How the Hell...

Screen Printing

 

Part 1

Many moons ago some of the RDC Crew went to the local university and asked if we could use their facilities to do a demo on the finer techniques of the screen printing. We finally got round to putting words and images together, here's how it went... 

How the Hell... Screen Printing

We recon the first thing you need to consider is your clothing, you're gonna get splattered with paint so get into your paint pants. Notice Tempora's wearing his usual street trash (in pics below); we all have trash threads and Tempora is no exception with unwashed, paint slashed, tops, bottoms and skate shoes that have seen more filth than the Playboy Mansion... or summit like that!

Using a trough or something with a bit of depth, coat the screen in emulsion (A20col 21) and leave to dry in the drying racks or on the kitchen table (probably best to do this when your folks are out or your ultra-clean flat mate is at work) for 30 minutes or so.
Once the screens are fully dry they are then ready to be exposed - avert your eyes!

Then you prepare your stencils, they must be black and white and ready to print (none of this colour malarky right now, that can come later)! 

Place your screen face down on top of your black and white art work and slam it in the Exposure Unit (EU). If you don't happen to have an EU, (that would include the majority of us) then you can use a home made version (see vid at bottom of post).

Make sure the EU is closed, locked and the vacuum is on before exposing your art work. Once ready, blast it with about 150 seconds of UV light. Don't forget to hide your Snickers bar, it will melt at this stage... trust us.

Once you've exposed your work it's ready to come out of the EU then it's time to get down and dirty and wash that mother. Jet wash (if you don't have a jet, then one finger over the end of a hose will do) both sides if necessary, until all the emulsion has come off and formed your art work stencil. Then slam your screen back in the drying unit for 5-10 mins until it's completely cooked or dry - in this case!

Once dried you can tape up the outside of the screen, this will stop the ink from leaking around the edges during the next stage of the process - also this will look well professional.

Pin down the screen onto the carousel/hand bench using frame and clips then...

Well... then, it's time for a coffee and a flick through Cosmopolitan and hang till Part 2 comes along... It won't be long ☋

Making an Exposure Unit... HERE

Look at our RDC Archive page for the review of an ace screen print book called 'Pulled'... Here 

Many thanks to the University of Derby, UK for the use of their equipment.


See post below for Part 2.