Author: Steve Eberhart <steve@...> Time: Tue Mar 9, 2004 10:30 am PST Link
David Domeier wrote:
[snip]
> This process certainly is inexpensive. The screen burn is $60 and it can be
> used over and over. Other expenses are paint ($5 for a tube of Gumbacher's
> acrylic white) and $2.39 for a small silicone spatula to apply it.
>
> The next step is to test the process. The screen is 160 mesh and paint
> viscosity will determine how well it goes through and rests on the surface.
> Paint in a tube can be thinned with water as needed. If that doesn't work,
> I will try enamel from a local hardware store. Another issue is
> compatibility with the painted surface and whether a clear coat is
> appropriate after the labels are down.
>
> The process of getting the paint through screen is somewhat of an art. I
> know a guy who does this type of work on corporate jets that are being
> modified and require new labeling. He creates his own screens in various
> sizes. The actual application of the paint is done by dabbing a small
> amount at one end of the label and then swiping across the label with a
> rubber squeegy dragging the paint over it. The screen is positioned about
> and eighth inch over the panel and after the pass is pops up leaving the
> label impression on the panel. If the result is smeared or has inadequate
> paint, he simply wipes it off and does it again until the result is
> satisfactory. Most of the time it is.
[snip]
Hi David,
I debated weather to get into this discussion or not but here goes.
Screen printing is relatively simple and if you can build an RV you
should be able to master it. But, like most things, you can make it
easy on yourself or sufficiently complex enough to almost guarantee less
than desirable results. That said, here are some suggestions that work
for me.
I make my own screens and my technique is about as cheap and acceptable
of a solution as you are going to find. Work with several smaller
screens rather than having one large, expensive screen made. It is easy
to position them where ever you want the labeling so do it in small
sections. You can also use scotch tape to cover areas of the screen
that you are not currently using.
A silk screen is just stretched polyester fabric with a frame to hold it
stretched. Go to your local fabric store and buy several 12" or so
metal embrodery hoops. Go to your local hobby shop and buy a tube of
regular model airplane cement, Testers, etc. Go to your local Dick
Blick art supply store
http://www.dickblick.com/categories/screenprinting/ , or mail order,
some of their polyester silk screem material in the finest weave they
have. You will also want to buy a photo sensitizing kit to make the
screen photo sensitive so we can expose it with the artwork we want to
screen.
Cut out circles of screen fabric and put in the embrodery (sp?) hoops
and glue the fabric to the hoop all around the circumference of the
hoop. After the glue dries take your hot air gun or a household iron
and shrink the fabric taught. After all, Ceconite is the same stuff so
just shrink it with heat.
Mix up the photo emulsion per the directions and using a putty knife
with a blade a little wider than 1/2 the diameter of the hoop coat the
screen with the photo emulsion. Hold the screen at about a 45 degree
angle fron vertical and just get an even coat of the emulsion on both
sides of the screen. Put the screen in a DARK place to dry.
Now the easy part. Make up all of the text for your labels im Microsoft
word or your favorite draw program and print it out using your ink jet
printer on transparent overhead projector sheets.
Place the screen on the floor with the fabric up and a piece of black
construction paper on the floor under the screen. Put a piece of glass
over the transparency and position a #2 photo flood lamp about 2 feet
over the screed and expose the screen for about 20 minutes. You can
work with the sensitized screen in subdued light just don't have any
direct light other than the photo flood. After the exposure take the
screen to your kitchen sink and using the hand sprayer in your sink
spray out the unset emulsion from your screen. You will soon see the
text and graphic areas show up. I generaly gently rub over the areas
text areas while I am spraying the warm water through the screen. You
will see what I mean when you try it.
You now have a screen that only needs some tape around the edges to
completely seal the screen.
Dana Overall and I are working on some carbon fiber instrument panels
for our RV-7s and we will be using this method to make the screens for
our panels. I will take pictures and put up a web site showing the
procedure. The actual screening is again pretty simple but please use
silk screen inks and not hardware store paints. I can walk you through
getting a nice silkscreened panel using the right materials. You are on
your own with anything else.
More to come.
Steve Eberhart
RV-7A - still working on wings
Author: David Domeier <davidd010@...> Time: Tue Mar 9, 2004 5:12 pm PST Link
Steve,
Thanks for the Silk-Screen 101 response - great information on this subject.
I appreciate it and the source for silk-screen supplies. They do have
smaller screens.
I tried the artist acrylic paint today and it made a perfect label the first
time. Even my wife said it looks great. Just wondering, why is printers
ink better? The paint is not cheap. At $5 for 2 ounces, that comes to
about $80 a quart.
dd
Author: Steve Eberhart <steve@...> Time: Wed Mar 10, 2004 3:22 am PST Link
David Domeier wrote:
> I tried the artist acrylic paint today and it made a perfect label the first
> time. Even my wife said it looks great. Just wondering, why is printers
> ink better? The paint is not cheap. At $5 for 2 ounces, that comes to
> about $80 a quart.
Artist acrylics are a thick medium that would work very nicely with the
screen printing process. You want something with some body to it so
that it doesn't run on or under the screen. My comment about using
screen printing inks/paints rather than hardware store enamels was
simply an attempt to minimize the number of variables that a person new
to screen printing has to deal with.
With a reasonable screen, Nazdar epoxy ink, and a sharp squeegee, you
can pretty well plan on getting acceptable results right from the start.
You will also know that the epoxy ink will be as good as anything that
you could use from a durability standpoint. Why add more variables than
there needs to be?
Steve Eberhart
RV-7A - still working on wings
N14SE reserved