printing vinyl stickers...

[themaeor]

Iam a beginer,and need help.i got everything setup,but when i go to ink my stickers,i dont get enough ink on my stickers.ive done the flood and stroke just like on the catspit youtube video but still nothing.is there a specific ink and mesh count that iam not getting right?

[Catspit Productions]

You need a special air dry vinyl ink for printing on vinyl. It would most likely be on the thinner side as far as thickness so maybe a 200 mesh count would be fine depending on your artwork. You’ll probably want to use a harder squeegee as well. Maybe a 90 durometer.

But if the ink is not passing through the screen easily and printing well then it could be an issue with the mesh, stencil or perhaps the ink. It is very hard to tell without seeing anything. If you can provide more details on what you are doing and what you are using along with a photo of the end print result, I may be able to help more.

[Free Man]

Hi, new just now to the forum. A few years ago I started a small skateboard co. I had a local printer making some shirts for it, and it sparked an interest in screen printing for me. One year or so ago I took advantage of a sale from a shop that upgraded to robots and I bought some equipment. That shop gave me some pointers, but other than that, I am self taught with much help from catspit on youtube.
I found yet another shop sale, and bought stuff I didnt know much about because it was a great deal and I saw a future value. Well that future is now. I have some one asking me about stickers and I think the stuff I bought and have had sitten on shelves for a couple years now may be for this type of thing. I would like to post some pics and lists of stuff I have in the hopes that some one could tell me what its uses are.
Thanks Cat Spit! I will post detailed questions pics and so on soon.

[Catspit Productions]

Sure we'll do the best we can to help you out. It's nice to hear that Catspit has helped you out.

We look forward to your future posts. Good luck and thanks for using the Catspit forum!

[Free Man]

Hi, took some pics of the inks and things that I bought and wanted to put them here....usually theres a attachments button, and then browse, then I choose the pic from my downloads and open it. Sorry for my lack of computer skills. How does one add photos here? Thanks, I realize this may seem dumb.

[Catspit Productions]

Nah it’s not a dumb question. There is an “upload attachment” tab directly below the text box when you post. Just take a minute to look for it. It’s a little obscure but if you look you should see it.

[Free Man]

ok, thanks, gonna give it a shot.

[Free Man]

alright it worked, gonna post a few more. So again, what I did was buy some tools and things from a shop closing for cheap. Didnt know if I would need it all or not, but the price was right so I just picked it all up. If any one can tell me the uses for this stuff that would be great. I have had it for a couple years, and some of it actually has dates written on them, as far back as '97. If this stuff goes bad etc. let me know. Thanks a lot.

[Free Man]

I have buckets and buckets of this stuff. I also got hundreds of screens, many of which are huge, I guess for banners or signs. Also a ton of what I think is called roller frames. The roller frames dont fit in my machine well, I got several large rolls of screen mesh materials too. If any one has an interest in these large screens, inks, or roller frames and what not, I am open to trades and or cheap sales.

[Catspit Productions]

Oh yeah, 1997? Some of that must be no good. I would sort through it and look into each bucket to see if the product is still viable. I would guess as the Nazdar ink appears to be all air dry stuff then some must have dried out for various reasons.

I am not familiar with the yellow buckets but Nazdar makes a lot of different inks for screen printing. Looks like you might have some stuff for membrane switch printing. I would really suggest contacting Nazdar or the other makers of the ink you have and ask for product information. They should help out.

But I see you have some thinners and retarders there. The thinner does just that, thins the ink out. The retarder will make it dry slower so it is easier to work with on press. Man you got a lot of ink and such there. Enamels and epoxies; they must have printed a lot of different items including metals and plastics.

But yeah to sort that all out you’re going to need some info from the manufacturers I think.