It has been said many times" Necessity is the mother of invention". Several years ago I made my own 4 color, 4 platten rotating head and platten, t-shirt printer, had about $40 in it. I still have it, but not using it. I made a ton of money with it. You can't beat good old Yankee ingenuity.
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It's called ingenuity
- Thread starter Flame
- Start date
Wes Phifer
New Member
My dad made one out of angle iron when I was a kid. Very similar just made of steel. Good work Flame!
Techman
New Member
No way this will work then.
Get a friggin real press.
You can find a real 4 head press for cheap if you look around along with the flasher and other goodies you will need.,
. A hand made little deal is goof for a few dozen a week. But 1,000 a month,, your hands and wrists will die..
Flame
New Member
I plan on upgrading when I can afford a new unit. Right now funds are tied up in other projects... but have my eye on a nice 8 color station that a local has for sale.
Just Another Sign Guy
New Member
there is a guy somewhat local to you that just sells used sign and screenprinting equipment. i've seen 4color 4station presses for as low as $600 from him...we're not talking hix but i've seen more than a few hopkins. for a while he was building his own conveyor driers as well. if you search the internet there are a few used screenprint dealers with nice inventories i've seen name brand conveyor driers (m&r) as low as $1000...fair price from where i sit. there are deals out there.
RJ California
New Member
Gettin' called a redneck by Mosh... Flame, you have arrived!
ProWraps
New Member
heh. now that is funny.
CherokeeDesign
New Member
I built off the same plans. The best advice I can offer as far as registration goes, is to make sure that each of the 2x4's used for the arms is the exact same width. The plans state that uniform length is important, but my opinion is that the width is more important than the length. When you set the width of those guide pieces on the side, if any of the arms is narrower than the one you used to set that width, it will allow the arm to have side to side play. Also check the hinges that connect the arm to the turntable and make sure there's no slop. You can check it by bringing each arm down into the position it would be when you were printing, and try to move the arm side to side (I numbered mine to make that easy keep track of which ones I was inspecting). If you're registering a screen, if the length of the arms is off by a fraction of an inch, it's not going to be as noticeable than if the width is too narrow, because that's what is going to throw your registration off. Especially if you're using that arm to do white over a dark color shirt, and do 1 stroke of ink, flash, then another stroke...it's most likely going to have fuzzy edges on the print. Length you have more leeway to adjust in moving the screen under the clamps, but width, there's not much to do besides try putting shims on the side of the arm or just replace it altogether.
Lots of people laugh at this design, but it's a lot more sturdy and stable than it looks if you use both screws and wood glue in all the joints, and a good quality bearing for the turntable. It's not going to rival a $1000 commercial press, but it's not meant to. You just have to have realistic expectations of it; it's just a very basic 4 color press, no micro registration, etc. I agree if you are planning on doing large quantities, it would probably be best to get a commercial press, but you have to start somewhere. I was in the same position where I wanted to get into screen printing and didn't have the funds for a commercial press.
The best way to learn anything is hands on, and this is a way to start learning the fundamentals of printing. Squeegee angle, pressure, etc, and finding what techniques work best for you. You can read all the books and websites about screen printing, but the best way to learn in my mind is to start putting ink through screens. If a home built press is your only option to do that, then do it. If you outgrow it in time and need to upgrade, by then you'll have more knowledge and technique under your belt to select a commercial press, and probably the funds to do so. Because I can tell by reading your posts that you have a lot of ambition and motivation to be successful at it.
Good luck with it.
Lots of people laugh at this design, but it's a lot more sturdy and stable than it looks if you use both screws and wood glue in all the joints, and a good quality bearing for the turntable. It's not going to rival a $1000 commercial press, but it's not meant to. You just have to have realistic expectations of it; it's just a very basic 4 color press, no micro registration, etc. I agree if you are planning on doing large quantities, it would probably be best to get a commercial press, but you have to start somewhere. I was in the same position where I wanted to get into screen printing and didn't have the funds for a commercial press.
The best way to learn anything is hands on, and this is a way to start learning the fundamentals of printing. Squeegee angle, pressure, etc, and finding what techniques work best for you. You can read all the books and websites about screen printing, but the best way to learn in my mind is to start putting ink through screens. If a home built press is your only option to do that, then do it. If you outgrow it in time and need to upgrade, by then you'll have more knowledge and technique under your belt to select a commercial press, and probably the funds to do so. Because I can tell by reading your posts that you have a lot of ambition and motivation to be successful at it.
Good luck with it.
Flame
New Member
Just FYI everyone the press worked fine, but did enough with it to sell it and upgrade to a nice 4 color, micro registration press.
My plan was 15000 shirts a YEAR Mosh, not a month!!!! o heck no, not a month. The way people are re-ordering this year though I'm slimming that back to maybe 6000
My plan was 15000 shirts a YEAR Mosh, not a month!!!! o heck no, not a month. The way people are re-ordering this year though I'm slimming that back to maybe 6000
CherokeeDesign
New Member
There you go, a great ending! Good work.
Just Another Sign Guy
New Member
every sign company should offer their clients screenprinted and embroidered garments imho..but after printing them in house and doing embroidery i would MUCH rather develop strategic partnerships with companies that can fulfill that need for me than do it in house...but that's just me
Gino
Premium Subscriber
Well done and great that you can build what you see with your eyes. Not many people have this ability and need others to do it for them. Main thing is... it got you started and now you have a real machine at your fingertips.
Like Dan said.... offering this stuff to customers is really great, but we can't do them in house anymore..... and made the decision to only screen print flat stock and job out the textiles to someone we know and trust well.
Like Dan said.... offering this stuff to customers is really great, but we can't do them in house anymore..... and made the decision to only screen print flat stock and job out the textiles to someone we know and trust well.
artbot
New Member
hell yes. extreme props man! that looks complicated. i built a uv coat/casting machine out of wood many years back. and i'm still using it today. in fact i built an 8' metal brake out of wood and a piano hinge for .030 aluminum used it a week ago. but this is way more awesome!!!
wildindian
Grumpy
Another garage screen printer with a homemade set-up taking the income of the real pros. Come on get real man if you want to be a screenprinter buy some equipment, invest in training and spend thousands on the correct supplies and quit trying to build your own big squeggee.