What screen printing ink?

[carboncomp]

Hey guys, anyone know what sort of ink I should use on a powdered coated enclosure?

[CodeMonk]

Sorry, no idea.

So...I did a search, because this idea interests me as well....

For printing onto powder coat the best ink is an epoxy ink. A close second would be using an enamel solvent ink. Either of these will adhere without needing an overcoat.

Source

I Googled (Without the quotes): "Silk screening on powder coat".
Came up with some interesting links.

I haven't done any silk screening myself since I was in high school (around 1977).
But I am looking into doing it again. Although I have no idea where to start.

Got any tips/links/etc. to get me started for as little cost as possible?

And yes, I will be doing it on powder coated enclosures as well.

Thanks.

[carboncomp]

Dont know how much advice I can really give you as I only really Screen print onto textiles and paper.  

Trouble with epoxy inks are the cure temperatures (temps needed to set the ink) are around the same cure temps for the basic Polyester powered coating. Ergo if you cure the inks you also melt the powered coat and get one hot dripping mess!

There seem to be plenty of air cure solvent basses inks that will do the job, but solvent are a bugger to use/clean.

I have come across a water-based ink that will are cure at a low temperature and can be used on:

a wide range of substrates including sealed paper, cardboard, tyvek, polyesters (mylar), polycarbonates (lexan), some coated metals and poly-styrene and exhibits exceptional water resistance once dried.

But waiting for them to get back to me to confirm Polyester powered coating is a suitable substrates.

Not only is it a hell of a lot more eco friendly using water-based inks over solvent, it cut out a load of the over problems like cleaning down with harsh chemicals, 2 part mixing and ventilation needs!

If your just starting out screen printing and want to do just single colour (or a couple of colours without super precise registration) and dont have a large dedicated space like a studio, I would look at the following set up.

Printing press:
You not going to need some fancy 3+ color screen printing bed, or vacuum table, so just grab a couple of "Speedball Screen Printing Clamps" that will screw to any table of just a sheet of wood, and there you go, a screen printing press!

Screens:
Try and pick up a couple of Aluminium Screens 12" X 16" from ebay (should be less then £20 each) with a mesh count 43T or higher (43T is the usual textile printing size, so will give you pefectly good detail, but the higher you go with mesh count, the better your linework will look, but stay under 140T or you start introducing other problems like getting the ink though the mesh.

Emulsion:
OK the photo emulsion you apply to the screen and expose the image onto is important, they come in waterbased and solvent as standard, so make sure you get the right one (water-bassed inks need a water resistant emulsion), you could also look at "Capillary Film" its like sheet of emulsion that's you just stick to your screen but not as cost effective as a liquid emulsion (but a whole heap les messy, so good for small little DIY runs)

Chemicals:
You will need:
Screen Degrease (for cleaning your blank screen before coating the emulsion)
Screenwash (cleaning inks from your screen, make sure its the right type for water-based/solvent )
Stencil Strip Stencil Remover (cleans off all emulsion for when you want to start over. make sure its the right type for water-based/solvent emulsion)  
(all sorts from organic to industrial)

Exposure light:
Get on ebay, all you need a a cheap 500W standard halogen floodlight. even new ones are only around £10



hope this helps a little?

[davent]

You should try an 'advanced search' for screen printing authored by, i believe it was Earthscum. Dave had posted some real nice examples of his screened pedals as well as info on inks, materials and such, (if my memory serves me right).
dave

[carboncomp]

You should try an 'advanced search' for screen printing authored by, i believe it was Earthscum. Dave had posted some real nice examples of his screened pedals as well as info on inks, materials and such, (if my memory serves me right).
dave

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=98385.0 

[newperson]

epoxy (mix, set) or enamel type paint/ink.  i have used high numbered screens (250-305) with normal enamel paint on enamel painted boxes with nice results.  just got some "proper" nazdar 59000 series to try out.  had a nice hold on some glass tests, but have not had the time to try on boxes yet. 

[Ice-9]

I have searched for the nazdaar inks but with me being based in the UK have not been able to find those inks, after doing lots of googling i found a place called art2screenprint and bought some of the Mercury solvent inks they adverise and find they work great on powder coated enclosures.They are a little expensive and available only in 1/2 litre but will last forever. so if your in the UK look for Mercury screen ink.

Here is one I screened just 30 mins ago.

[chromesphere]

i was looking into screenprinting (again), trying to find something straight forward to get started with (if that exists). Single color, durable and repeatable. 

I found this ezscreenprint kit that looked promising.  I could set something up so that i can repeatedly use the screen over and over and be aligned correctly to the enclosure.  But i was concerned about the durability of the inks they sell (jacquard).  The lady told me to use a fixer with the ink, i responded and asked her what the durability would be like. Awaiting a response.  What do you guys think?

Kit: http://ezscreenprint.com/EZScreenPrintBasicStarterKitStandard.aspx

Ink: http://ezscreenprint.com/jacquardprintinginks.aspx

Fixer: http://ezscreenprint.com/versatexfixer.aspx

Paul

[Ice-9]

i was looking into screenprinting (again), trying to find something straight forward to get started with (if that exists). Single color, durable and repeatable. 

I found this ezscreenprint kit that looked promising.  I could set something up so that i can repeatedly use the screen over and over and be aligned correctly to the enclosure.  But i was concerned about the durability of the inks they sell (jacquard).  The lady told me to use a fixer with the ink, i responded and asked her what the durability would be like. Awaiting a response.  What do you guys think?

Kit: http://ezscreenprint.com/EZScreenPrintBasicStarterKitStandard.aspx

Ink: http://ezscreenprint.com/jacquardprintinginks.aspx

Fixer: http://ezscreenprint.com/versatexfixer.aspx

Paul

When I first tried screen printing I used all the gear from the links you have put there. Don't bother with any of these the inks are water based and just scratch off if you rub your finger over them and would only be durable if you clear coat over the top of the printed enclosure.
The Ezprint screen system sounded good at first but when I tried them they are quite expensive and throw away items once they become over used, better to buy a screen with an alluminium frame that is reusable for different print jobs. (works out much cheaper in the long run. The ezprint stuff is difficult to get good alignment especially if you need to do multiple prints.

I will do a little picture tut of all the gear needed for cheap screen printing in a new thread as soon as I get a chance.

[chromesphere]

I was seriously considering ordering it to try it out, so thank you Ice for saving me 70 odd dollars

Looking forward to that tutorial Ice!
Paul

[carboncomp]

Would be good to see some DIY stomp box printing rigs, as I cant see a practical way to doing them on my carousel. 

[newperson]

I have dropped a bit of money on the Jacquard inks before since they state all purpose ect.  They are fine for paper but not much else.  As the poster said before me, because they are water based paint.  Check out dickblick pricing also.