# What would be the cost to remesh myself? What supplies would I need?



## sandhopper2 (Apr 26, 2010)

I have several wood frames 20 X24 bought cheap ( 28 ) and some , about have need to have new screen . Looking for the least expensive way to get this done . What would the average cost be if I did this myself ? Glue + mesh ? Where would I get these supplies ? What would it cost to have done local LA area ? I can build the strecher have access to welder and steel or even air clyinder 
I know every will say buy new newmans or Aluninum frames , that is not in the buget for this start up 
Thanks Larry


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## Printmark (Sep 25, 2011)

*Re: remesh*

A good cheap stretching device is a roller frame. Just buy one that your wood frames will fit inside of, then stretch the mesh using the roller frame, glue your wood frame to the stretched mesh, release it from the roller frame and trim off the excess.

I don't know off the top of my head what the exact cost for doing them this way is, but you'll get your money back out of them.


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## macmiller (Jul 23, 2007)

If your budget is tight, send them out for re-stretching. I know it sounds contradictory, but by the time you build a stretcher, or learn to properly stretch a roller and blow a bunch of mesh while testing it out, buy a tension meter, etc., you'll have more in it than if if someone else does it. Mesh is the most expensive piece of the system, let someone who does screens day in, day out use their skill to make you good screens.


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## sandhopper2 (Apr 26, 2010)

Thanks for the replies , but still looking for costs of the glue and the mesh . I know I can build the stretcher out of 2X2's and it will cost less than $5 ( I have the 2X2's so bolts nuts and carpet tack strip need to be bought ) If the screen is 50 inches wide I could get 2 screens with a little less than 1 yard ( I figure 24 X 30 to start ) . How much glue does it take I see quarts for like $39 ( ebay has $20 but shipping is $19 ) Is there a glue to use from home depot . I think I need to try this as the DIY in me says YOU CAN DO IT


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## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

sandhopper2 said:


> Thanks for the replies , but still looking for costs of the glue and the mesh . I know I can build the stretcher out of 2X2's and it will cost less than $5 ( I have the 2X2's so bolts nuts and carpet tack strip need to be bought ) If the screen is 50 inches wide I could get 2 screens with a little less than 1 yard ( I figure 24 X 30 to start ) . How much glue does it take I see quarts for like $39 ( ebay has $20 but shipping is $19 ) Is there a glue to use from home depot . I think I need to try this as the DIY in me says YOU CAN DO IT


You can restrech but I would take the recommendation above and get 1 roller frame. Strech in frame and glue. You need to get a nice even strech and the tack strip DIY method is not very good at this plus you also need to let the mesh strech and sit for awhile and restrech before you glue to get maximum tension that will last.


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## ScreenFoo (Aug 9, 2011)

I'd say if you're doing this because you want to learn, you're on the right track--but realize that whatever route you take, you will want to re tension more than a couple times to let the mesh "relax". 

Roller frames are ideal for this--a home made stretcher will be as well, if it can hold the mesh well without damaging it, and is capable of pulling VERY hard on each side of the frame. I don't know if you can build a great manual stretcher for less than a newman and the tools for it--and the benefit to newmans would be the ability to stretch 2 or 3 or 4 at a time for stage tensioning.

+1 Mac and Sben on the budget--if you're trying to make a go of this as a business, you will spend a large amount of time and at least a moderate amount of money learning how to make a mediocre screen. It's way easier to make money printing. Just a heads up.


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## macmiller (Jul 23, 2007)

It's CA adhesive, aka crazy glue. The kind used for screens has an activator/accelerator. It will make your head spin if you're not in a ventilated room. It dries within a second or two. There's an epoxy also, but I've never used it.

Mesh costs can be all over the place due to quality and mesh count. Buy the best you can afford, even if it's a lesser quantity.

just a side note, you can get 18x20 square bar rollers for as low as $15 if you keep your eyes peeled on ebay and digitsmith.com. I use shur-loc and newman mesh panels. They are pricey, but I can get 30-40 newtons fairly easily on the first stretch. If you take care of them (I don't!) they should last years. I have some that I tightened to 30 newtons, kept it maintained at 30 and have stayed there for almost 3 years without seeing a wrench.


