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screen printing => General Screen Printing => Topic started by: screenxpress on July 01, 2011, 10:40:57 PM
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I remember some time back on one of the old boards about some new-fangled type squeegee that was superior to the typical (manual) squeegees.
Was that just a flash in the pan or was there something to them? And what was the brand/supplier?
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The the V-shaped ones? Wasn't that Printficient?
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There have been some ergonomic handles available for the last twenty or so (at least) years.
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No, not recent like printficient and not "ergo" as I remember. They were more like they had special powers or abilities. Been couple years back and some of the old board members bought some.
Was almost like you had to know somebody who knew somebody to buy them.
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Sure your not thinking of a Jedi? Ninja maybe?
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Lol, nope, was squeegees
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That would be the Smilin Jack Squeegee. It has a cut groove on the backside. Prints better than a normal squeegee as the load on the squeegee material is altered so the blade pressure is consistent across the width of the blade.
Theirs also the really thin curved blade, can't recall the name of that one.
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Can you push stroke with a smilin jack? And are those just blades or a whole assembled squeegee?
I think I read about the concept and it makes good horse sense but not sure if it would benefit a manual printer who's push stroking.
Wayne, I've been pretty happy with the "ergoforce" ones from Nazdar. No supernatural powers but a very solid handle with extra control. Nice and tall too so you don't have to bunch up your fingers so much. Put some 70/90/70 blade in there and yer good to go.
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Do you mean the Stretch Devices "Constant Force Squeegee"?
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Do you mean the Stretch Devices "Constant Force Squeegee"?
ahhh.. such an amazing and overlooked tool. To many people tossed them aside in frustration from improper instruction on their use. If your screen wasn't perfectly flat on a perfectly flat platen, think warped wood boards, and they didn't print right. Add to the mix they cost about $3 an inch and you don't get many buyers nor folks who praise them.
Does anyone have any they don't want?
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Was that a double bevel squeegee?
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That would be the Smilin Jack Squeegee. It has a cut groove on the backside. Prints better than a normal squeegee as the load on the squeegee material is altered so the blade pressure is consistent across the width of the blade.
Theirs also the really thin curved blade, can't recall the name of that one.
BINGO! That was it. Smilin Jack.
I just surfed a bit and don't find a lot of availability on these. Worth the cost for the 1 site I did see?
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Tom: I may look into trying a couple of those from SD. I like the deflection for ink.
Zoo: That also is a possibility
Thanks.
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I have to tell this on me for all to get a chuckle:
I went to the SD site and was reading this -
After 12 years of developing the economical NEWMAN CONSTANT FORCE SQUEEGEE (on average 1/2 the cost of a conventional squeegee) the squeegee is no longer a variable.
After reading it about 4 times thinking "oh, well that's a big help"! I finally realized it said "no longer a variable" and NOT "no longer available", lol.
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Hello,
we have here a squeegee system called RKS-Rakel (Rakel = squeegee). These squeegees are flatstrokers dream.
You get the parts even for manual use. The results are perfect
Here is a link:
RKS-Rakel
http://www.rk-siebdruck.de/rks_systemrakel.html?&L=0 (http://www.rk-siebdruck.de/rks_systemrakel.html?&L=0)
Unfortunately everything is in german.
Good luck
Burkhart
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I bought a constant force squeegee at a show a long time ago. Couldn't get it to work. Cut it down into 2 smaller ones hoping that for appropriate jobs that a shorter one might be easier to control, but nope. I understand the concept, and I've seen demos at shows. I have no doubt that they can perform as advertised, but either I'm too lazy to figure it out, too retarded to figure it out, too drunk to figure it out, or something. My press has steel platens that don't warp, so it's entirely possible that the few times I've tried it my screen was not dead parallel to the platen. The attraction I see is that the blade, such that it is, cannot fold over. It should be a cinch to control the blade edge from end to end. I might try it with waterbased ink where I've started printing on-contact to avoid that runny ink from creeping under the edge of the stencil.
For those that haven't seen a demo at a show, they use an 86 mesh, stretched to about 80 nm, and print a white on black print in one pass with no flash. The only cheat is that the image has no large open areas which make it much easier to do, but it is an image with a pretty good amount of detail.
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I've always used 70 durometer. What's the reasoning (or advantages) behind the triple (70/90/70)?
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I've always used 70 durometer. What's the reasoning (or advantages) behind the triple (70/90/70)?
Someone told the proper applications for the different durometers before. A real bear to find again (bookmark feature would be awesome!).
I hope they post it again.
