PRINT PROCESS #1 HOW TO RIP SCREENS

Its been a while since i have been printing myself in the studio, often leaving the duties to the excellent LOLIGO. However i have been trying to get myself back in to it..

So in an effort to retain any knowledge i may pick up while relearning the joys and frustrations of screen printing, i have decided to share any tips/advice and general printy things on this blog.

The first part is HOW TO/HOW NOT TO rip screens when they are on the bed. PRETTY BLOODY OBVIOUS but somehow I didnt know this?!



I managed to rip these two screen in the process of printing ONE, three colour poster. Here is how...

When the screen is set up and on the bed and printing is going well, the screen can and will often dry up in a hot studio like ours and instead of getting thinner and more patchy coverage its often more usful to give it a good ol clean and run the ink through.

Many moons ago when i was first printing i would take the screen off and wash it in the washout booth and have to re regester the bugger. I have since found it MUCH easier to use a sponge on the screen in situe on the bed - DUH!!



However when i was clearing the drying in from the mesh i was doing it from the UNDERSIDE of the screen - putting too much pressure on the stretched mesh. ERROR! boom my hand went through like hulk smashing a wall.. HULK PRINT!!!! not learning that this was idiotic i blamed it on a dodgey screen. untill BOOM it happened again.

NOW i will be using newsprint on the bed to soak up excess water and ink and wil clean through the screen from the top putting any extra pressure on to the bed. SIMPLE.

what an exspensive silly error.

Bobby