[ItsNnicholas]

I'm thinking of just building my screen printing press in my house. I'm a newbie at this but I know a bit about wood craftsmanship. i'm thinking of using this method so I can print to order for my clothing line.

I found printingplans.com I think I'll just by the complete hardware set for around $150. Is that a good price? I'll also buy the wood myself. Instead of a standing press I think I'll just put it on a table. I'll also build an exposure unit that can fit an all over printing screen for later projects but also big enough for two regular screens next to it. Underneath, I'll build a drying rack. So I think it will go up to $250 depending on the cost of the wood.

Add screens, platens, ink, emulsion, UV lights, squeegees, and SHIRTS.

All that will go be somewhere under $700 right?

*sorry for the long post

Thanks!​

 

[Solmu]

Re: Is this a good idea?

Personally I wouldn't describe it as a good idea, as I'm not a fan of wooden printing presses. On the other hand, people have successfully started this way and moved up to better equipment when they could afford it, and you have the skills to put together the press properly (if I tried, nothing would align right), so I wouldn't describe it as a bad idea either.

If it was me, I'd start with buying a basic press and restrict myself to simpler jobs, and upgrade from there. But I don't bring woodworking skills to the table, so it makes sense that you would choose a different starting point.

And yeah, the sundries won't cost you a lot of money. UV lights will probably be one of the more expensive single components in that list. $20 here, $30 there can add up, but your budget projection doesn't seem too unrealistic to me.

 

[ItsNnicholas]

Re: Is this a good idea?

Yeah... come to think of it, I don't wanna start out with something that might not work. I'll just get a table top 4 color press and build the rest from there. Thanks!

 

[AKBDL Print Co.]

Re: Is this a good idea?

When we started we built our 24x36 exposure unit... 500 w hal($11), 1/4 thick glass($40), five 2x4($10), 8 foot 1x6($2)..17 inches from the glass with a fan to keep the glass cool it takes 8.20 seconds to burn an image..make sure the glass is not UV protected.. printing press - we went away from the traditional prinitng press and made a 10 shirt/station, we saw it on youtube - some guy from peru was kicking out 20 shirts at a time... we used his design... and it works awsome.

good luck.