I still have a lot more testing to do with this process, but yesterday I was at the shop until 2am doing a dry-run of something we've wanted to try for a long time..... My production manager and I spent hours measuring, adjusting and aligning things, just to find out if this would even be possible or not.
After last night's dry-run, things look very promising! Due to the platen height on our automatic screen press, we had to take the wheels off the Neoflex so the printer would be at the correct height. Additionally, we spent some time adjusting the screen press as much as we could, to get the platen as close to the print head as possible (without risking damage). It actually took us quite a bit of time to move the Neoflex from the DTG room to the screen printing room, as we disassembled it and then reassembled it by the press; we also had to maneuver around other equipment to get where we needed to go. Ultimately, we decided it would be easier to change our setup a little bit, but we will setup up again and re-test another day.
Here are some pictures of the setup - you can obviously see what we are trying to do:
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
Sorry for the blurry pics - it was late and we were tired. To register the color layer to the screen printed base, we first loaded a white shirt and printed the same image we used to burn the screen. The idea is to then line up the screen with this printed image, using the registration marks; from there is would be easy to change the image out with the color version and print it directly on a plastisol or discharge under base. You can see we were a little too far away from the print head (plus we were just going for registration so we printed the test layer at 360 x 360); in order to get good registration, we knew we would have to make some changes to our setup and we were way too tired at this point. By the time we finally knew what we were doing, it was late and I had to head home; much more testing will be coming in the next few days.....
![Image]()
We have an order of 300 dark colored t-shirts coming in, and others for 100 or more - if we could screen print the white base, that would make the cost more competitive. I have a client who orders some stuff DTG (one-offs) and some stuff screen printed; it would be nice if all of their screen printed stuff could have the color layers digitally printed, so the prints look the same no matter how they are ordered (one-off or bulk). This process has a lot of potential, and the way the Neoflex is built makes this a relatively easy thing to attempt; the moving printer design is ideal for this setup. I appreciate all the hard work of all the folks who have been working dilligently in the main thread, concerning DTG / Screen Printing hybrid setups - I have learned most of what I know from following their amazing efforts. Thanks again, guys!
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/direct-garment-dtg-inkjet-printing/t154138.html
I will keep everyone posted as we have more time to test this.
After last night's dry-run, things look very promising! Due to the platen height on our automatic screen press, we had to take the wheels off the Neoflex so the printer would be at the correct height. Additionally, we spent some time adjusting the screen press as much as we could, to get the platen as close to the print head as possible (without risking damage). It actually took us quite a bit of time to move the Neoflex from the DTG room to the screen printing room, as we disassembled it and then reassembled it by the press; we also had to maneuver around other equipment to get where we needed to go. Ultimately, we decided it would be easier to change our setup a little bit, but we will setup up again and re-test another day.
Here are some pictures of the setup - you can obviously see what we are trying to do:
Sorry for the blurry pics - it was late and we were tired. To register the color layer to the screen printed base, we first loaded a white shirt and printed the same image we used to burn the screen. The idea is to then line up the screen with this printed image, using the registration marks; from there is would be easy to change the image out with the color version and print it directly on a plastisol or discharge under base. You can see we were a little too far away from the print head (plus we were just going for registration so we printed the test layer at 360 x 360); in order to get good registration, we knew we would have to make some changes to our setup and we were way too tired at this point. By the time we finally knew what we were doing, it was late and I had to head home; much more testing will be coming in the next few days.....
We have an order of 300 dark colored t-shirts coming in, and others for 100 or more - if we could screen print the white base, that would make the cost more competitive. I have a client who orders some stuff DTG (one-offs) and some stuff screen printed; it would be nice if all of their screen printed stuff could have the color layers digitally printed, so the prints look the same no matter how they are ordered (one-off or bulk). This process has a lot of potential, and the way the Neoflex is built makes this a relatively easy thing to attempt; the moving printer design is ideal for this setup. I appreciate all the hard work of all the folks who have been working dilligently in the main thread, concerning DTG / Screen Printing hybrid setups - I have learned most of what I know from following their amazing efforts. Thanks again, guys!
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/direct-garment-dtg-inkjet-printing/t154138.html
I will keep everyone posted as we have more time to test this.
