Screen Printing Kits
- Started
- Last post
- 13 Responses
- seed
Are these worth the money for a simple intro into silkscreen? Or is it better to buy quality items separately? I bought a Speedball kit for $80 during my end of year tax shopping spree.
Contents include a 10-inch x 14-inch screen frame, Fabric Squeegee, 3 jars of 4 oz. Fabric Ink (Black, Red, Yellow), 4 oz. Screen Filler, 4 oz. Drawing Fluid, 4oz Diazo Photo Emulsion, 4 oz. Diazo Photo Emulsion Remover and Instruction Booklet.
- mrdobolina0
Seed, I wouldnt bother. Those things are like toys.
http://www.victoryfactory.com/ I shop here. Get some screens, hinges and photo emulsion and you are on your way. Buy a photoflood bulb online for like 4 bucks. I do still buy ink from hobby stores. I don't need gallons of it laying around. hope that helps.
- True, but the speedball ones are ok for dicking around with and getting a feel for things. Ink's shit mind.detritus
- I still use speedball acrylic inks. the thing about those kits is you can get real shit for the same price.mrdobolina
- mrdobolina0
go with aluminum frames too, they don't warp like wood does.
- seed0
Thanks for the advice. I was guessing I wouldn't need all those checmicals right away anyway. Do you buy more primary colors and mix them your self? Do you have a 4-color station at home?
- seed0
Is it better to just make your own hinge/clamp setup when doing it DIY?
- mrdobolina0
buy quality hinges and you can build a 1 color yourself. I had a DIY 4 color and the results werent so good. Id recommend buying one if you are interested in printing shirts multicolor. I can print multicolor on paper just fine with the one color, but shirts need a carousel. I just mix my own inks.
- seed0
Cool, thanks for all the advice. I may try to build that. I'd love to see more of your prints someday.
- horton0
dobs.. you say multi color shirts need a carousel... is that to improve workflow or registration issues?
would a DIY setup like above suffice for small runs of multi-color tees if registration wasn't a big issue?
questionsquestionsquestions.
- invisiblechamber0
from 2003 - but screenprinting is timeless:
- Arne! how is it going, man? Still rocking in Mobka?vsc
- who is this? vasco?
no - out of moscow - but virtually still active over there.invisiblechamber - yes. it's me. I've been out of the loop for a long while but it's nice to hear from you, A. All's good no doubt?vsc
- si si - woot eta ochin karacho. been off-looping too. site is growing a beard. went totally into filmmaking. et tu?invisiblechamber
- glad to hear. me? nothing wunderbar. mostly postponing (i know...) Waiting revelation beats lazyness 2-nil ;)vsc
- no, it's presently 0-2, so it must be 3-2.vsc
- I'm trying to get into book-editing but it's a labyrinth. Te cacherais lendemain, freundebildschirm. speed para ti.vsc
- aww - frame busted. kruta. drop me a mail, will you ;-)invisiblechamber
- j_red0
i bought my wife a speedball kit for christmas, we'll see how it goes. she loves the gocco so i thought she'd like this.
- mrdobolina0
it would be a real pain to try to get any sort of accurate registration without using a carousel. The first print may work out well but trying to see thru the ink in the screen to line up print 2 would be nearly impossible. not worth it. you can print multicolor on paper using the above apparatus.
- todaysnew0
you could always design with overprinting in mind. put the qualities of the medium to work for you. people tend to like the "artsy-ness" of that effect.
if you don't want to deal with exposing your own screens, which would require a dark room, exposure unit, chemicals, wash tank, etc, etc.
buy a few blank screens at a size you like with the right mesh count depending on what you're printing on.
take it to a local print shop with your films and have them burn the screen for you. you can ask them to recommend mesh counts too.
i used to get charged $8-$10 per screen. turn around was like a day. just keep reclaiming them after you're done with the artwork and want a new image.
if you're just messing around, wood frames tend to be cheaper.
- mrdobolina0
Seed, here is this one in red. 1/4 inch plywood 12x12. I just printed and clearcoated this thing a few minutes ago.
Here is a thread I did about the process a while back
http://www.qbn.com/topics/538267…Here is a thread where bonseff did it before mine
http://www.qbn.com/topics/537094…All fun stuff, I wish more people around here screen printed.