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## StampedTees (Jun 15, 2011)

I would agree with everyone else .. buy the biggest newman frame that makes sense .. 

Then to tighten it either .. 
1- get a huge crescent wrench .. 
2- buy the tool used if you can find it.

I'd definitely suggest making sure you have the right tension that is even in both directions, having correct and even tension means that when you face a multi color job you won't spend 12 hours trying to register it.. either

1- buy tool new ($400?)
2- buy the tool used .. $200?
3- do what i did and find someone that lives/works nearby .. take them a case of beer to help you out for a couple hours .. swap printing and life stories and make a new friend. 

If you're not remeshing to many frames, spend the time stretching , relaxing and rest retching the mesh in the newman so it holds longer in the wood frame. 

ALSO - DON'T go cheap on your glue remover and new glue .. It's not worth spending good money on mesh and all that time remeshing them only to have the glue let go a month later .. 

If you forsake all of this and decide to have them professionally remeshed you can have a company like ryonet do them .. if your total order with the remeshing and other supplies is over $150 they ship them back to you for free so you only pay to ship the frames to them.

http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/product/RYR20x24 .. $14ish for remeshing is a deal in comparison to the time / expense to do it on your own.

keep us posted on what you end up doing and how the results turn out ! Best of luck!


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## sandhopper2 (Apr 26, 2010)

*Re: What would be the cost to re mesh myself? What supplies would I need?*

Well I found a guy with used frames off brand like Newman and was going to buy one and some screen and try , but he also was in business of re meshing frames . We in short I just had them do my wood frames at $6.50 each I just said GREAT I found the man I needed
Not sure what the tension is but they feel good to me and now back to learning to print 
Larry


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## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

*Re: What would be the cost to re mesh myself? What supplies would I need?*



sandhopper2 said:


> Well I found a guy with used frames off brand like Newman and was going to buy one and some screen and try , but he also was in business of re meshing frames . We in short I just had them do my wood frames at $6.50 each I just said GREAT I found the man I needed
> Not sure what the tension is but they feel good to me and now back to learning to print
> Larry


A very wise decision. Printing is were you make money and that is cheap for remesh. Did that include the mesh?


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## sandhopper2 (Apr 26, 2010)

*Re: What would be the cost to re mesh myself? What supplies would I need?*



sben763 said:


> A very wise decision. Printing is were you make money and that is cheap for remesh. Did that include the mesh?


 Yes mesh included it was 110 and this was a great find 
I'm still trying to get set up starting slow and reading a lot . Trying to learn color separation tonight using Gimp and it is a slow go 
Larry


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## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

*Re: What would be the cost to re mesh myself? What supplies would I need?*



sandhopper2 said:


> Yes mesh included it was 110 and this was a great find
> I'm still trying to get set up starting slow and reading a lot . Trying to learn color separation tonight using Gimp and it is a slow go
> Larry


A great find indeed. I would get a couple of 156 also if you don't have any and maybe a few 230. 156 should be min for black and I prefer 230 when printing over an underbase for all colors. When I over print I prefer to underbase with a 156. When I started I used mostly 110 and my prints were bullet proof feeling. Feel free to pm me for my email I can help as much as my time allows.


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## ScreenFoo (Aug 9, 2011)

Sounds like a great deal--you should definitely find out what higher mesh would run--Like Sben mentioned, it will perform well if properly stretched. Your stretching friend might be able to get you a pretty good deal--some of those guys buy enough mesh that you'd never find a few yards for twice what they pay.


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## StampedTees (Jun 15, 2011)

I agree with both ^^ .. Not only will your prints have a nicer feel but you also save a ton of ink .. the difference between 110 and 156 is noticeable even without doing 1000 prints.. 

The difference between 156 and 230 is even greater .. I typically will use 156 or 230 if doing spot colors on a light colored shirt just to get that nice feel and save the ink .. 

Each design , shirt and printer is different though .. figure out what works for you .. if you don't have a 9-5 it's always a good idea to go intern/work for another printer in the area so you can help them out and learn as much as possible .. always easier to learn from someone else's mistakes than make them yourself. . 

best of luck with it all.


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