Wanting to print larger posters...

[QWERT]

I've been screen printing for a while now and have been very successful with posters that are on 11x17 standard card stock. These are usually used as local gig posters. But I've been wanting to start printing posters that are much larger, mostly for serigraphs. I do everything by hand and print in my kitchen. I have an exposing unit but it is too small for the larger screens I've recently purchased (23"x31").

I've been trying to find some information about using halogen lights to burn screens. My idea is to use a powerful work light to burn the screen while its upright. In theory, this would allow be to burn a screen that was larger than my exposing unit and save on space. I could just hang the screen on a wall and aim the light at it from a calculated distance. Any suggestions on how to do this or where to look? I'd appreciate it.

[caribou]

i use a halogen work lamp from lowes to expose my screen (20" x 24" or so). i built a frame so the light hangs above the screen by about 24". works for me. a bigger screen may require 2 lights, though.

[JustinHelton]

My simple suggestion is to either build a new bigger unit, or buy one. There are lots of plans out there. In the end you will be glad you did...things will work better and if you think you will use it enough it will be worth your time.
If
you are looking to save space maybe get creative...build the light table to fit under your print table, etc.

[goodnightsweetprints]

Ditto on spending time/funds on a bigger unit. As with most everything, trying to cut corners will show up in the final product.

Just FYI, you will need to go all out and buy 25x36" screens for an 18x24 print. I made the same mistake and there was not enough room around the stencil to get the correct off-contact distance. So now I have a bunch of mid-size screens which is cool for 13x19" prints I guess.

The right tools go a long way.

[clinttw]

My simple suggestion is to either build a new bigger unit, or buy one. There are lots of plans out there. In the end you will be glad you did...things will work better and if you think you will use it enough it will be worth your time.
If
you are looking to save space maybe get creative...build the light table to fit under your print table, etc.

You just blew my mind with this. Combining the two has never occurred to me. I think in the future I want to make that happen.

[johnny]

Just start a Kickstarter fund!

Kidding. I agree with all of the above, cutting corners rarely pays off with screen printing. Lord knows, I've tried. Especially what Goodnightsweetprints said, bigger screens are a MUST. You should have at least 4inches on each side of your image.

If you use a space saver bag, you could probably do the wall rig thing, but it sounds kinda funky. Sounds like you're ready to move your operation out of your kitchen. Are there no co-ops in FRISCO?

[Hrabovsky]

You won't get good film/screen contact vertically without a vacuum. Gravity helps out when it's horizontal.

This would be cheap...

• Build a wooden frame to size of your largest screen frame or 1" larger
• Get some .25" tempered glass cut to size of wooden frame
• Get or make 2 saw horses
• Lay frame across them
• Put foam camper tape on glass side of frame to rest glass on
(You could use some simple hardware or additional framing to semi-permanently attach the glass to the frame so you can remove the top in one piece and reduce the risk of smashing shit)
• Place 2 lights below facing up with bulbs running inline length-wise like this — —
• Screen on top facing down with foam and weight on squeegee side for contact
• Step test
• Rub poop on your face

[B-DROID]

That final step is crucial.

[ricv64]

Sometimes when things get blown up to larger scale the subtle flaws in the drawing really get amplified into awkward

[the hipoisie]

This is how I expose 36"x36" screens.

Black cloth under the screen on the floor. A piece of glass holds down the positives. My prints don't suck.