Silk Screening DIY

[cjkbug]

is your emulsion pre sensitized? and how long is the shelf life? does it need refridgeration?

It's sensitized now.  I had to mix the sensitizer in it before the first use.  Now when I need some it's just straight out of the bucket and on to the mesh.  I could keep it in the fridge but it's not required.
I keep it in a cool dark place.  I don't recall the shelf life and I can't find the paper that has it on it.  I think it is quite long though.
There is a lot in the bucket.  My screens are about 8.5x11" and including screwups I've made about 30-35 of them and only used about 15% of the bucket.  You don't need very much.

I managed to damage the screen I was using today so I had to make a new one and took photos of the exposure process every step of the way.  I'll post them tomorrow if I get the time.

wow I'm gonna eventually check that stuff out. the emulsion I' using needs refrigeration and only keeps for a month. at the rate I'm going 90% ends up wasted.

[Jeff B.]

Some Pictures.

The first one is a 1590D enclosure being used as a support with a dark shirt over it.
The second is the sensitized screen on the support.
The third has the graphics sheet on it, the glass over it and some spare enclosures to weight the edges of the screen down some to ensure good contact between the glass, the paper, the screen and the backing support.
The fourth is the screen being exposed for 6 minutes.

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[Jeff B.]

The last 2 pics.

The first one is the exposed, rinsed and dry screen going back under the light to ensure everything is hardened correctly.
The last one is a batch of enclosures done with the screen.

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[irmcdermott]

Wow. This is awesome. I think that if you were willing and able, an in depth tutorial would be a great addition to the site. You've pretty much done it in this thread, but if all the info and pics were put into 1 step-by-step document and thrown in the "Members Projects and Tutorials" it would be a pretty incredible addition. Just sayin'

But that can take a lot of time, which I know a lot of us don't have much of.

Great work and information! Thanks JeffB!

[Jeff B.]

Wow. This is awesome. I think that if you were willing and able, an in depth tutorial would be a great addition to the site. You've pretty much done it in this thread, but if all the info and pics were put into 1 step-by-step document and thrown in the "Members Projects and Tutorials" it would be a pretty incredible addition. Just sayin'

But that can take a lot of time, which I know a lot of us don't have much of.

Great work and information! Thanks JeffB!

You can seem to find anything pedal realted online except a total complete guide to tooling and finishing an enclosure with explanations of the why's and how's of the different ways to do it.  It's the least I can do to give a little back to the DIY community. 

I'm going to do a complete several part guide (a la R.G. Keen style) eventually when I get the time that will cover everything anybody ever wanted to know about finishing an enclosure from start to finish from layout and drilling to painting.  My background is as a machinist and I also have training in auto body/painting which puts me in a unique position to write up an elaborate and complete guide on the different ways to do hole layouts and labeling.  I'll post it on the usual DIY sites whenever it's done but it will be quite a while as I plan on including a huge amount of information and time is short to work on it right now. 
This thread is a good short first draft for the silk screening section though.

[k.rock!]

These look great man! Are these your original designs? I would love to hear 'em!


-Kaleb

[jimmybjj]

Awesome stuff. Excited about your tutorial. Have you done anything in white yet?

[Jeff B.]

Awesome stuff. Excited about your tutorial. Have you done anything in white yet?

Not yet but I plan too.  I already have the white ink.
Whenever I get the reverb circuit done I plan on using it on that one.