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screen printing => Screen Making => Topic started by: ericheartsu on November 18, 2014, 11:14:36 AM
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Always on the quest for new and better ways, i wanted to get a discussion going on how everyone labels their screens. So far this is the best way we've found, but it's far from great or permanent.
We tape up our screens, then we sharpie on shipping labels, apply it to the tape or the frame, and then packing tape over it. We tend to put one on each side. i've included a picture of our auto and manual frames
How do you guys do it?
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Pretty much the same here except I use a vinyl printer. The labels last a good while.
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I have a pretty dumb way to do it -but it works. We cut out various shapes of vinyl and stink them on the frame, both ends. Each shape represents a different mesh. A triangle means 230, rectangle is 160 and so on. When we coat for wb/dc, we apply another little neon orange sticker so we know how it's coated. It's easy to see across the room and on the racks. Numbers are probably even easier but I tend to make things more complicated than it needs to be haha.... when it comes to reclaim, we simply peel off the orange sticker, if we want to.. The vinyl holds up really well through reclaim.... not perfect but it works.
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Some use colored zip ties for rollers. Aluminums may be metal punched
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Dymo labels. Old school embossed ones. Have to give Evo credit for the idea. I posted a pic in another thread of how we do ours. I'll try to send you a pic over ater
Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk
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The labels come in enough colors that if your screen library isn't huge in terms of how many mesh counts you use you can have a separate color for each one. They last nearly forever and the adhesive holds very well to a roller frame.
Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk
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Some use colored zip ties for rollers. Aluminums may be metal punched
Got to watch the zip ties. I found that when you put them on the roller frame and cut the tie off you have a sharp square edge and they will bust a screen that you stack next to it if your not careful.
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if you use Zip Ties, PLEASE use flat cut diagonal cutters, or in a pinch, nail clippers work too... using standard diagonal cutters will leave an edge that will slice you and leave scars if you brush against it wrong.
I used to work on a crew doing wiring in telephone central offices... the ones that allowed zipties (very few and far between), required you to use the flat cut cutters... of course most of them required cat gut (wax twine) and/or velcro...
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We use vinyl stickers. They last a lot of reclaim cycles. And they're cheap.
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With the zip ties, I'd be worried about cutting your blanket too.
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I use industrial sharpy directly on the frame and cover in cheapo packing tape. Lasts forever it seems like.... (statics)
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Dymo labels but hand written with permanent markers, then cheap packaging tape over the top of that, lasts forever, easy to read in any light. Now that I have the Dymo label printer on my desk I may start using it for marking screens.
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Should have mentioned, we use a sharpie 'oil based paint pen' here... scuff up the corners... paint it on, let it set, and it seems to be nearly permanent, unless you hit it with too much ink remover...
however, we use statics and not roller frames...
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Zip ties, nail clipper. Luckily on Newmans pinned for MHM's the pins themselves provide you with a bit of cover for the blanket/your hands.
Everything else we've tried (label/packing tape, writing on the frame) has eventually worn off. Admittedly we haven't done the
Dymo thing yet.
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color coded with sign vinyl squares on roller and square bar
mooseman
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Vinyl cut numbers. they last forever and still peel right off if need be.
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Dymo labels but hand written with permanent markers, then cheap packaging tape over the top of that, lasts forever, easy to read in any light. Now that I have the Dymo label printer on my desk I may start using it for marking screens.
I've used pretty much everything.
Masking tape and sharpies: NO
It dries out and the labels fade and the tape shreds and leaves a sticky mess on the frames. Don't do it. If you catch a shop kid doing it, flog them in front of the rest of the staff as example.
Industrial Sharpies: sorta
You can write directly on bare new mesh or frames and it might last depending on the strength of your dehazer. If you use a good dehazer, forget it. (701 for example will remove it completely after one or two reclaims)
btw - Industrial Sharpies (red label) are the better/stronger version of regular Sharpies. They are awesome all around the shop.
Dymo labels: Yes. But...
These are the old school embossed labels with the spinny letter/number selector. The labels are awesome and adhere to most frames through dip tank abuse and general shop mayhem.
BUT: spinning that damn thing any squeezing out labels and peeling off the backing for like 10's or 100's of screens will make you insane. So there is that. Not recommended for large shop screen inventories unless you have good local mental health providers...
Zip ties: Sure?
These work great if you have roller or EZ frames...until you take them into a yellow safe-light room. Most color coded methods fail here. If you have UV safe white light, you're good to go. Cut them flush.
Brother P-touch, etc: YES
Great label solution when used with the 3/4" (18mm) "extra strength" label tape. It sticks to any/all frames and is impervious to dip tank and general physical/chemical abuse.
