Home Built 4 Color Screen Printing Press
Getting into screen printing doesn't have to break the bank. Allot of the equipment can be built at a considerable savings. It will of course take some basic skills but nothing too tough. I always tell beginners that if you decide to use home built equipment, you may need to have more patients with the learning curve. Screen printing is one of those things that looks easier than it is.. and when you introduce more variables (IE:poorly built, equipment) into the mix, learning can be more painful. The screen printing press is probably the most unforgiving piece to build. The press needs to be built straight and true (like a airplane). Take your time, do a good job and you will end up with a nice press, do it wrong and you will be hating screen printing in no time.
Like I always say.. I would recommend picking up a copy of How to Print T-Shirts for Fun and Profit! By: Scott Fresener this is a great book and will be a valuable reference for your shop. Also, may I suggest going to Scott's web site screenprinters.net (be sure to check out the forums there, lots of helpful folks).
I built this four color printing press and some of my other stuff from plans and inspiration out of Scott's book How to Print T-Shirts for Fun and Profit!.
Ok, here are some pictures of my home built four color press. As you can see it's not complete, still need to install two more sets of Jiffy hinges and the screen springs.
The hardest thing to find was the Lazy Susan bearing. It needs to be very tight with no slop. Any movement would cause registration problems. I found exactly what I was looking for at www.woodcraft.com The Part number is "03M51" and the price was $6.99 This is a heavy duty 7" Heavy 12 gauge steel plate and runs smoothly on a full ball-bearing race. Perfect for the screen printing press.
