Rounding squeegee corners

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

Thanks, Gerry. I have a Smilin' Jack Blade (I think..) that has rounded corners, but it's intended usage is for manual printers....which I am. I'm not overly excited about the blade actually, but I DO like the fact that I never accidebtslly "cut" the tape at the edges of my screens with overly sharp corners as I'm moving ink around--pulling it in for use. It can be a problem with runny straight discharge ink.

Maybe I oughta do all my blades that way....but not for the same reason I'm learning about here.

[Prosperi-Tees]

Don't quote me on this but I "think" if you round the edge on your whole blade you may get more saturation with water based inks.

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

I don't see how. Aren't we just talking just the extreme left and right margins of the print stroke?? That part of the blade never sees (or rarely sees) open mesh.

Do I misunderstand? Surely you arent talking about rounding the entire length of the blade, (the sharp working edge)

[Prosperi-Tees]

Yes thats what this thread is about, just the outside edges. I screwed it up by saying you "could" round off your entire blade and get more saturation when printing waterbased inks. I will probably get banned from this site for even trying to think on my own  lol. 

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

Ahh yes. I see what you meant now.

In your honor, I'm banning myself, temporarily from posting, until the end of the world, or about 6 hours....whichever comes first.

random winky winky winky

[tonypep]

Un-rounded blades can cause premature stencil breakdown as well as increased wear on mesh. In addition they can cause "shirt streaks" which made people like Nike ballistic. Mainly on autos.

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

Un-rounded blades can cause premature stencil breakdown as well as increased wear on mesh. In addition they can cause "shirt streaks" which made people like Nike ballistic. Mainly on autos.

OK.  Well I have a lot to learn.  I never even thought about rounding the corners until this thread showed up, and I'm 4 years in. 

[blue moon]

rounded corners also make for a better print as you are not pushing as far out and are thus closer to the sweet spot of the mesh  (at least so I see it in my head).
We have one of those tools and are not using it (different manufacturer though). It works great on single duro, but is useless with triples (harder core makes it slip out).

Right now, we are cutting them with a blade and sanding smooth. I bought a bench grinder to use for it and have not had a chance to test it yet. Ask me in a few months . . .

pierre

[3Deep]

Ok I read everything, and found out I,m just one simple cheap ole bastard...I have a pc of sand paper glued to a pc of wood and all I do is rub the edges of the squeegee on it, and it rounds very nicely.

Darryl

[blue moon]

Ok I read everything, and found out I,m just one simple cheap ole bastard...I have a pc of sand paper glued to a pc of wood and all I do is rub the edges of the squeegee on it, and it rounds very nicely.

Darryl

which is quite likely the best way to do it. It just goes to show that cheap is not necessarily bad!!!

pierre

[easyrider1340]

I have certainly ripped tape before with the sharp edge.  Guess I'll be rounding corners on squeegees next week!

Thanks!
Terry

[ScreenFoo]

3Deep--you think you're cheap?  I use the sidewalk outside.   

[tonypep]

Bench Grinder. Harbor Freight od H Depot. Sold my squeegee sharpener. To me it's a waste of time and money. I always replace with fresh material.

[jasonl]

I use the concrete outside, works like a charm!

[Frog]

A  few more endorsements like this, and some major player will market a slab of concrete specially marketed to screen printers just for this purpose.
All it may take is a catchy name and a catchy promotional video.

I have dibs on "Ground Round"