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Extreme DIY

1968 Views 9 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  2020 PrintWorks, 
2020 PrintWorks
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I'm slightly embarrassed to be sharing this, but oh well. Business is slow so I haven't gotten real equipment yet. I got an order for 20 black shirts with a 1 color front. I ended up printed is as a two color because I think it looks better. As far as equipment goes I have my home made 3 color 1 station, $20 space heater for a flash and my hix heat press. Normally I would do transfer but the gold looked like hell when press. So what I did was rig the press to stay about a 1/4" off the shirt for 10 mins. It worked. The shirts came out as nice as any I've printed on commercial equipment. It just took about 20 times longer. I just figured I would share in case anyone gets in a bind and wonders how you can cure shirt without a flash or a dryer and without heat pressing them.

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OneTrickPony
nice set up, lol D.I.Y just rocks when it works
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is pic 2 the space heater? if so did you attach feet to it?
Im going to try diying a flash this weekend from a halogen cooker and a tin cooking tray :) plenty of threads in the asian forum saying they have done it.
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2020 PrintWorks
No the heaters just come that way. They have metal things that stick out so that in case they tip over they won't be directly touching the floor. They have a small heating area though. I could only flash half the print at a time. I'd go with a griddle if your doing it on the cheap. I bought one of those halogen cookers at a thrift store. They have really small heating elements also. I couldn't see how they would be good for lashing anything larger than a heartcrest. They might work well for printing hats because the fan directs all the heat outwards instead of down.
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thats what the cooking pan part is for, this is going to be attached to the bottom, as the cooker has a fan this should circulate the air around the whole of the pan area.
Well thats the theory and as i said enough posts in the asian forum seem to verify this would work, at the end of the day i have the cooker, and pan so if it doesn't work all im out is a pan.
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OneTrickPony
angippp said:
is pic 2 the space heater? if so did you attach feet to it?
Im going to try diying a flash this weekend from a halogen cooker and a tin cooking tray :) plenty of threads in the asian forum saying they have done it.
Click to expand...
i have seen d.i.y flash units using a single hot plate and a pc fan attached at the back to cure water based inks the fan blows air through the hot plate so you get the flashgun effect but with a bigger more constant surface add the foil hood and you have a super heatgun :)
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2020 PrintWorks
angippp said:
thats what the cooking pan part is for, this is going to be attached to the bottom, as the cooker has a fan this should circulate the air around the whole of the pan area.
Well thats the theory and as i said enough posts in the asian forum seem to verify this would work, at the end of the day i have the cooker, and pan so if it doesn't work all im out is a pan.
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Oh ok. I didn't know that. I thought you just took the top off and used that. Let me know how it works!
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sben763
A very good option that works well is a infrared heater or a quartz heater. Some have built DIY conveyor dryers with them. I know they work well as a few years back my flash decided to quit. I ran to Menards and bought a quartz heater about $50. Damn thing worked as well as my flash but took some time to hang it. The other thing is it had a tip over switch that I had to bypass.

Good thing it was winter time as a lot of stores don't sell those in the spring though summer months. I now have a back up at all times plus I still have the heater in the shed.
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chronicdesigns81 said:
Oh Let me know how it works!
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not tested yet but photos and steps are in this thread

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/screen-printing-equipment/t365538.html#post2054586


update: it works! flashed white ink to touch dry in 1 min.
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2020 PrintWorks
It's been a while but I figured I'd post and say that the halogen cooker definitely works to flash or cure. I've been curing with mine for a while now. Probably printed over 1000 shirts with it and no complaints. The way I have it set up it cures in a 1:30 once it has a chance to warm up all the way. The only drawback is there's lots of smoke so it has to be done outside or some sort of vent worked out.
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