cleaning screen frames

[Blackheart]

I bought 15 Diamond Chase frames (25x36) a while ago for very cheap money, but they were covered in dried ink, plastisol, tape fragments, glue, etc.

I didn't want to use solvents, etc., to clean them before I reused them so I did something different. Ran the tubes under running water, used razor blades to get most of the tape pieces off, and Brillo pads to remove the rest. Works great. Took about 30-45 minutes to do 1 frame (4 tubes and the brackets). A bit of a hassle, but I completely avoided using and breathing in any solvents. The tubes are mirror bright and very smooth. See photos.

http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/5430/img00284b.jpg
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/4194/img00280.jpg

B.

[oldbox]

nicely done!

[Blackheart]

Thanks....

I should clarify things a bit. I ran the parts under hot running water to soften the tape and the residue before scraping with a razor blade. Once as much of the tape and glue was removed, I used the Brillo pads to take off as much crud as possible (ink, more tape glue, etc). This took a couple of minutes, and shows up what tape remained behind. Scraped that off, and finished up with more Brillo. For some areas, using the Brillo across the spot as well as lengthwise gets rid of stuff much faster. For tough spots, I used scotchbrite, or the cheaper equivalent from ShopRite, etc. and finished up with Brillo. The scotchbrite leaves a satin finish, and the steel wool pads get the finish much shinier. I cleaned the brackets with scotchbrite which took tape, glue, ink, etc., off very fast, leaving a very clean surface. I did all this pretty much to see how clean I could get the frames without using chemicals, in a reasonable amount of time. Now I have clean used frames to print with, and any new mess should clean up a lot easier and faster. The earlier photos were ok, but didn't show the result too well. Links to new photos are below. They cleaned up better than I expected. Please remember these are Diamond Chase frames I am working with, which do not have any kind of coating or paint on the frame rollers. They are bare aluminum.

I also have some used Newman frames, and I have no idea how to clean those without taking the plastic coating off the tubes in the process, all without using chemicals.

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/5338/img0053ox.jpg
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/5774/img0054ag.jpg
http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/3341/img0055ak.jpg
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/931/img0056i.jpg

[Andymac]

Nice. You can come over and clean all mine!

[Blackheart]

If I can leave NYC forever and breathe fresh air....

sign me up.