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Hello,
we have here a squeegee system called RKS-Rakel (Rakel = squeegee). These squeegees are flatstrokers dream.
You get the parts even for manual use. The results are perfect
Here is a link:
RKS-Rakel
[url]http://www.rk-siebdruck.de/rks_systemrakel.html?&L=0[/url] ([url]http://www.rk-siebdruck.de/rks_systemrakel.html?&L=0[/url])
Unfortunately everything is in german.
Good luck
Burkhart
This is the same concept as the Newman "Constant Force" squeegees- control the angle and eliminate deflection of the squeegee. How would these mount to a typical American flatstock press like a Tempo?
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y240/bndlstif/tempo.jpg (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y240/bndlstif/tempo.jpg)?
Note the square bars for mounting squeegees and flood bars with "U" clamps.
Or are these for a certain brand of press exclusively?
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I've always used 70 durometer. What's the reasoning (or advantages) behind the triple (70/90/70)?
Control! You get the soft edge in contact with the screen and the ink, which I find is easier to stroke and the lower durometers seem to have a knack for depositing more ink for some reason and you get that stiff 90 duro blade in the middle keeping the blade from buckling/bending. I like 65/90/65 alright too.
Here's the deal with the Constant Force squeegees:
- You need your sh!t dialed way the eff in to use them successfully. If platens and screen are not in excellent parallel just forget about it. It's the give of a traditional squeegee blade that lets you "ride out" the parallel inconsistencies and still get what appears to the eye as an even ink deposit. Truth is, most of us are not laying down as even of a deposit as we might think. If we were, anyone could use the Constant Force squeegees and floods with success. It's the nature of the beast in many ways, printing manually, to have the platens out of level- you need to spin 'em with your hands after all and, if you are like me and have a small tank for a press, you're reefing on those bastards all day so it's no wonder they're out of parallel frequently.
- They suck to clean and you're stuck with buying the blades from Newman, which is not so bad, but it's very hard to get our suppliers to order up Newman items that aren't stocked.
- They feel great to print with. The squeegee just glides so smoothly and, as TP mentioned, total angle control of the blade.
- They're made for use with, and excel at printing, on high tension screens. Had my best results @ +55n
I have two of the Constant Force manual squeegees- a 60 duro and a 70 (maybe 80, can't remember now, it's green) duro. The 60 duro has done some good things but cleaning it is such a b. that I tend to let it sit on the rack most of the time. When experimenting with high tension I did lay down a two color print on top of a solid wet underbase once and it was crisp and clean. Learn to do that and yer saving $$$/time but you'd have to have a dedicated, full-time perfectionist going around and tuning and measuring everything to do it consistently.
For me, the best squeegee would be"
- an aluminum extrusion built tall with the option to recede the squeegee blade into the handle or a way to extend the blade holders down. I have some flatstock squeegees that do this, they have a plate for the backside of the squeegee blade to add stiffness as needed.
- a blade that can mount on an auto or have an attachment placed on it for manual printing
- a built in seal to keep ink up out of the spot where the blade enters the holder
- side seals and smooth contours for easy cleaning
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I saw an internet ad a few months back for a regular aluminum squeegie that had an extension down the back side of the handle behind the blade to add stiffness and eliminate bending of the blade under pressure. Can't remember the name of it but it would allow you to switch out standard blades and get the same benefit as using double or triple durometer material.
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Any opinion on this with a triple durometer blade?
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/product/ErgoSq (http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/product/ErgoSq)
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Any opinion on this with a triple durometer blade?
[url]http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/product/ErgoSq[/url] ([url]http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/product/ErgoSq[/url])
Used those and I hate em!
They were uncomforatable to hold and the 70 blade was hard to bend as it's not very tall, 60 blade worked better. Another problem was the blade comes un-glued and bows at the end losing it's flatness.
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Wayne, I've been pretty happy with the "ergoforce" ones from Nazdar. No supernatural powers but a very solid handle with extra control. Nice and tall too so you don't have to bunch up your fingers so much. Put some 70/90/70 blade in there and yer good to go.
Can you send me a PM on who you get them from...and maybe an idea of price? Tks
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Nazdar
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Profiencent ??? I think that is right was saying at one time that he had the greatest squeegee to be put out but it did not work on the V blade that I have so I never checked into it for my manual. I think Darrel bought some not sure but I do know that he has the new improved version. ( Profiencent )
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Thanks. I ordered two of the Nazdar design ones that I'm going to be checking out in the next week or two. They are ergometric with metal handles that slide for easy blade replacement. We'll see.