This is my favorite: http://www.staples.com/Brother-TZe-S241-P-Touch-Label-Tape-3-4-inch-Black-on/product_917870 (http://www.staples.com/Brother-TZe-S241-P-Touch-Label-Tape-3-4-inch-Black-on/product_917870)
Count on about 75-100 screens depending on how much info you want on the labels.
One minor issue: removing the label backing is fiddly and can be tedious on multiple frames. (not quite as bad as Dymo embossed labels though) Also, the way the label machines are set up to operate can waste a TON of tape if you're not careful. They are made to produce excess margins and feed excess tape before cutting.
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Here we label the mesh, initial stretch date and subsequent retension dates on the side of the frames so they are visible in the racks during coating, taping and while awaiting masking.
On the front we label it with the Job name, SKU (if applicable), print designation and screen count...this way this information is visible on the racks in the shop where we keep completed jobs.
We use a brother label maker. The labels hold up surprisingly well, some times for years.
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Here we label the mesh, initial stretch date and subsequent retension dates on the side of the frames so they are visible in the racks during coating, taping and while awaiting masking.
On the front we label it with the Job name, SKU (if applicable), print designation and screen count...this way this information is visible on the racks in the shop where we keep completed jobs.
We use a brother label maker. The labels hold up surprisingly well, some times for years.
Screen Dan, how do you get the label maker to output the job name/sku/designation/count? Is this out of a software like shopworx or the like or do you have to do it manually?
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Here we label the mesh, initial stretch date and subsequent retension dates on the side of the frames so they are visible in the racks during coating, taping and while awaiting masking.
On the front we label it with the Job name, SKU (if applicable), print designation and screen count...this way this information is visible on the racks in the shop where we keep completed jobs.
We use a brother label maker. The labels hold up surprisingly well, some times for years.
Screen Dan, how do you get the label maker to output the job name/sku/designation/count? Is this out of a software like shopworx or the like or do you have to do it manually?
It's whatever comes with the Brother P-Touch software. It isn't linked into any database. It takes 10 seconds to type up the label....then I start masking the screen on the CTS and by time the first screen is done I have all the labels printed and the labels slapped on all of the other screens...label the white plate, throw in screen 2 to start masking, expose white plate screen 1 and done. Admittedly, it's a little clunky since it isn't linked into any of the many databases and spreadsheets that are part of our workflow...we have been talking about going to Shopworx for year snow, it's never happening and given the lack of commitment from pretty much every other department in the company? That's fine. If everyone isn't on board with that a shared excel spreadsheet that many departments are on board with, sadly, is more effective.
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Business card size vinyl stickers. Three mesh counts up on each then chop them up. They last dozens of reclaims and if we remesh the screen with something different, we just put a new sticker over the old one.
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I still like my colored "electrical tape" on the end of the short roller (newman frames). Black right is 150. Red left is 305, etc. Holds up pretty well and easily identifiable up close or at a distance.
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we spray paint both ends of the frame a specific color. our 160s are yellow, 230s are red, 305s are blue. very cheap and lasts a long time. its easy to pull out of the drying racks after they have been reclaimed and sort them into seperate piles to be coated...ill add a pic in the morning when i get to the shop
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Vinyl cut numbers. they last forever and still peel right off if need be.
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Some use colored zip ties for rollers. Aluminums may be metal punched
Got to watch the zip ties. I found that when you put them on the roller frame and cut the tie off you have a sharp square edge and they will bust a screen that you stack next to it if your not careful.
For any DTC system, it can also scratch your heads or interfere with or catch on your head casing when an imprint is very large, near ends of the frames (max print area) for example.
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we spray paint both ends of the frame a specific color. our 160s are yellow, 230s are red, 305s are blue. very cheap and lasts a long time. its easy to pull out of the drying racks after they have been reclaimed and sort them into seperate piles to be coated...ill add a pic in the morning when i get to the shop
I've seen this and it's perfect for DTS and Tri Lock. No extra tape (vinyl) sticking out further on the sides or ends to deal wit for Tri Lock. Very easy to see from a distance what mesh you have.
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I still like my colored "electrical tape" on the end of the short roller (newman frames). Black right is 150. Red left is 305, etc. Holds up pretty well and easily identifiable up close or at a distance.
We use the same method, very easy. In the dark room and on the pre-floor we have papers with the code (for example 230 Mesh in blue text). It has worked well, we just place colored electric tape at either end, stays on a good bit. If it starts to come off it is a very fast fix. We also use the Eco Frames so we do change the mesh count on each panel ever so often, so we can't put permanent counts on them.