# Flip the screen?



## xcelr8hard (Jan 27, 2011)

Have you ever run a print job, then flip the screens and run plastisol transfers? 
Seems plausible to me as long as the platen will fit inside the screen.
What do you think?
Butch


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

Could get a little messy. You don't have the 'bowl' to contain your ink. But it's doable.


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## Zenergy (Apr 14, 2011)

Yeah, I guess you could make a wall out of blockout tape to contain the ink. You'd also probably want to coat the screens 2/2, as the thinner emulsion on the ink side could cause issues when you flip the screen.


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## BroJames (Jul 8, 2008)

doable but maybe you'd want to coat your emulsion to cover a larger area so you use less tape on the print side (which turns into inki side)


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## Naptime (May 19, 2011)

for the time it would take to clean the ink side of the screen before flipping it. and then tape the shirt side to make it the new screen side. and try keeping the ink where it belongs...

it would be easier/faster/cleaner/and more efficient to just burn a second screen.


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## BroJames (Jul 8, 2008)

More systematic and more professional to have 2 separate screens but not necessarily more efficient or practical especially for the small printer, for someone trying out transfers, or for 1 who just want to have a few extra sets of the image he/she just printed in reserve - in case a few more shirts of the same design will be printed later.

2 screens means 2 coatings, 2 exposures, 2 washout, 2 reclaiming, etc. I don't see how cleaning just 1 side of the screen(which simnply consist of wiping off the ink, rewiping with the required cleaner, and taping) will take more time. 

It is a little inconvenient to print on the frameless bottom though especially if the ink is a little viscous.


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## xcelr8hard (Jan 27, 2011)

BroJames said:


> More systematic and more professional to have 2 separate screens but not necessarily more efficient or practical especially for the small printer, for someone trying out transfers, or for 1 who just want to have a few extra sets of the image he/she just printed in reserve - in case a few more shirts of the same design will be printed later.
> 
> 2 screens means 2 coatings, 2 exposures, 2 washout, 2 reclaiming, etc. I don't see how cleaning just 1 side of the screen(which simnply consist of wiping off the ink, rewiping with the required cleaner, and taping) will take more time.
> 
> It is a little inconvenient to print on the frameless bottom though especially if the ink is a little viscous.


That was my thought also. A lot of work to make a few transfers for those "oh, so and so ordered the wrong size".
Seems I have gotten more than my share of those lately.
Butch


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## 20vK (Jul 9, 2011)

If you have an old frame with knackered mesh you don't mind bastardising, you could cut it so that there is a gap where your screen clamp is. Remove all the mesh.

Then you could use 4 cheap screw clamps (probably a $ each from your hardware store) to clamp the meshless screen frame to what used to be the substrate or shirt side of your printing screen frame.

Now you have a well. Tape it up, and get printing!

Naturally, there will be a gap where you chopped the frame, but you could bridge this with tape and just be aware of it when you print. Your new "Porta-Well" will also have lost nearly all of its integrity and rigidity, so handle it with care. Ideally, you would brace the corners furthest away from the cut with fillets inside or a mitre diagonally across the corners to strengthen them. Alternatively, you could build a "bridge" so the frame goes up and over the handles of your clamp system on that particular area of the "Porta-Well"

If you are handy with a welder, this would be ideal in aluminum and give you back a lot of rigidity. if not, wood would be easier to construct

Richie


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