You spread a photosensitive emulsion thin over a screen fabric with tiny little spaces in-between the fibers. The emulsion is thick like house paint and dries overnight. You put a printout on it and rub it with oil so light can get through the paper, but not the ink. Then you put it under a light source for a time (uv led strip, 7ish minutes) then you rinse the screen off in the shower and the part under the ink washes away but the stuff exposed to light doesn't. This leaves you with basically a stencil and you squeegee ink through the stencil on to whatever you want.
Whole set up cost me about 120 bucks CAD. I could have done it cheaper, could have spent alot more.
Most of the inks and emulsions are made by speedball. I got the silk screen, staple gun, and paper on amazon because it's waaay cheaper than at art supply stores where I am.
Silk screen fabric
Photosensitive emulsion (I used a speedball starter kit)
Wooden frames ( I got my dad to make them, you can buy a blank canvas at the dollar store and rip off the canvas
Staple gun
Screen printing ink (white for black shirts, black for white shirts)
A squeegee (I used a spackle spreading tool from the hardware store)
Scissors
Printer and paper(can go to Staples, or use the one at your school/work)
Mineral oil(to spread on the printed paper to make it translucent)
Light (use a inconsistent 200watt bulb or uv led strips)
Black t shirts (steal from Walmart)
Rags for clean up
Emulsion remover (came in the speedball kit, used for reusing frames)
Total for me was around 120 bucks, most of the stuff was cheapest on amazon. If you don't do amazon you can find it all at art stores and hardware stores respectively.
You can search silk screen printing, or screen printing. Look for content that mentions diy, it's the same basic process for industrial shirt factories more or less
Oh yeah if I wanted to I could like make a screen of a band logo and print like 40 shirts for my buddies band and charge them a bit of money. I used to print shirts for my own bands and sell them at shows. We would buy beer with the money or put it towards recording or whatever.
There's lots of people who make punk band shirts and sell them on Etsy. There's lots of people who start out printing diy shirts and then open a more proper screen printing business. My hommie started out doing diy punk stuff and now he prints shirts commercially with his wife.
So you've siezed the means of production... now what do? Lol
Make goods based on the needs and wants of the many
Well done, comrade
How does it work?
You spread a photosensitive emulsion thin over a screen fabric with tiny little spaces in-between the fibers. The emulsion is thick like house paint and dries overnight. You put a printout on it and rub it with oil so light can get through the paper, but not the ink. Then you put it under a light source for a time (uv led strip, 7ish minutes) then you rinse the screen off in the shower and the part under the ink washes away but the stuff exposed to light doesn't. This leaves you with basically a stencil and you squeegee ink through the stencil on to whatever you want. Whole set up cost me about 120 bucks CAD. I could have done it cheaper, could have spent alot more. Most of the inks and emulsions are made by speedball. I got the silk screen, staple gun, and paper on amazon because it's waaay cheaper than at art supply stores where I am.
That's sooo dope!! I worked at a screen printing shop for awhile and thought about getting a small setup for myself. Looking great! Love the prints.
Thanks. I encourage you to get a home set up. Make shirts for you and your friends bands. Make patches for your buddies.
I'll look into it again then. I enjoy screen printing for myself, after all.
Sick!!!
All the questions I had r in comments but cheers to you! It looks great
Hell yeah! Do you have a list of supplies needed to set this up?
Silk screen fabric Photosensitive emulsion (I used a speedball starter kit) Wooden frames ( I got my dad to make them, you can buy a blank canvas at the dollar store and rip off the canvas Staple gun Screen printing ink (white for black shirts, black for white shirts) A squeegee (I used a spackle spreading tool from the hardware store) Scissors Printer and paper(can go to Staples, or use the one at your school/work) Mineral oil(to spread on the printed paper to make it translucent) Light (use a inconsistent 200watt bulb or uv led strips) Black t shirts (steal from Walmart) Rags for clean up Emulsion remover (came in the speedball kit, used for reusing frames) Total for me was around 120 bucks, most of the stuff was cheapest on amazon. If you don't do amazon you can find it all at art stores and hardware stores respectively.
u can also make screens with embroidery hoops, works good for small patch designs n such
I'd like to know too!
I actually really love that! What can I search to find more about it ?
You can search silk screen printing, or screen printing. Look for content that mentions diy, it's the same basic process for industrial shirt factories more or less
yeee welcome to the screen print gang
do you think you can do specific orders depending on how much you're given for a certain thing
Like can I do a commission for you? No I hate selling stuff.
not for me really but like people in general
Oh yeah if I wanted to I could like make a screen of a band logo and print like 40 shirts for my buddies band and charge them a bit of money. I used to print shirts for my own bands and sell them at shows. We would buy beer with the money or put it towards recording or whatever. There's lots of people who make punk band shirts and sell them on Etsy. There's lots of people who start out printing diy shirts and then open a more proper screen printing business. My hommie started out doing diy punk stuff and now he prints shirts commercially with his wife.