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screen printing => General Screen Printing => Topic started by: mk162 on November 07, 2011, 12:33:40 PM
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So I am not happy with the effort that goes into cleaning squeegees. I find it to be too time consuming and ink always gets missed on the ends. Also, I hate cleaning spatulas.
So I am working on a squeegee cleaner that will simplify the process and should be fairly straightforward to build. I am going to round up some supplies tonight and see if I can have something hammered out by the end of the week.
This should be exciting...or not. If it works, I think I can clean a squeegee and floodbar in under 30 seconds. Putty knives in 10 seconds.
I've already put the kibosh on converting an old dishwasher...too many possible problems.
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Do you presently merely wipe or do you use a parts washer sink?
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I use a parts washer with plastiwash from Xenon. The brushes that come with most parts washers are OK. Even with scrubbers, it still takes a bit to clean squeegees.
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I had one at one point. It used compressed air to turn two brushes and had a stainless holding tank that held the cleaning solution. It never caught on......it was kind of a messy operation and didn't really save time. I forgot who made it.
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this one won't have any moving parts, other than solvent. It will probably fail, but hey, if it works, I'm happy.
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MK, if you get it to work you'll make me happy too, I hate cleaning squeegees and floodbars
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Is this something you might be looking at patenting? I'm going through the patent process right now and it's a PITA. I'm beginning to wonder if it's really worth it.
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MK... HOOK US UP!!
That is the one thing I hate doing the most also... cleaning squeegees. I think I just need a squeegee for every color and be done with it!
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Nope, just done for the welfare and betterment of the screen printing society.
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I thought you didn't believe in "welfare". ;)
J/K, wrong forum. ;)
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I do, private welfare. I am choosing to donate m time to doing this, it's better than donating my money, against my will to study the effects of alcohol on chinese hookers(true story)
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hire a desperado out of a street corner
they will clean the ink out squeegees,screens ,floors for one day a week
problem solved
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I've got plans for round 2 of my reg unit, squeegie sharpeners and a self cleaning screen booth. . .all in my new building. While we are at it, WHY are squeegie sharpeners SO damn expensive and why are they 96" long? I need one badly and I can't justify 1500.00, even 800 for a used one. If my plans come together, I will be selling all this stuff.
What is the deal with this squeegie cleaner? Sounds like something I would use....hmm...
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I would hire a guy to clean, but why do that when it can be done faster with what I am thinking. Less payroll, less liabilities, faster throughput.
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I do, private welfare. I am choosing to donate m time to doing this, it's better than donating my money, against my will to study the effects of alcohol on chinese hookers(true story)
WTF...
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gilligan asked me about welfare, he thought i didn't believe in it. Simple as that.
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MK... HOOK US UP!!
That is the one thing I hate doing the most also... cleaning squeegees. I think I just need a squeegee for every color and be done with it!
I have a squeegee dedicated for every color 16" and left chest size and some others that I have to clean. I've found metal handle squeegies to be the easiest to wipe down so I'm trying to slowly replace those ones I clean with metal handles. I'll also use the same squeegie for red,orange,and pink.
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I've got plans for round 2 of my reg unit, squeegie sharpeners and a self cleaning screen booth. . .all in my new building. While we are at it, WHY are squeegie sharpeners SO damn expensive and why are they 96" long? I need one badly and I can't justify 1500.00, even 800 for a used one. If my plans come together, I will be selling all this stuff.
What is the deal with this squeegie cleaner? Sounds like something I would use....hmm...
fimor make one for about a grand. It is only about 24 wide. Seems pretty easy to use too. They are the ppl that make the 55/90/55 blades. . .
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RJennings had plans on how to make your own sharper.
http://www.rjennings.com/Squeegee-Sharpener_p_348.html (http://www.rjennings.com/Squeegee-Sharpener_p_348.html)
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I've always wanted an automated way of cleaning squeegees, floods, ink knives, buckets etc. I've looked before, was quoted on a Rhino something a while back, it was several K, several more K than I'd be willing to pay, but I still think the parts washer method is a wasted labor.
Tony was this the unit you remember? Looks just like your description, brushes, compressed air.
http://www.fimor.fr/en/maintenance-equipment/serilor-blade-runner-squeegee-washer.html (http://www.fimor.fr/en/maintenance-equipment/serilor-blade-runner-squeegee-washer.html)
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$1,000 seems kinda steep. I think I can do one cheaper...much cheaper and much smaller. I also have some of the parts here that I need, so it's hard to say the exact cost.
