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Screen Printing_One Shot Paint

Hand Lettering topics: Sign Making, Design, Fabrication, Letterheads, Sign Books.

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Aaron Aziz
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 2:08 am
Location: North Dakota (eastern)

Screen Printing_One Shot Paint

Post by Aaron Aziz »

I was wondering if anyone has experience trying to screen print with One-Shot and would care to share their experience?
pat mackle
Posts: 162
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 5:35 pm

Re: Screen Printing_One Shot Paint

Post by pat mackle »

Yes, I have screen printed with One Shot. It can be done. Use it right from the can without thinning. Use a fine mesh screen, between 110-250.
Print off contact, use a screen that is tight and snaps away right behind the squeegee and use a fairly sharp edged squeegee of medium hardness. When you are ready to print, pour on only enough paint to flood the screen initially and enough of a remaining paint bead to do several prints. You want to first flood the screen and then add only small amounts of paint as you go. The reason is because the One Shot works best in printing when it thickens up a bit, so first flood the screen and wait a few seconds before you pull, then add only small amounts so they can also flash off a little. Flood the screen before each print. When the fine mesh screen pops away from the printed surface, there will be fine small bubbles, but they will pop and smooth away- as long as you don't speed dry them or place then in front of a fan.
I use the above method to top print raised glass letters created by sand blasting the background away evenly. I do these with a totally open screen. No screen emulsion is used since the signs are all different. After several pulls, there will be a build up of paint in the screen. I even it out by doing a print on a scrap piece of glass, then resume the signs. Do this step whenever the screen loads up to avoid the paint from running down the raised letters.
Thus, letters, logos, and ADA become raised and can be screen printed as pictured here.
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Doug Bernhardt
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Location: Ottawa Canada
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Re: Screen Printing_One Shot Paint

Post by Doug Bernhardt »

Beautiful work Pat...I guess I'm curious as to "why" screen print with one shot. Am guessing for almost every purpose the probably better solution is to use screen inks.
pat mackle
Posts: 162
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 5:35 pm

Re: Screen Printing_One Shot Paint

Post by pat mackle »

Hi Doug,
The only reason that I use OneShot for printing (in a pinch) is that I don't do that much screen printing. So rather than store screen inks/special ink solvents and lettering paints that dry out over time, I just keep the paints which I can practically mix to match any PMS color. Being in California, that is the simple answer.
Less of a "fire load" in the eyes of the local fire department.
vance galliher
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Re: Screen Printing_One Shot Paint

Post by vance galliher »

hi pat, and i'm curious as to how you get such an even blast on the bkgd, which i assume is carved because of the brille...........thanks for sharing !
vance
dimensional and glass art signs
http://www.vancegallihersigns.com
pat mackle
Posts: 162
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 5:35 pm

Re: Screen Printing_One Shot Paint

Post by pat mackle »

Vance,
Long about 15 years ago I won a big job to etch hundreds of names into big thick tempered glass panels. They were serifed letters and the architect specified that the letters be highly prismatic as if each was hand chiseled. (I actually just remembered that I was referred by a German trained stone carver friend of mine who wisely declined the job).
Well, I knew that I did not want to do those big panels by hand with such a short turn around time. so I sketched out and built an electric powered sand blast machine in two weeks. It was a gamble to spend precious sand blast time, building an automated machine to do the job, but the whole thing worked out great. And I still use it on jobs today. I use it on glass and also fine stone.
Because it does such an even job, I can deep etch tempered glass as shown in these photos. These bamboo panels were deep etched and then painted while the photo resist was still in place. After drying, the resist was lifted away leaving a crisp clean design.
http://www.decoglasspro.com
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Aaron Aziz
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 2:08 am
Location: North Dakota (eastern)

Re: Screen Printing_One Shot Paint

Post by Aaron Aziz »

Hey Pat, thanks for the info. So I am admittedly new to screen printing, I have just had friend who does shirts walk me through it. So my question is when you set up your press to print off contact, is that just setting the screen so it only comes down so far? I would also be interested in seeing some pictures of your sand blasting set up if your willing.

In response to the question as to why not use screen printing inks, usually they require a heat source to cure, or rely on some pretty nasty solvents.
Aaron Aziz
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 2:08 am
Location: North Dakota (eastern)

Re: Screen Printing_One Shot Paint

Post by Aaron Aziz »

Hi Pat, would you be willing to share some pictures of your sandblasting set up that you designed?
Lee Littlewood
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Re: Screen Printing_One Shot Paint

Post by Lee Littlewood »

We do a small amount of screen printing in our shop, sometimes on site. It is a nice technology to have available and really only requires a few pieces of equipment [dark room, washout sink, pressure washer, good light source, vacuum frame (can be home made)]. One of the nice things is being able to hand letter an original on mylar (use chrome yellow and a bit of black) to get the freedom of hand work with the reproducibility of printing, and keep the original on file if needed later.
Of course, getting good at it can take a lifetime...

The biggest difference I know of is between fabric printing and hard-surface printing (we don't do fabrics, but I had a friend who did). Fabric printing seems to like multiple squeegee passes with a dull squeegee, with the screen touching the fabric ("on-contact"), and fairly open screens. Hard surfaces want a tighter mesh screen, tightly stretched, with a sharper squeegee and the screen not touching the substrate ("off-contact"). After that you can get into the intricacies of registration and ink flow.

We mostly use gloss enamel screen inks, but often tint them with 1Shot. S/s inks print better and flow out more evenly than 1Shot, but sometimes we use 1Shot by itself for all the reasons Pat mentioned. 1Shot's biggest deficit is it's runnyness - screen inks are made to be thick, to flow under pressure and then stop flowing (or just flow enough to make a smooth surface). 1Shot will go thru the screen easily (and form bubbles as the screen snaps up), and if you are printing a vertical surface it may drool. So get it thicker - refridgerate, or let it flash off in the screen, and don't be too fast with your squeegee pull.

Hope this helps...
where am i? Now, when i need me...
Roderick Treece
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Re: Screen Printing_One Shot Paint

Post by Roderick Treece »

Why couldn't you thicken the One Shot with paint thickener ? Fumed Silica perhaps?
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