The reclaim chems have come such a long way. Really thankful for all of the progress in that department. When I first started I remember using gallons of that caustic haze remover that would split a 110 if you left it on there too long.

Just wish we could get away from spray tack, screen opener, and spot fluid. We avoid as much as possible but we cant ever eliminate them it seems.

I put a pair of powermatic filters under each press last year, seeing what gets sucked up into those was a real eye opener for us all.

Quote from: Nation03 on April 10, 2024, 06:14:10 AM

That's enough for me to stay away from it going forward. I wear a respirator and gloves when I powder the films but I still feel vulnerable whenever I have to run a DTF job. I'll be 35 next month and I've felt like crap since I was 25. Been in this business since I was 17. Heavily considering learning a new skill and making a career change lol.

If you think DTF is bad, go clean the air filter on your press and dryer, imagine what our lungs look like! Plus all the other chemicals and inks, I don't care what anyone says, discharge is bad news too

Oh I don't doubt it one bit. Plus the first like 5 years or so I entered the business I wasn't provided a respirator for reclaiming screens. Luckily the company I worked for didn't use a ton of screens, but still. I reclaimed for a number of years without protection at a young age so I'm probably already filled with toxic waste lol. I'm like Brooks in Shawshank in the sense that screen printing is all I know. I literally have no other real work experience or higher education. Plus with a mortgage and a kid now I feel like there isn't a realistic exit from this business.

That's enough for me to stay away from it going forward. I wear a respirator and gloves when I powder the films but I still feel vulnerable whenever I have to run a DTF job. I'll be 35 next month and I've felt like crap since I was 25. Been in this business since I was 17. Heavily considering learning a new skill and making a career change lol.

Also, just a general note - moving around equipment, gas lines and power drops is just a given fact of running and growing a shop. Plan on it and locate utility drops where they can easily be accessed for repair, upgrades and relocation even with the equipment in place.

We've been doing a bit of appliqué on the Tajima lately. So far we've been having Stahls do the cutting (poly twill) and they also create the stitch file. This is great and all... but I'd really like to cut down on ship times and i'd like to have the flexibility of doing it in house. With that said, whats good with cutters? We've never ran one here, but I think the two i've heard about are Graphtec and Roland.? Looking for something roll feed. Any models or brands to avoid? Okay to buy used or is this one of those things you want to buy new? Thanks in advance!