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$1,000 seems kinda steep. I think I can do one cheaper...much cheaper and much smaller. I also have some of the parts here that I need, so it's hard to say the exact cost.
I'd pay $1K without blinking an eye as long as it works and really saves time. The thing about the Fimor is it's not really "automated". I want to plop in 10 squeegees, 10 floods and some ink knives, turn it on, come back in 20 minutes or whatever to clean tools.
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I guess you have to look at cost vs. time saved. If you are running a shop with multiple autos and going through between 30-40 squeegees a day, than $1k to cut your time in half is a good investment. If you are a shop like mine with 1 auto, $1k isn't a good deal.
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True. It would pay off for me in a matter of months, I'd pay more in fact for something that works. There's nothing like waiting around for squeegees to get cleaned, I can't even quantify the loss in productivity at certain times. It's sort of like using an ink mixer vs. a drill.
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mine will be a totally homemade solution to this problem. Hopefully it will work well.
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Would love to see what you come up with ;)
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What? You cannot wait for my system? ::) ::) ::)
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Wait, isn't yours for screens?
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Wait, isn't yours for screens?
It is for the whole magilla. Screens to reclaim. Screens to develop. Parts to wash. All with no splashing or dirty hands...hopefully.
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a squeegee cleaner is a great idea, my first thought on reading your post went directly to a three brush set up like this device
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200326663_200326663?cm_sp=Upsells-_-Top%20Sellers-_-Product%20Page (http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200326663_200326663?cm_sp=Upsells-_-Top%20Sellers-_-Product%20Page)
all you need is 3 typical scrub brushes molded plastic types should work just fine for bolting down resisting water etc softer bristles will be better one on each side and one on the bottom load em up with cleaner and soap and side those squeegees . Should clean them sparkling clean in no time and for just a few bucks and some sweat equity.
mooseman
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mine will be similar, but better.
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3 pages eh.. '
Get a better brush.
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if it was made by newman, you probably would be changing your pants already. ;D
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;D ;D ;D ;D
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we spray them with 701 scrub quick with a reclaim brush and blow it off with the pressure washer. they come out spotless and you can eliminate the parts washer. keepin it simple.
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I have been thinking of getting a parts washer http://www.harborfreight.com/20-gallon-parts-washer-with-general-purpose-pump-7340.html (http://www.harborfreight.com/20-gallon-parts-washer-with-general-purpose-pump-7340.html) but want to know what type of solvent do you run?
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plastiwash or something like it. Do not use mineral spirits. It kills squeegees. Get something designed for the industry.
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Even though it says 20 gallons would you have to put 20 gallons of wash in it? seems like a lot
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I've always wanted an automated way of cleaning squeegees, floods, ink knives, buckets etc. I've looked before, was quoted on a Rhino something a while back, it was several K, several more K than I'd be willing to pay, but I still think the parts washer method is a wasted labor.
Tony was this the unit you remember? Looks just like your description, brushes, compressed air.
[url]http://www.fimor.fr/en/maintenance-equipment/serilor-blade-runner-squeegee-washer.html[/url] ([url]http://www.fimor.fr/en/maintenance-equipment/serilor-blade-runner-squeegee-washer.html[/url])
Thats the one! How could I forget the name? Anyway the press ops didn't care for it at all.
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Even though it says 20 gallons would you have to put 20 gallons of wash in it? seems like a lot
I bought one few months ago. It works pretty good. We are spending half the time we used to on washing the stuff, but still about 3-4 times as long as Tony.
we loaded it with 10 gallons of Easiway 842 which was about $300. If I was doing it again, I'd try the super concentrated degreaser they sell there for $10 or so. 842 does work well, but damn it was three times the cost of the unit itself!
pierre
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fimor make one for about a grand. It is only about 24 wide. Seems pretty easy to use too. They are the ppl that make the 55/90/55 blades. . .
I've looked into them, they have a hand held version with a diamond grit, I think nazdar sells it - I understand it's more of a polisher, I may shoot them an e-mail and see what the price is on it anyway. I'm looking at the AWT sharper image but man, are they expensive. . . I think this is an area that really gets over looked. . I have been reading a bit about them and it seems the diamond grinding wheel is the way to go vs the belt sander style. But I will take anything I can find at this point.
Brad, take a look at this thing.
http://www.fimor.fr/en/maintenance-equipment/serilor-blade-runner-squeegee-washer.html (http://www.fimor.fr/en/maintenance-equipment/serilor-blade-runner-squeegee-washer.html)