High Density Screen Printing
High density screen printing at first glance seems to be some sort of high-quality puff print. Actually, the high density inks are not puff inks at all. They are a high viscosity ink designed to easily flow through your screen mesh while holding a very sharp edge. The sharp edge is something the puff inks have always lacked, making them unpredictable. High density inks can be printed through screen mesh ranging from 61 to 158 count. The most commonly used mesh count is 86, but art work may require different screens for different effects.
The high density stencil needs to be very thick for high density inks to work properly. It is possible to build up many coats of direct emulsion allowing the screen to dry between coats. However, this process is very slow and can produce inconsistent results. One Stroke Inks recommends the use of Saatichem Thik Film. Thik Film is a very thick sheet of capillary film ranging from 100 to 400 microns. This is a much easier and faster way of creating the required stencils for high density. This website is designed to walk first-time high density printers through the entire printing process. We will teach you all that you need to know from the art work to the conveyer dryer. Visit One Stroke Inks if there are any further questions or problems. You also may contact One Stroke Inks toll free: 1-800-942-4447.
Special Equipment Needs?
High density inks can be printed by manual and automatic equipment. You can acheive top results with either but both have their advantages and disadvantages. Manual presses allow for more flashing without using up all of your print stations while the automatics provide better pressure for printing the higher viscosity ink. Always be sure to test your dryer with the high density inks. The last thing any printer wants to hear is that the ink came off in the wash or it is cracking. The thick nature of the HD print requires a little more heat and dwell time than you may be used to. Remember, plastisol curing is a time and temperature process. Other equipment to focus on before beginning the HD process is your exposure unit. Due to the thickness of the capillary film, exposure will be much slower than a regular screen stencil.
Where to find High Density Inks
One Stroke Inks manufactures and distributes plastisol screen printing inks and supplies for the T-shirt printing industry. Recently, One Stroke began manufacturing a new ink series for high density printing called HD Series. This ink series has all of the important qualities required for making the high density process work. One Stroke Inks is also a distributor of the Saatichem Thik Film for the thick high density stencils. One Stroke offers the 100, 200, 300, and 400 micron capillary film. Pleas visit our main web site for information on all of our products. We have plastisols for any material along with screen prep chemicals, specialty tapes, emulsion, small equipment and laser and inkjet film. We also offer live tech support by the web, E-mail and phone. Do not hesitat to call us with any questions you may have about this web site or our main onestrokeinks.com site. We are always here to help.
Industry Links
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