Impressions - September 2016 - 46

Press HeigHt

Pulling vs. Pushing

When you are setting up your press, ensure you have the platen set
at a comfortable height when printing. If it is too high, you will have
to use excessive forearm force to achieve proper squeegee pressure.
Too low and you spend your day bent over the screen.
The press should be set to the platen height that is near the printer's
waistline to allow for easy printing and minimal wear on the press.

The proper technique for using a squeegee has been debated
for years. The simple fact is that when printing with properly
tensioned screens, pushing the squeegee is far less taxing than
pulling it.
When pulling the squeegee, downward force is applied by your
wrist, fingertips and forearms. Although you may develop forearms
like Popeye after six weeks of using the press, you still will tire far
more rapidly.
When pushing the squeegee, the force comes from your upper
body and is exerted in the palms of your hands, as opposed to your
forearms and fingertips.This also results in less wear on screens.
Proper squeegee angle also is a variable that easily is overlooked
in manual printing. It is important to ensure you are printing
with the edge of the blade and not its face.
Press Care
This is another aspect that, in many cases, is forgotten until something breaks or registration is lost. Following are some simple
tips that will keep your press printing and consistently from job
to job for years to come.
1. Keep it clean. When it comes to press performance, the
manual press is no different than its expensive, automatic
cousin. Ink, lint and adhesive will have the same negative
effects on all its functioning aspects if not properly maintained.
Keep all manual adjustments clean and properly lubricated

An excessive
squeegee angle will result
in poor ink transfer and
smeared prints.

Ensure that you print with
a slight angle on the blade
to properly shear the ink
and transfer it onto the
fabric's surface.

Screen Quality
Some manual screen printers think all the hype regarding
higher-tension screen printing only applies to big, automated
printing facilities. Truthfully, properly tensioned, high-quality
screens apply to manual printers as much as - if not more than
- automated facilities.
Unlike a manual press operator, an automatic press will not become tired and slow down as the day progresses. Since high-tension
screens allow for less off-contact and minimal squeegee pressure,
you will produce more finished garments in a day with less
effort, as opposed to fighting the force needed to print through
low-tension screens. Remember, similar to the purchase of the
press, quality in, quality - and productivity - out.
The objective of the textile screen-printing process is to deposit
the ink onto the fabric's surface, not drive ink into it. Highertension screens allow this to happen with minimal effort.
P.46

i m p r e s s i o n s m a g . c o m SEPTEMBER 2016

http://www.impressionsmag.com

Impressions - September 2016

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