TSB
screen printing => Equipment => Topic started by: ebscreen on December 20, 2012, 07:37:33 PM
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How ya'll do it?
Razor blade has never worked very well, and it ain't so safe either.
This is one reason I want a squeegee sharpener.
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We have a sharpener that we use all the time but it SUCKS at making the corners round...
Here's what you need -
http://printersedge.com/Screen-Printing-Accessories/Squeegee-Clipper/prod_15.html (http://printersedge.com/Screen-Printing-Accessories/Squeegee-Clipper/prod_15.html)
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..I just use a plain ol' side-grinder. Dont go real fast, and stop every so often to pick the melted rubber off of the disc, it tends to group together. You'll get the hang of it.
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dremmel with the little sander attachment. or use a belt sander to round em out. works perfect.
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My attempts at sanding squeegee have always ended in disaster and cursing.
That cutter looks slick, I'll have to do some research on the ROI though. Unt unt unt.
I do have a Dremel though! I'll have the kids give it a whirl. They're better at things than me.
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My attempts at sanding squeegee have always ended in disaster and cursing.
That cutter looks slick, I'll have to do some research on the ROI though. Unt unt unt.
I do have a Dremel though! I'll have the kids give it a whirl. They're better at things than me.
When you look at the ROI, don't forget to factor the tape that you will not need on the back of the screens where the emulsion broke down due to sharp corners.... ;-D
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Ha! Exactly why I asked.
We got some new 70 duro in that's, uhmmm, sharper than usual.
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air angle grinder works ok, best we have ever seen was my bench grinder. doesn't melt, doesn't plug up. works great. I want a sharpener too, I may just make one out of a belt sander if I have the time over the holiday.
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We use the corner clipper thing shown above, and hen a little clean up with the sharpener
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Why round corners? I've never done that or heard of it.
...printing on a manual.
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you can use anything that sands, the easiest thing would be a drum sander, but you could also use a bench grinder, they don't have to be perfect.
I find the easiest way of doing it is keeping the sander stationary and moving the squeegee, not the other way around.
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we use a hack saw blade, 18 or 24 TPI works best to nip off a 45 degree corner then a hand held sanding block to clean up and round off the 45 corner to a softer break.
mooseman
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Small belt sander works good to. I just use a little angle grinder with 120 grit disc. No need to spin it fast it just melts the rubber.
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Why round corners? I've never done that or heard of it.
...printing on a manual.
I'm with you. Someone please enlighten.....
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On new rubber sometimes the edges (corners) are cut really sharp and can wear your emulsion down faster on the edges of the screen.
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Thanks, Gerry. I have a Smilin' Jack Blade (I think..) that has rounded corners, but it's intended usage is for manual printers....which I am. I'm not overly excited about the blade actually, but I DO like the fact that I never accidebtslly "cut" the tape at the edges of my screens with overly sharp corners as I'm moving ink around--pulling it in for use. It can be a problem with runny straight discharge ink.
Maybe I oughta do all my blades that way....but not for the same reason I'm learning about here.
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Don't quote me on this but I "think" if you round the edge on your whole blade you may get more saturation with water based inks.
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I don't see how. Aren't we just talking just the extreme left and right margins of the print stroke?? That part of the blade never sees (or rarely sees) open mesh.
Do I misunderstand? Surely you arent talking about rounding the entire length of the blade, (the sharp working edge)
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Yes thats what this thread is about, just the outside edges. I screwed it up by saying you "could" round off your entire blade and get more saturation when printing waterbased inks. I will probably get banned from this site for even trying to think on my own lol. :-X
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Ahh yes. I see what you meant now.
In your honor, I'm banning myself, temporarily from posting, until the end of the world, or about 6 hours....whichever comes first.
random winky winky winky
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Un-rounded blades can cause premature stencil breakdown as well as increased wear on mesh. In addition they can cause "shirt streaks" which made people like Nike ballistic. Mainly on autos.
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Un-rounded blades can cause premature stencil breakdown as well as increased wear on mesh. In addition they can cause "shirt streaks" which made people like Nike ballistic. Mainly on autos.
OK. Well I have a lot to learn. I never even thought about rounding the corners until this thread showed up, and I'm 4 years in. :-[
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rounded corners also make for a better print as you are not pushing as far out and are thus closer to the sweet spot of the mesh (at least so I see it in my head).
We have one of those tools and are not using it (different manufacturer though). It works great on single duro, but is useless with triples (harder core makes it slip out).
Right now, we are cutting them with a blade and sanding smooth. I bought a bench grinder to use for it and have not had a chance to test it yet. Ask me in a few months . . .
pierre
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Ok I read everything, and found out I,m just one simple cheap ole bastard...I have a pc of sand paper glued to a pc of wood and all I do is rub the edges of the squeegee on it, and it rounds very nicely.
Darryl
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Ok I read everything, and found out I,m just one simple cheap ole bastard...I have a pc of sand paper glued to a pc of wood and all I do is rub the edges of the squeegee on it, and it rounds very nicely.
Darryl
which is quite likely the best way to do it. It just goes to show that cheap is not necessarily bad!!!
pierre
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I have certainly ripped tape before with the sharp edge. Guess I'll be rounding corners on squeegees next week!
Thanks!
Terry
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3Deep--you think you're cheap? I use the sidewalk outside. ;D
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Bench Grinder. Harbor Freight od H Depot. Sold my squeegee sharpener. To me it's a waste of time and money. I always replace with fresh material.
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I use the concrete outside, works like a charm!
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A few more endorsements like this, and some major player will market a slab of concrete specially marketed to screen printers just for this purpose.
All it may take is a catchy name and a catchy promotional video.
I have dibs on "Ground Round"