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screen printing => General Screen Printing => Topic started by: sqslabs on June 22, 2014, 11:41:50 PM
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I now know you guys have ADD, so I'll try to keep this one a bit shorter than the post about my press. ;)
Where to begin.. I had been reading Bill Hood's books when I found out he had a school. So as part of the wave of changes happening at my shop in preparation for getting a new press, I decided to use some of the budget toward attending. The way I see it, the machine can only do so much if the operator (myself) doesn't have the knowledge in place to use it correctly. And I was seeking that knowledge.
In the meantime, I had been talking with a guy named Alan on this forum, who was helping me greatly in my search for the new press. He owned one of the machines that I had on my list, and when I found out his shop was in the same city as the School of Screenprinting, I asked if I could swing by and check out the press while I was in the area. Shortly after sending the email, I realized that Alan was now the teacher and the school took place at his shop. Small world.
A few weeks later (which is now a few weeks ago) I was on a plane to Austin, and fortunate enough to be the only one signed up for the workshop that month. But before I get into that, I should probably give a bit of background on myself.
As a kid, my father owned bicycle shops, which in time became sporting goods stores. He eventually ended up moving from retail into the team sports side of things, and with that came the opening of a screen printing operation when I was in middle school. He was never a screen printer himself, but as a kid all I wanted to do was print my own shirts, and the guys in the shop were more than happy to show me the ropes. I grew up cutting amberlith, burning screens and pulling squeegees, and when I got older I worked at the shop on and off for about 10 years while pursuing other interests.
Fast forward about five years and I was on the tail end of a mildly successful music career and looking for something to do. My father was in the midst of closing his screen printing shop with plans to outsource that side of the business, and needed to get his equipment out of the building before the landlord got rid of it for him. I hired a flatbed and managed to salvage a 6 color Rototex, 24" Maxi-Cure, a spot gun, 15x15 110v flash, and a 10k Richmond Screen Maker before the rest went to the scrapyard. I rented part of a shared warehouse and a couple weeks later, opened the doors to my business as its sole employee.
I've now been in business for six years, and in that time the business has grown quite a bit. I even have a few employees now, and we pride ourselves on the fact that the shop is known in the area for its quality.
So why am I telling you my life story in a post about the School of Screenprinting? Because I learned more about screen printing in two days from Alan than I had in an entire lifetime of being around it, and six years of running my own shop. Even the stuff I was positive I knew, I didn't. And I now feel that I have the arsenal of knowledge needed to take my shop to the next level, and to continue to further myself in my craft.
The thing about Alan is that he is not only insanely knowledgeable on screen printing, but he's more than happy to share it with anyone, and does so in a way that anyone can understand. I feel very fortunate to have been able to spend the time learning from him that I did, and consider it to be the best investment that I've ever made for my shop. Besides renting the flatbed.
They say the path to knowledge is first realizing that you never knew anything to begin with. Well I thought I knew a lot about my trade. Then I hung out with Alan for a couple days.
Hats off to you Alan, and thanks for making screen printing exciting for me again.
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Alan's proven to be a great asset to the industry and especially to the friends here. Great to see someone taking advantage of the knowledge of the experienced.
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I appreciate the kind words good sir. It was a pleasure sharing what I've been lucky enough to have been given by guys like Bill and Joe and Rich, Rick, forum members here, etc. I could try to name them all and I'm sure some guys that have imparted knowledge on me might get their feelings hurt that I didn't mention them directly but there are too many to mention but I'm grateful to them all. I've tried to learn every single thing that I could in a short amount of time and have literally tried so many things and stick with the ones that worked the best. Lot's of the things that I try to show at the workshop are things that I KNOW will translate from shop to shop and they are things that I am also very confident in because we use the technique, tools or equipment every day to it's fullest potential.
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Alan,
Your in Austin? If you are I will have to try to come see you when i am visiting my brother one of these times.
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Alan,
Your in Austin? If you are I will have to try to come see you when i am visiting my brother one of these times.
I'm on the line between Austin and Round Rock. It's technically Round Rock but you can throw a rock to the Austin city limits.
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Alan you didn't mention me and all of the things I've taught you. Come on man
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Get in line. ;D
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Alan how often you have those classes? I wouldn't mind soaking up some of your knowledge!
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Get in line.
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I completely understand why Alan did not thank me. I don't waist my good stuff on Alan. :) :) :)
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Alan,
I am interested in more details on your course.
Please contact me via my email, maxie@tmax.co.il
Thanks
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I can bet you guys that out of those who have posted on this thread, I have learned something from each of you and many active members here. I'm not one of those guys who won't open their ears to someone who might not have the experience or knowledge I have because I've learned things from even the most novice printer or shop. It's happened so many times during the workshops someone has asked a question or mentioned something that they had tried and I will put some thought into it and next thing you know I've got new material to use or try out. This thing we do is very diverse and there are so many ways to get things done and even though I've learned the bulk of my stuff from 2 guys in particular, there are so many others that have helped along the way. And I thank you all.
Alan how often you have those classes? I wouldn't mind soaking up some of your knowledge!
It's one weekend every month and the dates of the workshops are posted on the school of screen printing website. Bill takes care of the website and is currently working on making the website more interactive in the sense that those who take the course will have access to all of the articles that he's written and perhaps even parts of books he's written. He's already got a lot up there but I think the bulk of the behind the scenes work is still being done.
If some of you experienced guys are interested we can set up a workshop so that there isn't a huge gap of experience levels at the same workshop. There have been times when I've had 5 complete novices who had never touched a squeegee and those classes are great, but I feel that the ones who have done this get more out of it and the light bulb goes off in their head more often. The workshop still works when you have a mix of newbs and experience but if possible it's better to get a group with fairly similar experience levels and we can focus on areas better suited to the experience level.
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Then there was that one in ATL by the now infamous JR. What was it called Brannon?
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Screen Printing Inkstitute...that one?
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Bingo!
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JR really knew what he was talking about. When I bought 50 Newman 23 by 31 M3 frames from him and he shipped me 50 23 by 31 MZX frames. He explained to me they were the same frame.... Yeah right!?!
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Don't get me started on JR
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If some of you experienced guys are interested we can set up a workshop so that there isn't a huge gap of experience levels at the same workshop. There have been times when I've had 5 complete novices who had never touched a squeegee and those classes are great, but I feel that the ones who have done this get more out of it and the light bulb goes off in their head more often. The workshop still works when you have a mix of newbs and experience but if possible it's better to get a group with fairly similar experience levels and we can focus on areas better suited to the experience level.
Alan, have you ever considered offering a single student class as another option? It would of course have to be at a premium to offset only having one person in the class, but I'm sure there are those who would take the option if it were available.
And for those who were looking for the schedule/website, here's the link: http://schoolofscreenprinting.com (http://schoolofscreenprinting.com)