Best. Emulsion. Ever.

To coincide with the development of our new logo and the addition of our brand-spankin’-new conveyor dryer, we wanted to pick up some new products with which to experiment.  As I’ve mentioned before, we believe it is important for screen printers to challenge themselves – to learn new techniques and styles.

In the spirit of self-challenging, we ordered some discharge ink earlier this month.  Although we had the opportunity to print with discharge at Ryonet’s Los Angeles location, we have yet to utilize it in our own shop.  The addition of Gilligan (our new Little Buddy conveyor dryer) seemed like a great time to step up to a new and exciting challenge.  We are currently making preparations for our first run of discharge prints next week.

We also picked up some Ryonet WBP Hybrid Emulsion for Water Based & Plastisol.  When we first started printing we used CCI DXP (Pink) Diazo-Photopolymer Dual Cure Direct Emulsion, which works very well.  However, its primary function is for plastisol ink and breaks down too quickly when used with water-based inks.  When we began using the water-based ink we switched to SWR-3 water-resistant emulsion.  This also worked well, but is no longer available through Ryonet.  Good thing, too.  Otherwise we probably wouldn’t have tried the WBP Hybrid emulsion which, as the title of this post suggests, is the best emulsion ever.  At least of the three we’ve used.

WBP has a vibrant red color that is helpful during the washout, printing, and cleanup stages.  It coats the screen beautifully, dries quickly, and washes out like a dream.  The website claims that WBP is easier to use AND reclaim than SWR-3.  That’s an understatement!  This stuff is amazing, and I highly recommend that every printer at least tries a quart.  Also, the cost ($27.99 for a quart) is the same as the cost of standard DXP emulsion.  Can’t beat that.

Here are a few quick shots of an exposed screen, coated with WBP.

I Troubleshot the Sheriff…But I Didn’t Troubleshoot the Deputy

Have you ever had one of those days where the Universe was like, “Hold on there, Bucko,” (because in my head, the Universe sounds like my Grandfather), “You didn’t think it was going to be that easy, did you?”

That was my day.

It was the kind of day that reminds you not to be self-assured or confident – the kind of day where you have to re-learn everything you thought you knew, re-do everything you thought you were done with, and replace everything you thought you had.

For starters, our pressure washer stopped pressure-ing.  I have no idea why…but it’s just not working anymore.  We’re going to replace it with a better one – the Karcher 1500 PSI Pressure Washer, so that’s a definite silver lining as I’ve used this model before and it’s the bee’s knees.  Our current model used to have 1600 PSI pressure but, now it’s putting out about 100 PSI.  It’s like trying to reclaim a screen with a clogged up Super Soaker…from across the room. 

I was also trying to experiment with exposure times for the SWR water-resistant emulsion.  When we first switched from the dual-cure Diazo emulsion to the SWR, I read somewhere that the exposure times would be very similar.  I’ve been having a rough time washing-out and reclaiming screens lately, and I suspect that I might be over-exposing.  In our last order, I picked up a Step Wedge Exposure Calculator so I could get a better idea of how close I was to the correct time.  Rather than explain how the calculator works, here’s a quick 60 second video that shows it in action. 

After I had the calculator in place, I went to expose the screen and *bam*…our exposure bulb blew up.  In case you’re wondering, no, Target doesn’t carry 500 watt halogen bulbs.  But the hardware store does!

After I got back from the hardware store, I set everything up again and exposed the test screen.  Now, I’m not sure if the screen wouldn’t wash out because of the busted pressure washer, or because the screen was over-exposed…but I’m guessing it has more to do with the exposure time.  This will require further experimentation once the new pressure washer arrives.  In my research today (between episodes of things falling apart on me), I came across A Helpful List of Tips for Using SWR Emulsion.  My favorite part is where it says, “if you’re having trouble reclaiming an SWR or water resistant emulsion screen, keep in mind, you’re not the first.”  That’s reassuring!  There’s some great pointers listed there but, sadly, it fails to mention what a correct exposure time would (or could)  be for SWR emulsion.  I feel a little in-the-dark about this one.

Oh!  We’ve also been setting up and trying out the new Epson BlackMAX system for the past couple days – but that’s a whole other blog!  I have to figure it all out first.

Thanks for clicking the link!

Leave a comment here.

Ethan

Team MOYA

Exposure Unit

The philosopher Jagger once said, “You can’t always get what you want.  But if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.”

Well, Mick…we need an exposure unit!

I was getting some screens ready for an order today and I noticed that the 500 watt halogen light we use to expose the screens was starting to dim.  The light generally provides fairly even coverage over the whole screen, but it was starting to narrow and throwing an intense beam right down the center of the screen.  The image I was burning had a bit of detail, so I was concerned that the exposure wouldn’t be even.  When I went to wash out the screen I discovered that the exposure was indeed uneven.  Apparently that center beam of light was intense enough to fully expose the emulsion – even through the transparency.  The good news is that SWR3 emulsion holds up really well to a pressure washer…even after 45 minutes!  I finally decided that there was no way to save the stencil and chose to reclaim the screen with Enviro Strip – which incidentally works very well on the SWR3 emulsion.  We ordered a quart of Enviro Strip to try it out and I find that it works even better than the ER80 for both Dual Cure Diazo and the SWR3 water-resistant emulsion.  I’ll be picking up a gallon of it with our next supply order.

Tomorrow I will pick up a new halogen bulb and see if that solves the exposure problem.  A new exposure unit has definitely moved to the top of our list.  Ideally I think we’d like to get the 25” X 36” X-Vactor Digital Vacuum unit.  It’s a bit larger and would have no problem exposing 23X31 screens.  Plus, the vacuum and neoprene create nearly perfect positive contact between the screen and image, so that’s exciting!  For the cost, though, you can’t beat the 25X36 R-Xposure Unit.  The main difference is the vacuum seal, but either of these units would be such an upgrade from what we’re currently using that it’s hardly fair to nitpick.

Thanks for clicking the link!

Leave a comment here.

Ethan

MOYA Tees