silk screen machine

[Mr. midnight]

hello folks i just finished building a cnc machine and now im wanting to build a silk screen machine at the request of my daughter.
she is paying for the supplies, im new to this area so im sure i will sound foolish.
i could buy one , but i rather build one that perhaps works with a computer, just like a cnc machine.

is there kits out there that can get this done.
please direct me , thank you.

....................Robert

[High Seas]

A few (years) back VacPress did a handout/brochure here on the 'zone - showing 90% of how to make one - not a kit but pretty good plans. Might do a search here.
Jim

[307startup]

You'll probably end up modding a router design to make a CNC'd silkscreen machine. I really don't see where this will save her any time or make her job easier, unless you automate changing the screens for multi-color prints as well. Or you figure out a way to keep the the screens stationary and having the screen printed item move out from under one screen and up under the next screen without losing position. It's doable & I have several ideas in my mind, but I can't see it being inexpensive.

For example,
1. You could mount the squeegee on the gantry, with the color in a container at the end of the table (your "toolchanger" staging area). This would move up & down in the z axis, and across the y axis.

2. Your bed would be long and wide enough to support 3 screens (the average for a multi-color screen printing)

3. Your workpiece would be on a movable platen that would move in the x axis...underneath your bed. It moves on rails to its new position and then travels upward to a locking position, where the squeegee does its magic, then down again and over to the next screen.

Of course, you would still need to have some kind of workholding device that your workpiece is mounted to...say a rigid plastic board that the t-shirt stretches over...that has registers to load it on the movable platen correctly and repeatedly. And someone to load the t-shirts on the boards and then onto the platen...and also off the last platen and return those boards to the beginning of the assembly line. As well as reload the paint. As well as maintain the squeegee. And also operate the controller side of the machine.

Not to be a buzzkill...I actually like the concept. Maybe you'll knock me dead with a much simpler & "Why didn't I think of that?" design that does what your daughter is hoping to accomplish. Which, other than CNC a silkscreen machine, wasn't really explained in your post. So good luck and I'll definitely keep my eye on this. Maybe I can contribute something positive.

[vacpress]

Hello. Having done lots of screenprinting, i would recomend a more craft approach, assuming your daughter is an artist.

if you look at production silkscreen machines, they get quite large and complicated before abandoning human operation for computerized operation. a exception may be the small PCB silkprinting machines ive seen. the larger human operated machines have several screens mounted on a rotating axis. these are on spring loaded hinges and come down to the material that is on a platform with tape or other registration methods..

here are some links

http://www.mrprint.com/en/Home.aspx


http://cgi.ebay.com/4-color-silk-scr...QQcmdZViewItem



the cool thing about silkscreen printing equipment is that it can be had or made cheaply - free almost. there are automated silk printing machines, dont get me wrong, but i think silk screen printing is a wonderfull art. a persons first silk screen experiences should be with a frame, a squeegee, some ink, and a pattern, especially if they are serious about the art.

for some more info, do some google searches, and also you can find a decent tutorial on silkscreen machine building at my website.

i know the machine i propose is not ambitious or exciting to an engineer - but it is just what an artist needs to get into silkscreen printing.

what is your daughters application for screen printing?

[vacpress]

http://www.robertguyser.com/diy-articles/2.html

link for booklet thingie... i really will finish it eventually.. soon as i do some more screen printing..

[Ironeagle]

I have a few websites with machine idea's and many of the parts that wlll help
you design the machine. I have been working creating an auto style machine and maybe
we can help each other with ideas.
tagrafx69@yahoo.com
Thanks
Tom Aguilera

[vacpress]

tom, i would be interested in seeing your machine.

does it rotate the screens and used a fixed 1-axis squeegee clamp? that is a design ive seen and one ive considered building for 'fun'... i dont think automating silkscreen printing is a good thing to do except for fun.... you would have to put in some $$$$ to get results that warrant all of the effort designing the thing.. at least that is my analysis.

[Mr. midnight]

thanks for the reply, folks my daughter is an actor on broadway in lion king and is touring in Hawai.

i will be the artist and producer of her shirts, she will provide the money

i will be starting as soon as possible, and i will be looking at your site and others.

thanks....Robert

[vacpress]

mr midnight - silkprinted t-shirts?

well. i have to say it takes some experience and effort to make decent t-shirts. silkprinting is the sort of thing people spend many years at before they consider themselves any good.

however, a simple machine is the way to go even then. a complex computer controlled device, especially like described above with the gantry and 3 screens or whatever - that will not be a good solution, in my oppinion.

goto the art store. get a pre-stretched silkscreen frame (under 20$), a squeegee ($10-$20), and a canister of ink.. maybe even some photo emulsion.. try doing some printing.. see how cheap it is to get started?

people make very nice t-shirts using manual machines with multiple frames on a carousel. these snap into registration...

to effectively make multicolor t-shirts, you will also need an oven.

if i was involved in something like lion king productions, silkscreen t-shirts might not have the aesthetic i want. the images can be very striking, but are of a graphic nature.. think andy warhol's soup can is an ok example. monochromatic color fields, halftones for gradations.

gradation patterns take some practice, as do fades and wipes. t-shirt inks use plastic 'bubbles' suspended in a binder, you iron them to melt the bubbles and make it waterproof.

[Mr. midnight]

thanks again for the reply, and yes you are correct ,im about to get into and area that will take a learning curves.

i will take your advice and start small and cheap and work my way up.
im also a fine artist and know how to paint, so i will have some idea of what im about to do.
in the end results im looking to come up with a good design and quality t-shirt.

so with that said i know im about to mess up a whole lot of t-shirts and ink.

but if this works out the way my daughter and i want it to.

that computer device will start to look good.

but in the mean time its the basics.
im on my way to the art store ........... thanks ..............Robert

[vacpress]

mrmidnight-

sure, no problem.. feel free to ask for help with emulsion and exposure and using printed transparency sheets as 'a positive'.

I had to spend hours experimenting before i figured out how to use photo emulsion. the documentation,at least 6 or 7 years ago, was laughable.

[DigitalMayhem]

I screen print for a living. I thought it was gonna be easy when I started. The thing is, there are MANY steps that have to be done right on the right equipment to achieve a presentable print. I did not say expensive equipment, nor did I say retail. I was going to attempt to build a press and exposure unit, but then I found a company going out of business and purchased all of their equipment. Chemicals are expensive, and it can be very messy.