[AndyandTobie]

Thanks in advance to everyone who's posted here. This is my first post, as I've usually found all the answers I needed here already or in one of the books I've bought. For my first printing project I'm doing a five-color waterbased print on black on a 6/4 press. They say walk before you run, I guess I just like to taste the dirt! It's actually looking better than I'd expected, but it looks like it has a million little bubbles, craters, pock-marks, whatevers in it. I'm seeing a "seedy" look in my ink when I flood, which I assume is also air bubbles? Ink is new with no impurities. For the details, I'm using an underbase of Permaset Aqua Supercover First Down White in a 110 mesh with about 3/16" off-contact. Then I flash for about 15 seconds (if I quit earlier, it's still pretty wet, and sticks to the bottom of the next screen). It goes around the speed table for a couple minutes to let it cool, then the other colors go on wet-on-wet with regular Permaset Aqua through a 230 mesh with about 1/8" off-contact. Thanks again to everyone on this great forum!

 

[AndyandTobie]

Trying to get some photos going here, let's see if this works:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k265/inkgasket/Mobile Uploads/testshirt1_zps4851998e.jpg?t=1393227337

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k265/inkgasket/Mobile Uploads/testshirt2_zps0ec7517f.jpg?t=1393227344

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k265/inkgasket/Mobile%20Uploads/testshirt3_zps0323f819.jpg?t=1393227346

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k265/inkgasket/Mobile Uploads/testshirt4_zps83ec70fc.jpg?t=1393227351

 

[monkeystylz]

I could not load the pics I have had the same problem and it's a pain because you cant just leave the lid off for the bubbles to rise because it's waterbased ink. I added the permaset retarder so it would last longer and thin it down a little and kept tapping until the bubbles were gone but it took too long. Im sure you can make a vibrating table you can sit the ink on so it vibrates the air bubbles out. Im planning on rigging a small hand sander upside down and tie the ink bucket down and seeing if that works...

I hope you can get it sorted out quickly as I know it severely effects the quality of the print and you will never get good coverage on the underbase

Sent from my GT-I9300T using T-Shirt Forums

 

[monkeystylz]

And forgot to say welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of screen printing. And your off contact is perfect

Sent from my GT-I9300T using T-Shirt Forums

 

[monkeystylz]

And forgot to ask are you using a fan forced flash dryer because you need the air flow to make sure the moisture is out of the ink?

Sent from my GT-I9300T using T-Shirt Forums

 

[amdivoff]

You don't NEED a forced air flash but it's preferred. What's your off contact looking like?

 

[SpeedColor]

Are the bubbles already in the ink? If so that's kinda weird. If they come out after you print your flash temperature may be too high. But from what you've mentioned it seems like it's the ink. If so you should probably contact the distributor or the manufacturer.

 

[AndyandTobie]

Thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one! I'm thinking I must be introducing the air when I mix the color? I just put it into a clean plastic cup and mix with a steel ink knife, but it's gotta get mixed somehow...

 

[AndyandTobie]

You don't NEED a forced air flash but it's preferred. What's your off contact looking like?

Off contact is 3/16" for the underbase, and 1/8" for the rest. We don't technically have a forced air flash, but we do have the flash unit right next to a big box fan in an open window, so it should be drawing air across the shirt.

 

[tpitman]

I haven't used permaset inks, but with Matsui, I print with no off-contact, whites and colors. You're supposed to drive the ink into the fabric. That might eliminate the bubbles.

 

[AndyandTobie]

Wow, no off-contact? You don't have problems with the ink transferring onto the back of the next screen? We were actually having a little bit of that problem, as well.

 

[tpitman]

The waterbased inks are so thin that the first few times I used them, after a few prints the ink would start to creep under the edges of the stencil. Someone from a large shop in California that specializes in waterbased said to print with no off-contact. I've not had a problem since.
The idea of off-contact with plastisol is to let the ink release from the open areas of the stencil by the tension of the squeegee against the mesh, and lay it on the shirt. That's not to say that we don't all mash the ink onto or into the shirt, but the ideal is to lay it on top. Waterbased inks are supposed to be driven into the fabric.

 

[AndyandTobie]

Hey guys, here's an update for anyone that's interested, and I especially hope Rickie finds it helpful. I was suspicious that we were aerating the ink with bad (newbie) habits, and it looks like I was right. Laying down too much ink seems to be a big problem, too, as it somehow traps the air when the ink is pulled. Tried again today with a lot less pressure, just enough to get firm contact, and a lot more speed across the stencil to shear the ink. Also brought my squeegee a lot higher up, from about 30-35 degrees from vertical, to only maybe 15-20 degrees. Also "bit off" a small amount of ink with the squeegee to push across the screen, instead of a wide puddle. Helped a whole lot! I still have bubbles, but I think it's because I'm using the same ink I used before, which I'd already aerated. Next week I'll try again with a fresh batch of ink and see what happens. Also, I watched this highly recommended video from Bill Hood, which helped with my underbase: Screen Printing - One Stroke, No Flash, White on Black - YouTube

 

[508 screen print]

Hi,

We are waterbased screen printer specialist..
The bubbles might come because of the technique of 'squeegeeing' the ink onto the fabric.
For further consultation about the problem, you may contact us by email at the address: uyahaha(at)gmail(dot)com