Coating for white on dark

[johnk6749]

When you use a 110 mesh count screen for printing white on dark as you mentioned in today's mesh count YouTube video, would you coat the print side twice in order to get a greater ink deposit on the shirt?

[Catspit Productions]

Honestly you would have to build up the emulsion over mesh ratio much more in order to notice a difference in coverage from that alone. The best thing to do is make sure to use a high quality emulsion and coat the substrate side first and then the inkwell side last. Then place in your drying rack with the inkwell side facing up parallel to the floor.

You could use the thicker edge of a double edged scoop coater. That will leave more emulsion on the screen. But in reality a rigid frame with very tight mesh and good off contact combined with a high opacity white ink will do the trick. You can also use a softer squeegee to leave even more ink down when printing. Pallet rubber on the pallet may also be beneficial to optimum coverage.

Also your flood and stroke will be the final determining factor in the end result. No matter what you do if you don’t finesse the flood and stroke properly then satisfactory coverage can be difficult to achieve. I never double coat any screen unless it were like a 30 mesh... LOL In those cases you sort of have to get a decent even coat of emulsion.

I hope that helps out, good luck and let us know how you make out.

[whiteyg]

I was reading the post and you mentioned using the softer squeegee and pallet rubber to lay down more ink. Can you elaborate on both as to why this is the case. I have heard of and seen foam used for seams and zippers but not for laying down more ink. Also while I am here and the reason I was browsing the screen making forum, I have noticed on several of your video's you tape the back of your screen instead of the ink well side, can you also speak about "why" and what difference this would make, or is this for professionals and don't try this at home...Thanks for all your hard work sharing your knowledge.

[Catspit Productions]

The pallet rubber is much different than using foam or bubble wrap. That is when you want to try to print over seems and buttons. The pallet rubber just allows for the slightest bit of give when printing and combined with a softer squeegee I believe it makes for a better print all around. I need to put pallet rubber on my press now. It takes the hardness out of the pallet. I think it helps make better prints but that’s my opinion. I have only heard a few others say the same thing.

I tape on the back side or the substrate side of my screen simply because I feel it’s easier. It never gets in the way of ink or the squeegee and it comes of easily from the back when dog eared. This is a personal preference as most people tape inside. But I only need 4 pieces of cheap masking tape so I think it’s the simplest and lowest cost method. I have no issues with the ink that may spread in that area on the inkwell side either. It all washes out in the reclaiming process.

You’re welcome and thanks for checking out the forum and make sure to explore the website for a lot more free information on screen printing. Thanks for posting!

[whiteyg]

Jonathan, after your post I started looking into the pallet rubber and the one thing that kept coming up was, "it improved the flash".

This was especially true with users of aluminum platens, the platen will asborb the heat from shirt and spread over the entire platen but with the rubber
the heat stays more in shirt, or so they say.

[Leadfoot]

Printing white on dark it probably one of the hardest things to get when you start screen printing. Jonathan's videos and information really helped me out and I have even been able to get a nice deposit of ink on 155 mesh screens from GM Graphics. I have tried several high opacity inks including Excalibur Arctic White and Ryonet White. I have some Triangle Phoenix white I am going to try soon. The Excalibur and Ryonet have both given me solid results as both are creamy and smooth. Keep working at it and be sure to ask any questions, we are all here to help and share our expeiences!

[Catspit Productions]

Jonathan, after your post I started looking into the pallet rubber and the one thing that kept coming up was, "it improved the flash".

This was especially true with users of aluminum platens, the platen will asborb the heat from shirt and spread over the entire platen but with the rubber
the heat stays more in shirt, or so they say.

Yes that should be true. It should make the pallet absorb less heat as rubber is not a good conductor of heat. So in effect it stabilizes flashing by reducing heat rather than gathering it and spreading it unevenly like a metal pallet can.

The reason it can stabilize and make flashing more consistent is because with pallet rubber on the metal pallet it will allow the metal to not get as hot as without it. I think it prevents the heat from reflecting back into the shirt at different amounts or areas on the pallet.

Using a bare metal pallet as I am currently can be good or bad depending on how you look at it. One thing I do like about bare metal pallets is that they heat up and makes the flash get faster as you print. Now that can be difficult to work with if they keep gaining heat because then the flash will never be consistent in time as the pallet’s temperature will vary throughout the print run.

In the last video I uploaded yesterday you can see that in the beginning I am testing the flash for the first few revolves and then later in the video you see me printing pretty fast as the pallets have heated up. But I do stop now and then for a break and also to let the pallets cool some.



Eventually I will buy some pallet rubber and put that on all my pallets. Sometimes my bare metal pallets can get so hot that I have the habit of grabbing the pallet arm rather than the pallet itself.

Ouch that’s hot. But now we are off on a different topic...