Finally printing but having issues with solvent inks

[mhmitszach]

So i'm trying to print vinyl stickers.

Burning screens perfectly now and I had printed a run before that turned out decently.

However, this run was inverse of black and white, so heavy on black.

It was clearly bleeding and printing on newspaper at first was just spreading it out even further. So about halfway through saying fuck it and printing on the vinyl anyways, I realized it was bleeding because of trying to print on newspaper... So I printed on some cardboard and ended up with a few better prints.

So what is cheap and works well to print on before printing to vinyl?

And then, the ink claims to need to be mixed with 10 percent of the thinner. Well that makes it a huge sloppy mess. How much thinner do I really need?

And what should I mix solvent based inks in? It melted right through plastic.

Thanks, Zach

[PedalPrinting]

You will need to get some steel paint cans for storage. What mesh are you using? I'd suggest going no lower than 305. Full floods are tough with solvents. I wouldn't follow the 10% suggestion as can to can the flow of the ink will vary. You just have to get a feel for how much thinner to add via trial and error. I suggest using retarder (slows drying time), and thins as well as thinner.

If its super high detail, but large ink flood you might need to ditch back flooding (and risk drying in the screen, print fast!) to get a good crisp image. Any heavy matte paper is good for test prints, it will suck up the excess ink rather than bleed it out. Make sure you have good off contact and good luck! Solvents are tricky, once you go UV you never go back...

[paul204]

Make sure you've got good vacuum/adhesive, proper off contact and a good gutter on your screen. vinyl should print easy. Lowest I would go on vinyl is 280, probably 305 as pedal suggests for reverses.

You can buy metal quart ink cans from your ink supplier. 10% thinner at most.

I don't really know what you mean by what to print before vinyl. You don't need to print on anything before you print on vinyl, just print on the vinyl. What ink are you using? I print solvent on newsprint all the time.

[gozo]

OMG i,m planing to do my first prints on vinyl and have found out that my screens are 230 mesh, is it doable to print with this mesh?
If its any help the type of prints I,m trying to do will be in A4 format such as FOR SALE, TO LET etc. white lettering with red surrounds.

[Thornysarus]

Mesh: If the art's not too detailed, you're probably ok. Sounds like you're thinning too much though. I think Home Depot will sell you the metal quart cans.
Cheap paper: Go by any U-haul, Boxes Etc. or similar packing place. They sell cheap, coated newsprint for packing paper... 24x36-ish sheets in 10 pound rolls. The paper is crap, but it's Great for blotting and tossing. Lay it flat and the curl will go away over time.