I know they say if it ain't broke don't fix it...

[mac3687]

But... A year or so ago I got into screen printing with a simple Speedball kit. Since then I've upgraded to about twenty five screens from Pocono, a great assortment of squeegees, an old 4/1 press from a sign shop, and have even began dabbling with plastisols. I do simple posters as well as a lot of textiles, and am really enjoying it. The one thing that's remained the same though is emulsion, I'm still using the Speedball Diazo stuff, and spreading it on with the little red squeeqee they make. It works, but I'm wondering what, if any, emulsion I should upgrade to. I like the Speedball because even though I have a couple 500 watt halogen bulbs, I use the Florida sun for all of my exposure and the latitude in exposure time for the Speedball is pretty wide. I've looked at some emulsions from Ulano, SaatiChem, and Chromaline, but have no idea what to use. Like I said, the Speedball works fine, but I'd maybe like something a little stronger, since I have had stencils wash out on my when cleaning ink (which is a huge pain!). Thanks guys!

[stinkbait]

ulano 925wr

[Andymac]

murikami dual cure (pro, 9800, or their WB)
Autotype 8000

- anything rated for waterbase you mix diazo in, these are all slower than 'one pot' and work good in the sun.

that 925wr is tough - geoff do you mix diazo?

[squeegeethree]

Your screens are washing out when you clean cause you're coating with a squeegee lol. There's no way you're getting even coverage. I can picture you going over the screen multiple times as certain part voids. Squeegees are design to push fluids through the screen. What you need is a smooth even coat on the surface. Get yourself a scoop already. Use the right tool for the right job.

[mac3687]

Gotcha, I'll order some scoop coaters tonight... Thanks for the input, I'll be checking those emulsions out...

[the hipoisie]

If you're ordering from Pocono, you might as well give the Imagemate (Chromaline) PC 701 a shot. All I have to compare it to is the Imagemate diazo, but the 701 is so much better. I used to shoot it in the sun too, I think about 1.5 minutes.

[stinkbait]

Originally Posted by Andymac

murikami dual cure (pro, 9800, or their WB)
Autotype 8000

- anything rated for waterbase you mix diazo in, these are all slower than 'one pot' and work good in the sun.

that 925wr is tough - geoff do you mix diazo?

I just pour the activator in that comes with it and that's it. That stuff holds tight. We do scrape the shit out of the screen when applying it though. one coat on the front, scrape, one on the back, scrape, flip it and scrape the front again.


Super thin even coats. burn for anywhere from 1 - 4 min depending on what we want. Wash out the front until the stencil is clear then flip it and rinse the back, flip it and rinse the front again. Dry in the sun.

Tah - Dah!

[bpwnz]

I use speedball and rarely have the emulsion wash out during ink removing. I use a scoopcoater to apply the emulsion though.

[adrenochrome]

Originally Posted by stinkbait

ulano 925wr

I just did a step test with the 925WR and the stuff seems really forgiving. I got a great stencil everywhere from 3-8 minutes. It coats like a dream too.