A couple of days ago we received an order for t-shirts so today we woke up early to work on it. I took a couple of shots so that I could show how the process works. The actual printing of the shirt is not hard or that time consuming. The part that takes a lot of time is the making of the screens(the stencil) and registering (aligning) the screens so that each color is exactly lined up with the other colors to make the print. After running a few trial prints to ensure the print is right the printing goes rather smoothly. We easily completed 50 of the prints in about 2 hours. We have another set of shirts to make for this customer later today. Then Monday we will ship them to Idaho. It's fun to see the shirts we make on the streets. We get to let a little creative energy out making them.
Bill is adjusting the platen(the place the shirt goes to get the print) to ensure proper alignment and print placement.
Each color of a print is a separate screen(stencil). The more colors the more screens needed for the print. This print is a 3 color print. This is the second color.
Here is what the print looks like after the first two colors are printed. You can see the giraffe and the monkey.
On the third screen you can see the stencil without ink over it. The areas without the emulsion (pink ) on it is where the ink will pass through making the print on the shirt.
This is the completed print. Now there is one more important step setting the ink.
The printed shirt is carefully taken off of the platen and heated under a press the shirt must reach 325 degrees to cure the ink. Or the ink will smear or come off in the wash.
Now the shirt is finished only 49 more to go.
Bill is adjusting the platen(the place the shirt goes to get the print) to ensure proper alignment and print placement.
A shirt is placed on the platen. The shirt is placed carefully so that the print will be straight and centered on the shirt. This placement takes a while to learn. I have placed shirts where the print is neither straight or centered. It get easier with time and practice.
The lightest color is printed first on this pattern. The ink is spread over the screen with a squeegee and then is pulled or pushed at a 90 degree angle so the ink passes through the cleared stencil area and on to the shirt.
Each color of a print is a separate screen(stencil). The more colors the more screens needed for the print. This print is a 3 color print. This is the second color.
Here is what the print looks like after the first two colors are printed. You can see the giraffe and the monkey.
On the third screen you can see the stencil without ink over it. The areas without the emulsion (pink ) on it is where the ink will pass through making the print on the shirt.
This is the completed print. Now there is one more important step setting the ink.
The printed shirt is carefully taken off of the platen and heated under a press the shirt must reach 325 degrees to cure the ink. Or the ink will smear or come off in the wash.
Now the shirt is finished only 49 more to go.
On a day when I make new screens I'll explain how we do that part of the process.
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