What’s going on, Print Fam? Cam is back for the third day on one single project.
Sometimes things just don't go as planned in the shop. Today was a perfect example of a cascade of small mistakes that ended up costing time. I wanted to share exactly what went wrong and how we fixed it so you can avoid these pitfalls in your own shop.
Mishap #1: Forgetting the White Base I had a ridiculous "dummy" moment and completely forgot to include a major part of the graphic on my white underbase screen.
If your underbase isn't right, the whole print suffers. There was no salvaging it on the press, so I had to pull the screen, strip it, and completely re-burn it. Always double-check your separations before you start burning emulsion!
Mishap #2: Missing the Pantone Target Even though the setup was looking good, I realized on press that the orange we were using was way too dark.
The brand guidelines called for something closer to a "Dolphin Orange." I checked the Pantone book and realized we needed to scrap the dark orange and mix up a much lighter Pantone 1375 C (or possibly 1365 C) to match the client's expectations. Don't be afraid to stop a job and mix a new color if it's not right.
Mishap #3: Ripping a Screen on Press This one hurts the most. While printing, my squeegee rubbed right against the edge of the mesh on the frame and blew a massive hole in it.
This happened purely because of carelessness—I didn't have protective tape on the inside edges of the mesh. The squeegee was grinding the mesh right against the hard edge of the frame.
The Silver Lining: Retensionable Frames While ripping a screen sucks, it really showcased the benefits of using a retensionable panel system (like Eco Frames or Newman Roller frames) rather than static aluminum frames.
Because I have a stack of pre-tensioned mesh panels sitting in the shop, I didn't have to throw away a whole aluminum frame. I just popped the broken panel out, locked a new 150-mesh Endurance panel in, and was back in action in minutes.
Going forward, I am applying a layer of chemical-resistant tape to the inside edges of the mesh. My hope is that it will protect the mesh from squeegee rubbing and survive the dip tank during reclamation so I don't have to re-tape it every time.
(If you guys have a favorite brand of chemical-resistant tape that survives the washout booth, let me know in the YouTube comments!)
A Quick Tip for Drying Frames Speaking of reclaiming, I noticed one annoying nuance with these retensionable frames: the locking channels hold a ton of water.
When you sit them on the drying rack after the washout booth, the mesh dries, but water drips out of the channels for hours. The fix: Hit the channels with an air compressor hose before putting them on the rack. It blows all the water out instantly so you aren't waiting around for screens to dry.
I was originally planning to build a fully enclosed drying cabinet with fans and UV LEDs to post-expose screens... but I realized that's entirely unnecessary now because we are transitioning away from water-based inks and going strictly back to Plastisol.
Alright fam, thank you so much for hanging with me through this nightmare project. I'm going to go order the rest of these garments and get this job out the door!