silk screening help

[jrr]

hi guys, i've been trying to figure out how to silk screen and what tools to use do any of you guys do it? i'd like to make teeshirts and things like that. mostly as a hobby and maybe for teeshirts for my site. anyone?

[oglzogl]

I've done a lot of illustrations and setup for silkscreening. I don't know what specific questions you might have.. but I'll tell you what I use (or used.. havent done it for a few years).

You can basically use two ways to get artwork onto a screen. One is to output film of your digital artwork (or photograph the artwork.. one color at a time) and burn that film onto a screen (that is the technique I used. Illustrator and vectors made it easy).. kind of expensive for a home kit. Maybe? The second technique, and probably the best way to start out, would be to use get some material you can make stencils with and transfer those stencils onto your screen and then print it on up from there (haven't tried that out myself since high-school but it still works well. Not sure if you could make stencils digitally but maybe). You will need to have one piece of film for each color.. and one screen for each piece of film. And, of course, the ink and a squee-gee to spread the ink evenly over the screen.

Boy, I don't know how to give good instructions regarding this.. it's kind of complex. I have seen some starter kits for screenprinting at the local arts/crafts stores.. and there are a number of good books out there on it too.

Another thing you might consider is the heat transfer method. Most new printers support heat transfers. They are basically iron-on's that you output from your printer.

[BadMange]

There are a few other ways to do it, too. I suggest checking out a book called The Complete Guide to Screenprinting (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=2VH8HZJVC3&isbn=0891345442&itm=3). It has step-by-step instructions with pictures, good for beginners. Screenprinting rocks.

-Bad Mange