What exactly is Silk Screening?
Usually only appropriate for large runs. You
have a fine mesh screen, formerly made of real
silk but now often polyester or even stainless steel.
It's typically mounted in a wooden frame with
a hinge on the back. You coat the screen with
a sensitizing emulsion. Your panel artwork master
must be opaque black on a clear background.
You lay the artwork over the (dry) coated screen
and expose with a UV lamp (sun lamp, etc), which
hardens the emulsion wherever it hits. Then you
spray the unexposed emulsion away with water.
To screen a panel, you put the piece under the
frame, squirt a line of paint along the top edge
of the screen (above the art part) and then
squeegee the ink down the screen, forcing paint
through onto your piece. Once you have done
all the hard work of making the screen, you can
"pull an impression" (print a new panel) in only
a few seconds per panel.
You can get exquisite resolution with this method
using really fine-mesh screens. You can use
multiple colors by using "block out" solution to
paint over the regions of the screen you don't want
to print. Print the first color, let it dry, wash the
block out away and reapply in a new location,
replace the panel in the exact location, and print
again with another color.
And you can do T shirts in your spare time!
Bob Masta
dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom
D A Q A R T A
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com
