[johan90]

Hey guys.

I just watched a youtube video [[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee_8IMx0uMo][/media] on screen printing and i have a question for you guys. Well, let me start it off by saying that i have never used or heard emulsion before, until today when i saw that tutorial. I was taught to use blue poly film which cost around $80.



The way it works is that instead of burning the clear sheet onto the emulated frame (like i saw on the video), i have to transfer it onto the blue poly, spray it with water, stick it onto the frame, wait for it to dry, and hope that the whole blue poly sticks when you peel the plastic.



I saw the video and I realized that it is way faster and actually way quicker (At least I think it is).



Now my questions are..

Is it really faster to use emulsion?
What emulsion do you guys use ? name? link?
How much is emulsion ? is it cheaper ?


Thank you guys !

Ill be reading your responses. Once again THANKS!

 

[pukingdeserthobo]

yeah its pretty fast i have never used blue poly but sounds horrible lol. i get my gal for about 50-60 not sure

 

[tpitman]

I'm guessing the blue poly you refer to is a capillary film emulsion product. Anyway, there are three basic kinds of emulsions (diazo, dual-cure and pure photopolymer) and prices run from around $40 to $90 a gallon. The diazo's are the slowest (and cheapest), the photopolymers are the fastest (and most expensive), the dual-cures give the best resolution. One advantage of the capillary films is the emulsion thickness is consistent, the smoothness of the stencil face is even, and, while it's expensive, you can cut the sheets to use only as much as you need, and use blockout for the rest of the screen. Additionally, the screen dries a lot faster and is ready for use quicker. One of the disadvantages of capillary film is occasionally it doesn't adhere well, or lets go during a long print run.
For garment printing, though, the liquid direct emulsions are excellent, and once you've got the application routine down using the scoop coater, it's easy. I think that, anymore, the cap films are used almost exclusively for high-end flat printing of stuff like printed circuits, although they sell some really thick cap film for doing specialty shirt stuff like high-density printing, or 3-D effects where the ink stands tall.