Tape?

Taping off the screen.

(when you coat a screen with emulsion you generally don't go to the edges, so you need to tape them off so the ink doesn't pass through the sides of the screen)

Oh ok so you are covering the places that did not get emulsion on. Is there a reason you dont coat the whole thing with emulsion?

the emulsion will eventuually eat a hole in your mesh bevause it's really hard to get out. holes are not friends of mesh.

after a long while of buying the expensive "printers tape", i found regular old masking tape works juuuuust fine. purchase it at a warehouse club and you're set for monthes!!!

Yogurt said:

Oh ok so you are covering the places that did not get emulsion on. Is there a reason you dont coat the whole thing with emulsion?

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i forgot to add that generally you tape BEFORE you coat the screen so you don't get it into the cracks where holes will form.

but, after doing it a while you may find yourself totally skilled in the coating department and tapeing afterwards. but i wouldnt recommend that if you're just starting. take your time, become one with the goop scopp.

taping also prevents unwanted ink from sneaking through holes- pinholes and otherwise- and onto a garment. nothing quite like finding mystery blobs...

Yogurt said:

Is there a reason you dont coat the whole thing with emulsion?

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The scoop coater would scrape along the edges of the frame, interfering with getting a nice even coat of emulsion onto the mesh. Plus it wouldn't be physically possible when coating the inside of the screen.

Masking tape is not the best tape to use. It will soak up all the oil in the plasticols cuasing issues with the ink. We use clear packing tape (mid priced range). easy to use, clean up is quick and the cost is minimal. The cheap clear tape will leave glue residue on the screens making cleaning a pain.

We use masking tape for pinholes as its easier to rip into small sizes.

The clear should be cheaper than masking tape thus saving you some $$$$$$.

A penny saved is a penny earned

Fluid said:

Masking tape is not the best tape to use. It will soak up all the oil in the plasticols cuasing issues with the ink. We use clear packing tape (mid priced range). easy to use, clean up is quick and the cost is minimal. The cheap clear tape will leave glue residue on the screens making cleaning a pain.

We use masking tape for pinholes as its easier to rip into small sizes.

The clear should be cheaper than masking tape thus saving you some $$$$$$.

A penny saved is a penny earned

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hmm, i've never had a problem with masking tape... but we take it off right away. we've actually had problems with goo balls when we used "real" printing tape. go figure...

when you use packing tape- doesn't it take a little of the stencil with it when you take it off? seems like it would be super super sticky and unforgiving.

when you use packing tape- doesn't it take a little of the stencil with it when you take it off? seems like it would be super super sticky and unforgiving.

Click to expand...

havent had any issues at all. Just need to try out a couple varieties of clear tape to find the right one.

zagadka said:

when you use packing tape- doesn't it take a little of the stencil with it when you take it off? seems like it would be super super sticky and unforgiving.

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I use standard brown packing tape and have never had that problem.

The only time it's taken emulsion off with it is when there was a thick gob, caused by a drip from a poor coat job.

Sometimes the (cheap, crappy) tape splits or leaves behind small pieces when being removed (especially if it's been on the screen a while) which is a pain, but that's about it.