamps for $35. A one color "press: is nothing more than hines and a pallet. You can adjust your screen height by putting spacers "cut squeegee pieces". I bought my first set in 1969 and they still aren't worn out. I have printed textiles off contact and on contact both and it just depends on the thickness of the fabric, absorbtion of ink, and ability to glue down, etc. etc. etc. Your test first then print whatever works. Mesh count and squeegee hardness play a big part as well. Printing black on white fabric thru a 305 mesh is totally different from printing lo bleed white plastisol on black fabric thru a 110 mesh print flash print. It's all relative and there are no "rules". It more an art than a science....that's why I still find it challenging and interesting after all these years. Of course I didn't have a flash unit in 1969. I learned a lot at my first SGIA Show in Toronto.
After carefully reading everyone's post, I think I will try the hinges for now. They look like they will work for what I am doing and look simple and are cheap. I'm just silk screening simple flat and thin fabric towels. I plan to do shirts and I' guess I'll have to figure out how to screen those using the hinge since there is no pallet to put inside the shirt. Thanks all for all your help!
I've printed single colors with just hinges and it will work just fine. I've also printed on and off contact with plastisols and for single colors it doesn't make much difference unless your screens are really loose. But it is so easy to tape a few pieces of chipboard to your screen to set some off-contact that you really should just go ahead and do it.
Hinge clamps or one color press? 
Re: Hinge clamps or one color press? 
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