WheatAndBarley
Well-known member
Wasn't sure exactly which forum to post this on so I can move it if need be.
Last build report I posted I had some suggestions to put together some sort of tutorial on how I screen print my pedals and since I'm working on some new builds thought I'd try to document my process a bit. I don't really want to label it a tutorial because I don't want to encourage someone to do the exact same process as this since it's pretty specific to the space I work in and the materials that I use. I got into printmaking as a purely artistic endeavour but gradually branched into doing my pedal builds after a few years of experience. Previously I was paying for access to this studio to work on my art and do the pedals on the side but since September I've been teaching intro screen printing courses which gives me free studio access. I would of course recommend everyone try taking a screen printing course, its a ton of fun and very satisfying, but I wouldn't really recommend anyone pick up screen printing with the sole purpose of printing pedals at the scale I'm doing (mostly one at a time lol). Screen printing itself requires a decent amount of infrastructure, studio space, and materials that need to either be bought or supplied by a rental fee at a studio so it is absolutely not the most economical way to get designs onto the enclosures.
Enough blathering, here's the album with descriptions under each image:
So yeah, quite a bit of work for what you end up with. Also a lot of materials and equipment, definitely would not be keen on doing this at home.
Quick note about the ink, I'm using Jacquard brand screen inks, the opaque varieties for colours and 'super opaque' for the white: https://www.jacquardproducts.com/jacquard-screen-ink
I can heat set it pretty quickly to get on to the next layer, unlike normal printing where I'd need to let the ink air dry on the paper before I did the next layer. I will say that it's not super super strong. It is VERY permanent once its dried, I've printed T shirts with it before that still look new. You have to really try but you can chip it off with your fingernails, its not nearly as strong as enamel inks but the tradeoff is for ease of use. As I understand it with enamel inks you have to use a solvent that completely strips the screen of the emulsion to properly clean it, whereas I can rinse this stuff out with warm water. Additionally if I mess up the first layer of one I can scrub it off with a sponge and warm water and try again easily enough. I am interested in trying some enamel ink but I had trouble finding suppliers in Canada that wouldn't end up with me spending hundreds of dollars on a large bucket of one colour, whereas the inks I got are ~$10-30 each depending on the size.
Thanks for checking this out and I'm happy to answer any questions!
Last build report I posted I had some suggestions to put together some sort of tutorial on how I screen print my pedals and since I'm working on some new builds thought I'd try to document my process a bit. I don't really want to label it a tutorial because I don't want to encourage someone to do the exact same process as this since it's pretty specific to the space I work in and the materials that I use. I got into printmaking as a purely artistic endeavour but gradually branched into doing my pedal builds after a few years of experience. Previously I was paying for access to this studio to work on my art and do the pedals on the side but since September I've been teaching intro screen printing courses which gives me free studio access. I would of course recommend everyone try taking a screen printing course, its a ton of fun and very satisfying, but I wouldn't really recommend anyone pick up screen printing with the sole purpose of printing pedals at the scale I'm doing (mostly one at a time lol). Screen printing itself requires a decent amount of infrastructure, studio space, and materials that need to either be bought or supplied by a rental fee at a studio so it is absolutely not the most economical way to get designs onto the enclosures.
Enough blathering, here's the album with descriptions under each image:
So yeah, quite a bit of work for what you end up with. Also a lot of materials and equipment, definitely would not be keen on doing this at home.
Quick note about the ink, I'm using Jacquard brand screen inks, the opaque varieties for colours and 'super opaque' for the white: https://www.jacquardproducts.com/jacquard-screen-ink
I can heat set it pretty quickly to get on to the next layer, unlike normal printing where I'd need to let the ink air dry on the paper before I did the next layer. I will say that it's not super super strong. It is VERY permanent once its dried, I've printed T shirts with it before that still look new. You have to really try but you can chip it off with your fingernails, its not nearly as strong as enamel inks but the tradeoff is for ease of use. As I understand it with enamel inks you have to use a solvent that completely strips the screen of the emulsion to properly clean it, whereas I can rinse this stuff out with warm water. Additionally if I mess up the first layer of one I can scrub it off with a sponge and warm water and try again easily enough. I am interested in trying some enamel ink but I had trouble finding suppliers in Canada that wouldn't end up with me spending hundreds of dollars on a large bucket of one colour, whereas the inks I got are ~$10-30 each depending on the size.
Thanks for checking this out and I'm happy to answer any questions!
