[Coreycss21]

Good afternoon everyone,

So I need a little helh with what been going wrong when I expose my screen. I’ve had hard luck,bad luck and no luck at all when it comes to exposing. This is probably my 10th all together trying to expose the screens and nothing ever comes together and works.

So I came here to see if any of you could let me know what I’m doing wrong before I give up.

Setup
So I’m using jacquard photo emulsion and diazo. I coated the screen last night and let it sit for about 15 hours. Then I put my image on the screen with a piece of glass over it. I’m using a 500w work light (glass cover off) about 12” away from the screen and let it go for 11 1/2 minutes. Then I went outside to wash the screen with my garden hose on jet and the lettering never really fully cleaned out but then certain parts around the screen the emulsion would just wash right out where it shouldn’t have. I used my power washer in the past but that seemed to strong.

What am I doing wrong?
Thank for any help!

 

[Twisted Grafix]

Try exposing it without the glass over the image. It may be blocking the needed UV light from cross-linking the emulsion properly. If it exposed correctly, then the glass is to blame. Also, it looks like you need to lay the emulsion onto the screen smoother. It is way too thick. You can tell by the drips on the opposite side of the screen. Emulsion that is too thick will not expose correctly and will have goofy exposure outcomes due to a variance in thicknesses. This means that the thin areas will be over exposed and the thick areas will not expose all the way, thus underexposing. Are you using a scoop coater to apply the emulsion?

 

[Coreycss21]

Thanks, I’ll try that tomorrow. I know the one problem I had was definitely not having it spread smoothly. Also after looking at the image I printed it looks too transparent what I think gave me the biggest problem.

 

[jadeaj58]

Try exposing it without the glass over the image. It may be blocking the needed UV light from cross-linking the emulsion properly. If it exposed correctly, then the glass is to blame. Also, it looks like you need to lay the emulsion onto the screen smoother. It is way too thick. You can tell by the drips on the opposite side of the screen. Emulsion that is too thick will not expose correctly and will have goofy exposure outcomes due to a variance in thicknesses. This means that the thin areas will be over exposed and the thick areas will not expose all the way, thus underexposing. Are you using a scoop coater to apply the emulsion?

Is there a better way to remove thick emulsion if emulsion stripper isn't working?