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screen printing => General Screen Printing => Topic started by: Screened Gear on September 09, 2011, 12:22:29 AM
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This is a sample of laser etching on a shirt.
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That's cool!
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Its really cool. No ink no nothing added. It gets the color from burning, or removing the fabric. It’s a $60,000 laser so don't get too excited. My Embroider is getting one. Best thing about it is it can print anywhere.
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That's impressive. What kind of hand or feel does the lasered part have?
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Not many colours then?
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We have done that...... our laser is used for engraving but I seen it done and thought.. aha, I can do this! Needless to say my wife was not very happy with me when I ruined a pair of those high dollar jeans of hers. But after a little practice and setting adjustments I got it dialed in. Lasers are very cool for doing many things..... from gun stocks to Bibles we have burnt designs in just about everything.
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Hey, I'm thinking about a DIY CNC router setup... don't think I wont' try to strap a freaking laser beam to that baby! ;)
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We've been doing it for a few months on our little Epilog 75W. It's pretty cool but there are limitations. One color and you won't know what color the image is going to be until you test that material and color. The settings for your laser are super important, 8% might be a little light, and 9% might burn right through the shirt, so it's touchy. I do like it though, there is a niche there and so far the people we've showed it to have responded quite well to it. I really like the ease of doing it, it's 1/100 of the labor of screen printing, no mess, no chemicals and tools other than the laser. And you don't have to spend 60K to do this, our laser was half that price and even the cheapest of lasers can etch into garments. We use our auto's pallets and load the shirt onto it and then put the pallet inside the laser and that's it. It might take a few minutes to etch so you won't be able to churn out large numbers like screen printing them, but it's got it's place. Limitations are there but I like it overall.
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I know that Hirsch sell those bad boys. You can get a embroidery machine with the laser hooked up to it. You loose one needle because of it.
Single head is around $40K (I think).
It is used fot applique too, place the applique material on the garment, sew holding stitches, use laser to cut the material, remove material, keep stitching satin stitches on the edges. It eliminates pre cutting and aligning the material for applique.
Or you can do reverse aplique.
Hirsch International - Single Head Laser - Bahama Reverse Applique (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB3EPj4mWa0#ws)
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Is anybody else amazed at the infinite ways to decorate a shirt? Just when you think you've seen it all, some new process comes along. New processes and techniques is good for the industry.
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the $60,000 laser you just lay the garment down and it traces the design with a light laser so you can line it up. It is also a ton faster than the other lasers out there. You can do things almost as fast as an auto depending on the size of the print. You can not feel the print (or hardly feel it since it does take away fabric there is a little dimension). no set up. You just need a black and white file. I think we will see a lot more of this. I will be offering it in a few weeks.
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Is anybody else amazed at the infinite ways to decorate a shirt? Just when you think you've seen it all, some new process comes along. New processes and techniques is good for the industry.
I was just thinking this as I watched the hirsch video. Pretty incredible. I'd like to learn more about embroidery and this laser stuff someday. But I just don't have the same interest in it as screen printing.