To print higher top quality pictures and be as productive as doable, our equipment has to be in peak form. Screen printing equipment has particular needs.

I print caps, and the initial upkeep products I look at are the screen and squeegee. The situation of these two items will decline quicker than other aspects of printing gear that I also monitor. Some of these other aspects will surprise any person who prints, regardless of no matter whether you print caps, shirts, sweats, indicators or other things, but very first let’s appear at cap screens and squeegees.

Screen

Cap screens are various from shirt screens, mainly because one side have to be a thin bar to print the image close to the bill of the cap. The image may possibly be as close as 1/16″ to the inside of the thin bar rather than out in the center of the screen like a T-shirt screen.

When the tension on a screen is minimal, the mesh could shift out of registration during printing and the ink most likely will be driven down into the fabric. The color of the fabric can then be observed. So a flash cure and second print are expected. That double operate can be avoided with tight screens and by taking other actions.

Low tension screens trigger ink to create up beneath the screen. Then the screens want to be cleaned periodically in the course of a print run. The tension will be even lower close to the thin side of the frame, which is the image region, than in other areas of the screen. A tip off to this low tension at the bottom of the image location is a higher quantity of ink becoming deposited.

One particular of the most critical methods to producing prime good quality photos and getting productive is making use of higher tension screens. Tension is far more essential for cap screens than shirt screens, because supplies applied to make caps, particularly foam front caps, are softer than T-shirts, signs and many other things

Stretch and glue screens, that is, those where the mesh is glued to the frame, likely will need to be re-stretched and glued before a job of any size. A retensionable frame can be utilised to tighten the mesh without the need of removing the mesh. An aluminum tubular frame will hold far more tension than wood.

If the frame is not retensionable, then the thin bar should be steel rather than aluminum, or worse, wood, Tension can be enhanced by deflecting the thin bar side of the screen in towards the center of the screen before attaching the mesh. Steel need to we wiped down with mineral spirits or alcohol to eliminate the oil so super glue will hold the mesh beneath tension even by means of the bar is only 1/8″ thick. When the glue is dry on all 4 sides, then mesh can be laid over the flat side of the thin bar and glued to the flat side with super glue. (doable exhibit is photo showing deflection of steel bar on cap frame with fast clamp)

Receiving mesh tension to a level just short of breaking the mesh is a essential maintenance step to avoid complications that have an effect on good quality and productivity. The screen and squeegee are like two blades of scissors that ought to be sharp to cut ink off and deposit that ink on the surface of a cap.

Squeegee

Cap squeegees are also uniquely various from shirt squeegees. Ordinarily only 4″ lengthy, cap squeegee blades will deflect more than shirt squeegee blades, and specifically at the corners. When the image is getting printed by a soft corner of the squeegee blade a different quantity of ink will be deposited than by the center of the blade.

Selecting plastisol ink or triple durometer blade like 75-95-75 rather than the 70 durometer blade frequently utilized for shirts will market high quality and productivity. Changing the blade in the handle could possibly be the greatest choice. Selecting a squeegee with an aluminum deal with with bolts by means of the handle, but not the blade, or wood manage with the blade glued into the manage will give improved support to the blade than a wood deal with with bolts by way of the blade. Bolts that go by way of a blade are stress points that will warp a blade more than time.

A squeegee must be stood straight up on a flat surface like glass to see if the blade is straight. If there is light below the blade, then the blade will will need to be sharpened. If there are nicks in the blade, or the cutting edge is not square and sharp, then the blade ought to be sharpened. Rounded edges will push ink via the mesh rather than reduce the ink off so ink can be laid on the surface of the fabric. When a blade is sharp, the square edges ought to be polished with a homemade polishing device just before each and every job to keep the edges sharp. (achievable exhibit)

When printing has been completed, ink should be wiped off quickly. If ink is left on the blade for days, the blades over time will grow to be hard and the material will chip. If chemical compounds are utilized on the blade, the blade need to be flushed with water before storing the squeegee. Squeegees must be stored devoid of resting on the blade, simply because that would warp the blade.