Screen Printing Blog » Exposure Unit http://www.screenprintingguy.com/blog Where The Ink Meets The T-Shirt Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:17:42 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 How To ScreenPrint T-Shirts Video http://www.screenprintingguy.com/blog/how-to-screenprint-t-shirts-video/ http://www.screenprintingguy.com/blog/how-to-screenprint-t-shirts-video/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:51:52 +0000 steve http://www.screenprintingguy.com/blog/?p=87 Learning To Screen Print Your Own T-Shirts

Nice little video showing the basics for printing t-shirts.  Some of these basics include:

  • Choosing a silk screen and where to get it
  • How to apply light sensitive emulsion
  • Light sources to burn the screen.  (They show an exposure unit like the one I built) CLICK HERE
  • How to burn the screen
  • Washing out the screen
  • How to print the image on the t-shirt

As a bonus, the video will show you how to add LED lights and sounds to your t-shirt.

Check it out…

]]> http://www.screenprintingguy.com/blog/how-to-screenprint-t-shirts-video/feed/ 1 How Long Do I Expose My Screen For? http://www.screenprintingguy.com/blog/how-long-do-i-expose-my-screen-for/ http://www.screenprintingguy.com/blog/how-long-do-i-expose-my-screen-for/#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:36:03 +0000 steve http://www.screenprintingguy.com/blog/?p=72 This is a question I get a lot.  Any my answer is, That depends.  Many things factor into the equation of how long to expose the screen for like, screen mesh, type and age of emulsion, type of lamps in the exposure unit, how old that lamps are, and the list goes on.  So what to do?  You need to do a step wedge test.  A step wedge test is basicaly exposing the screen for a few different times and seeing which time produced the best image on wash out.  There are a few ways to do this test.  The expensive way is to buy a test strip for $30 bucks which is a piece of transparency that has a gradient of darker shades.  The benefit of this test is you only have to expose once and the strip lets different levels of light hit the screen.

The cheap way to do a test wedge.  Take construction paper and do 4-5 different exposures.  Move the paper to expose more of the image each time.  At the end you will have 4-5 different exposure times.  Just pick the one that washes out the best and there ya go.

]]> http://www.screenprintingguy.com/blog/how-long-do-i-expose-my-screen-for/feed/ 9 Exposure Unit F20T12-BL UV Lamps http://www.screenprintingguy.com/blog/exposure-unit-f20t12bl/ http://www.screenprintingguy.com/blog/exposure-unit-f20t12bl/#comments Thu, 15 Jan 2009 01:48:24 +0000 steve http://www.screenprintingguy.com/blog/?p=38 Exposure Unit Lamps Lit

Exposure Unit Lamps Lit

I have gotten many emails about the lamps used in my home built exposure unit.  I should probably write up a FAQ some day.  Anyways,  the lamps are a special unfiltered black light.  The designation is F20T12-BL.  These lamps don’t block UV rays like the ones you buy in the store.  The emulsion you coat your screens with is sensitive to UV.  When the emulsion is exposed to UV it will cure or harden.  The art work blocks the UV and that area will wash out.  That is the reason you need a good black art image in order to block the UV entirely.

The black lights you buy at the Walmart,  filter the UV out.  The UV is what we need to expose our screens so you you would end up with your image washing out.

I have heard of people using plant grow lights sold in the garden department.  They will have a lower uv level and I don’t know how they will work.

So, to get the good lamps, you need to goto the local lighting supply or check out: http://www.1000bulbs.com/F20T12/1246/

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