Here are plans for a 3 color table top T-Shirt press. This is a simple design that can be build for under $200 in materials. It's no substitute for a good rotary press, but it works and it's cheap, a great DIY machine. I've build and used these to print three colors in perfect register.
This press is cut from a 4' x 4' piece of 3/4" plywood. Basically, you cut out the shirt board/print area with a jig saw, screw three sets of screen clamps around the print area, and mount it on sawhorses.
This is a good machine for Punk rock DIY printing, for anyone starting out, for the hobbyist, etc.
IF you have questions about how to build this or how it works, send a comment and I will answer.
Click on the images to see them enlarged.
If you are a graphics person but are unemployed, you can sell screen printing services for up to three colors and print on this machine. It's a great shoe string start up business.
If you do decide to buy a used rotary manual T-shirt press, you'll probably spend more like $1,000. Be sure to actually try any press before buying, to make sure it still prints true and is not completely worn out.
4 comments:
Hello!
I saw your comic over at CO2 Comics which led me over to your website and this blog. (Nice when that cross promoting works out!) I saw this article about building your own silkscreen press, and I am intrigued. Way, way back, I used to work a job silk screening, and they had a huge conveyor belt contraption that went through a heater and cured the inks. How do you cure your inks in a little home-based operation?
By-the-by, my wife and I are also at CO2. We do "Monkey & Bird."
Thanks.
-Joe Williams
Joe, with a small press like this, you can use Union Ink's Aerotex series, it is a water based ink that air dries. You can add a catalyst to the ink that makes the print washfast.
Or, you can invest a few hundred bucks in a spot dryer that will cure plastisol ink.
A good used conveyer dryer, capable of handling the production from a small manual T-shirt press, can generally be bought for about $1500, with the new machines starting around $3000.
Great article, looks like a sound design. I believe I will takeon this project!
Thanks
Dave
Been looking at peoples homemade press designs, definitely going to consider this one. Cheers
Post a Comment