With white ink, it's thick by nature and you've got to mix mix mix and mix some more before use. And yes, adding a little bit of curable reducer is a good way to go.
The first picture, it looks like you've got a problem with how your screen came out, like you had some blowouts of the emulsion when rinsing after exposing.
Additionally, you need off contact, about two pennies thickness (screen adjusted above your substrate (shirt) as well as a tight screen. Try less angle in your stroke...try a push stroke and print/flash/print.
Keep at it. It takes some practice.

 

Hey Celtic,

Thanks for a great reply!, as i say i am new to this and feel plastisol is the way to go in terms of curing and durability.

I did that with no "off contact" as until i read into it after you post i was not even sure what it was so thanks again.

ive used the same screen with water based inks and hand no problems with the screen? but then the inks are worlds apart from each other.

the only pain at the mo is doing such short runs with plastisol ink , as in 2 or 3 shirts is the cleaning the screen out

Thanks again for the help

 

Hey guys

added an off contact bolt to my machine today and had a 1/4 off contact and ran a few t shirts through, i read up on some of the other threads and changed the angle i was pushing back, then first doing a fill stroke and then a push stroke. flashing and then repeating and was getting these results

i am noticing that the lettering of the web address is fatter when i do my second pass on the ink after flashing it. when i do my first print the letters are thinner and clearer then i flash it and print the second on it and they fattern out?

any ideas what im doing wrong with this. It's not the end of the world but if its something im doing i can change would be good to try.

Thanks again

 

On the 2nd pass you can just do a fill stroke. No flood with ink in front of the squeegee make a stroke. This will help.

Dot gain will always be there. I set up all artwork with 30% dot gain in mind. That way your final print will look correct.

 

Thanks Sben will give that a go,

Really good tip about the changing the art work with that in mind.

Thanks again

 

Did you purposely intend to have your letters look like that or is it part of the problem?

What brand of waterbased ink did you use?

I tried water base ink from Ryonet, and another supplier. I did not like it. Kept drying in the screen.

I switched back to plastisol. Plastisol is more forgiving.

Also, 1/4" is a little high on your off contact for t-shirts. It's okay with sweats. I'd lower to 1/8 of an inch.

I'd also do two wet strokes (print), flash, then print again. This method works great especially with darker t-shirts.

 

The font for the letters is all paint spaty and is ment to look like that sept not as fat as it is coming out. when i do my first hit and flash the letters are pretty thin and after the second hit they are fatter like in the picture.

im using Union ink and it is is diamond white Plastisol ink. i can change the off contact and give that ago i just tried 1/4 of an inch as a starter.

cool stuff, thanks

 

I give plastisol inks a good stir with a drill beforehand, especially the white as that tends to be a little thicker, I also had issues starting out but just tried out different ways until it all just clicked.

 

A 2nd way to control dot gain in use a higher mesh. 166 is the lowest mesh I use. On a print flash print I use 205. Over flooding can cause extra dot gain.

 

i made a special drill bit for stirring the ink and that worked really well. Made it a lot smoother and easier to use.

the mesh im using at the mo are 43T mesh which is not high obviously.

Cheers

 

I wouldn't consider using a 43 unless it was an under base only. Grab a 110, the resolution on your lettering isnt very smooth.

Second, That textured look your getting - it (can be) because your squeegee angle is too high (straight up and down). Try laying the squeegee down to a 45 degree or lower and see the difference- the ink will lay down MUCH smoother.

 

I wouldn't consider using a 43 unless it was an under base only. Grab a 110, the resolution on your lettering isnt very .

Remember this is the World Wide Web. The 43t is the European equivalent to the 110 in the US. That is 43 threads per CM. times that by 2.54 to get the Mesh in inches.

 

haha- noted!

 

will try a lesser angle ive been using the squeegee at about a 70 degree angle when doing the push stroke, will change it and see how that goes.

Thanks again guys

 

Just to note, I pull the squeegee towards me, not away. My prints lay perfectly flat, and I used to get the same texture as yours before I finally changed my angle. Good luck!

 

Thanks,

Definitely going to try changing the angle when i do it, i used to pull but found i after trying to push the squeegee it was a lot easier to control.

Thanks again

 

When pulling or pushing the higher the angle the more ink you will leave. The lower the angle the less the ink left. When doing a P/F/P I will do a stoke with the squeegee tilted back toward me so that just a little ink is left then flash and do a stoke with the squeegee at about 80 degrees. You can reverse the method if your getting rough print but I find there is less dot gain this way.

 

Awesome. I in my newness am amazing at how much difference it makes changing the angle of the squeegee.

Thanks alot guys

 

Have you solved your problem?