Screen Printing Updates

[petermakesprints (Peter Williams)]

Hey all,

I coated a couple of screen print frames today and noticed there were a couple already coated in the drying box. Are these anybody’s? Feel like they’ve been there a while, I’m hoping to print some of the t-shirts and tea towels next week and just a heads up if they’re still there I’m going to use them. In other news, we’re out of emulsion for the mo but I’ve ordered some more which will arrive in a few days.

We have also been kingly gifted a metric tonne of beautiful printmaking paper courtesy of @scday94 - thanks for arranging this for us

Wanted to give notice that the wooden planning chest of drawers are for screen printing equipment, and I’ll be removing the items currently in the bottom drawers soon to store paper in.

I had my first go with the textiles area this evening and finished the work @Nicky_mmnn kindly started sewing the black out fabric for our nlarger drying box. We’re now just missing a sheet of plywood to fit in the bottom and make it properly lightproof, along with a tower fan to speed up the drying substantially, and we’ll be able to run a little more smooth.

[scday94 (Sam Day)]

Ahh glad it came and just in time for a print Idea I’ve had so I wouldn’t mind having a few sheets put aside. Did it say which papers they are?

[petermakesprints (Peter Williams)]

There are genuinely hundreds of sheets, they ain’t going anywhere anytime soon but yeah of course! Didn’t catch the name of the branding but looks fancy

[scday94 (Sam Day)]

Ok would be good to find out as I know they sell un-sized and sized paper for fine art printing. I mentioned that it is mainly for screen printing but but they might have sent a range. Also they have a hand laid paper that will is specified long grain or short grain so good for book binding if they sent that too.

Lots of different weights in all their papers too.

[petermakesprints (Peter Williams)]

Amazing, there are some in booklets and some in larger teams but didn’t take the name I’m afraid. Probably won’t be in till next week at this point so if it’s getting in the way feel free to pop it under the black prep table in the messy room anyone!

[ed_o (Edward Owen)]

I’ve been temporarily storing my weird computer things in one of those wooden chest drawers you mentioned - let me know if you want it to go live elsewhere!

[petermakesprints (Peter Williams)]

No rush but we’ll reclaim it at some point, need to buy some longer bigger emulsion troughs which will naturally fill any empty space in there

[mbg (Max G)]

I’d recommend a rule about using a project tag on screens with member name and use-by date - I know Nick ran into this the other day with a mystery screen.

[petermakesprints (Peter Williams)]

Currently looking into online booking systems but @metallois had a great and simple idea of using masking tape with a start and end date, and user name on this side yeah.

[asander1 (Andy Sanderson)]

Yeah I would keep it simple, and know that like project storage there will always be expired ones. For your own sanity, just reclaim them and set that expectation - don’t spend all your time chasing people to confirm…

[Nicky_mmnn (Nicolas schimmelpfennig)]

This is looking good!! Can’t wait to get to using our new drying contraption!

[Maciej (Maciej Kamiński)]

We should have plenty of these “don’t toss my project” tags somewhere. There were quite few in the woodwork shop

[metallois]

Hiya, I was in the space this morning for the woodwork induction. I took a photo of the paper types in the stack in the print room. There were quite a few packs of the hahnemuhle “harmony”. Hopefully this helps!

[mbg (Max G)]

feel free to grab a stack from the wood shop. There should be some in a stand in the laser area as well

[mbg (Max G)]

and the file is here if anyone wants to make more - just print 4 per page

Storage

There is some limited member project storage available so that members can easily work on active projects without having to take everything home every day. However, we need a structured approach to storage otherwise it gets out of hand and uses up valuable space as well as becoming a hazard. General: All storage is only in the designated area of the Snug - there is no storage in the workshops. Attach a physical storage request form to your project so that it is easily identifiable. Onl…

[petermakesprints (Peter Williams)]

Amazing, thanks all @mbg @metallois @maciej

[petermakesprints (Peter Williams)]

Hey again!

I came in yesterday to try and print some of the t-shirts, it was almost successful but not quite there just yet…

A lot of the small details printed really well which I’m happy about. Unsurprisingly, it is around the edges where the pressure wasn’t high enough to push the ink through the stencil. It’s a bit disappointing but not everything can work first time unfortunately!

The vacuum pump not working has caused some problems, as the small gap between the positive and the screen mesh blurs the lines a little meaning finer details will not wash out.

As we don’t currently have a scoop coating trough wide enough for A2 screens, I coated this in two passes. This ended with some parts of the mesh having a different amount of emulsion in, and I realise now that this effects the correct exposure time.

I’d like to try some different stencil remover chemicals because the one I ordered previously from Flat Fox costs £18.50 for 1L and has clogged up three different spray bottles. I have found a cheaper version that costs £5 for 1L which would hopefully work just as well, though it is from Print Club in Dalston. Are any members nearby able to pick up a collection order to bring into the space perhaps?

Currently we are also out of emulsion and stencil remover. If someone can collect from Print Club I’ll get this ordered today, otherwise I’ll order from Flat Fox again.

If anybody has any of the following items to donate or sell for cheap, please let me know:

• Dehumidifier
• Tower fan (max. height 60cm)
• Small heater
• Spray bottle
• Ply sheet (min. 130cm × 100cm)
• 16" scoop coating trough

Best,
Peter

[Karin]

@petermakesprints I live close to Dalston. Happy to pick it up.

[petermakesprints (Peter Williams)]

Great, thanks Karin! I’ll get it ordered and let you know when it’s ready to collect

[asander1 (Andy Sanderson)]

The vacuum pump not working has caused some problems, as the small gap between the positive and the screen mesh blurs the lines a little meaning finer details will not wash out.

@danielbenton tore it down yesterday and found the fan was hitting the shroud, probably causing it to get stuck on startup. We put it back together, but not it doesn’t suck, or doesn’t suck like it used to anyways, so he will take another crack at it. If we can’t get it working we will replace it… so, it’s a work in progress, hopefully some resolution soon!