The advantage of an aluminum screen
printing frame is the durability and longevity it keeps. Unlike wood
silk screen printing frames when exposing frames to water in a dip tank
This was insure a flat frame
Through thousands of prints to come. Aluminum frames can also be stretched and
re-stretched many times. The mesh and glue are simply removed from the frame
Once cleaned, the
frames can then be re-stretched which will give you the ability to use that
frame for years of hard work in your shop.
Aluminum frames are also light weight which makes shipping
If you look at it you have the money in the long run.
maximizeize performance in your shop, aluminum frames are a great item to add to
your screen printing equipment.
More about screen printing mesh size: Different mesh sizes are used for different
applications in the screen printing process. Mesh size is measured by how many
threads of mesh there are crossing per square inch. For instance, a 110 mesh
screen has 110 threads crossing per square inch. The higher the mesh count, the
The size of the mesh has a lot to
If with your detailed image
you have an image with extremely high detail, a lower mesh screen will not hold the
high detail. The fine lines or dots in the image will simply fall through
holes in the mesh not giving you a correct representation of what your image
Also be you are using a thinner ink, the ink will also flood through
the larger holes and soak onto your shirt or substrate making your image blurry
as the ink bleeds. On the other hand, if you are trying to print a thicker ink
(such as white) through to high of a mesh screen, barely any ink will print
through the mesh. You will notice that different company have different sizes
available. If the mesh count is fairly close, such as the difference between
155 vs. 156, 196 vs. 200, or 81 vs. 86, the difference is the so negligible and
small that it will not matter in your final results.
Since there are many variables involved in silk screen printing we
can not tell you exactly what mesh sizes are used for what applications.
we can give you a general outline of what sizes to use for certain types of
printing. Your basic and most standard mesh sizes are 110 and 156. 110 mesh
lays a fairly thick layer of ink down. It & # 39; s great for block text letters and
larger spot color designs. It & # 39; s also a recommended mesh for white flash plates
because many times you will only have one to impose which speeds
up production time. 156 mesh also lays down a little thicker layer of screen
printing ink but offers you some higher detail ability in your image due to
the finer mesh. Also if you are printing with a little thinner viscosity colors
of inks, you may want to use the 156 mesh so not too much ink is passed through
your screen. Lower mesh counts like 40-86 are used for shimmer and glitter
inks. These inks have particles in them will not pass through the typical
Therefore you need a lower mesh count with large holes in order for
200 and 230 mesh are all the particles to pass through properly. Shimmer plastisol inks have finer particles in them so can not use an 86 mesh while glitter inks have much larger particles so it would be recommended to use a 40 or 60 mesh screen. 200 and 230 mesh are used for finer detailed images and thinner inks. These mesh sizes can hold larger half tone dots but are not not
recommended for four color process prints or fine detail half tone printing.
Also graphics and solvent based silk screening inks that are much thinner should be used with these themh sizes. Also if you would like a softer feel to the ink on your shirts you can
print through these more mesh counts which will let less less through through
screen giving you a much softer feel on the shirt. This can get tricky however,
many times a duller distracted look is wanted for the artwork but if bright
vibrant colors are desired (especially white) you will have a hard time getting
the opacity thick enough using these higher meshes. 305 mesh is used for
extremely high detail textile printing and fine halftone four color process and
simulated process prints. (Learn more about process printing here.) Fine half
tone dots need high fine detail mesh in order to hold and expose on. Higher
meshes such as 355, 380, and 400 are used mainly for graphic printing with UV
inks. UV inks are extremely thin and many times are used for high detail
printing on signs, banners, or CD & # 39; s using.
printers used in UV printing to regulate the amount of ink passed through
screen.
Exposure Notes: Different mesh sizes hold different
amounts of emulsion, due to how big the holes in the mesh are.
110 mesh screen will hold much more emulsion then a 305 mesh screen. While the
difference is not extreme, you will have to to vary your exposure times slightly for
different mesh sizes. A finer mesh screen that holds less emulsion will expose
faster then a lower mesh screen that holds more emulsion.
difference is small so you may have slightly as 5-10% in either either
direction and depending on mesh size in order to get maximum exposure
performance.
