Question About New Screens

[pantichrist]

Hi There...

I just got a batch of new screens, 110s mainly, and I know I should prep them somehow with something slightly abrasive to roughen up the polyester. Does anyone have a simple suggestion? I thought perhaps a sponge with a pad, or some Comet or something in that direction. I can order stuff from my supplier but it's 60 bucks a pop, thank you very much.

Any help would be appreciated!

Mr. Christ

[squeegeethree]

search the threads for degreasing screens there's a post a week on this topic. You're this week's I guess.

[pantichrist]

Thanks for the thread tip, it was right below mine, duh?

One guy mentions Soft Scrub (cheap), another cat Microgrit (pricey).

Any other ideas??

[imagine]

just clean them with simple green to remove the greezy fingerprints you dont need to rough them up these days

[pantichrist]

thanks for your reply...

i did degrease them, and this afternoon i coated 10 screens. i worked out the correct exposure time with one of them. but even then the emulsion was giving away, i could pick off half tone dots with my fingernail. i blew out the emulsion, degreased again and tried again only sadly with the same result.

[imagine]

expose them longer

[caribou]

how small are the halftone dots? they've got to be fairly big if you're using a 110 screen.

[squeegeethree]

Originally Posted by pantichrist

thanks for your reply...

i did degrease them, and this afternoon i coated 10 screens. i worked out the correct exposure time with one of them. but even then the emulsion was giving away, i could pick off half tone dots with my fingernail. i blew out the emulsion, degreased again and tried again only sadly with the same result.

This happens. If you coat the screen, expose it w/o film and reclaim it. You're good to go. I never degrease anymore, but I always do this sacrificial exposure and I never have any problems.

110 mesh = 25 line screen.

[pantichrist]

thanks for all your replies...

one last detail for some of you pros to chew on: these screens are coated with a fresh pot of emulsion from today. after exposing them, for almost double my standard exposure time, the area where the positive covered was washing out with quite a bit of resistance. typical for overexposure, but it was also holding to the edge of the stencil and not washing away. still after washout and drying when i went to the press and was able to take off the stencil with a fingernail or piece of scotch tape.

i'll try a little of all your advice, i think the screens could use a rugged step test in the exposure department, which i'll try in the morning. the other article on degreasing had these two mentions of fabric roughener which i will have to look into as well.

by the way... the line screen was 13, big dots.

thanks again

[caribou]

whenever i use a new screen, i usually use this orange based degreaser (imagemate 260 degreaser) and a scrub brush. i've never had a problem with the emulsion coming off the screen. i'm sure any abrasive cleaner would work to rough up the screen a bit. anyways, good luck.