Metal Silk Screening On Metal

Silk screen printing is a term that most people are familiar with. However, the term is, at best, ambiguous. Silk screen printing (also called Silkscreening or Screen printing) is a popular printing technique that can be used on a variety of materials, including metal. This printing method is ideal for creating high-quality prints with a wide range of colors.

Let’s explore the silk-screening procedure in more detail, along with crucial elements to think about and the benefits it offers.

What Is Silk Screen Printing In Metal Fabrication?

Silkscreening is a stenciling technique that presses ink onto the material using a porous mesh screen. Silk was traditionally used as the screen fabric, hence the name silk-screening. Mesh screens are now made of synthetic materials such as polyester, nylon, and steel.

Silkscreen printing in metal fabrication is a metal finishing technique that involves applying ink and design artwork to the surface of the metal. Screen printing consists of five components: the screen printing plate, the squeegee, the ink, the printing table, and the substrate. The basic principle of screen printing is the mesh of the graphic section in the screen printing plate can pass through the ink for printing, but the mesh of the non-graphic part cannot. It remains an easy, cost-effective way to add custom designs onto materials like glass, wood, and fabric – and yes, even sheet metal.

Understanding The Process Of Silk Screen Printing On Metal

Screen printing can be done in a variety of ways, but the basic technique remains the same. To achieve the desired results, the lengthy process includes several steps. The screen printing method is described in general below.

Step 1: Design artwork creation

First, prepare your design artwork and print it onto the transparent acetate film that will be used to make the screen.

Step 2: Building the screen on the frame

Based on the size of the metal part to be printed, make a frame with wood or aluminum material. Choose the right mesh screen fitting for the complexity of the design to be printed as well as the material on which it is to be printed. Once the mesh screen has been chosen, put and pull it onto the frame tightly. Then, pull the light-reactive emulsion across the screen using the squeegee, and ensure the screen is coated with a layer of emulsion completely. Put the screen inside a dark box with the top looking down. Keep the box closed and allow it to fully dry. The drying process can take up to 12 hours, but it can be sped up by setting up a fan nearby. After using the squeegee, wash it right away.

Step 3: Exposing and developing the emulsion

This is placed under a very bright light, which causes the light-reactive emulsion to harden and develop. Set the timer for 20 minutes. Once the timer is done, turn the light off and remove the film. Place the mesh screen under cold, running water. Let the water wash off the emulsion that didn’t harden, and gently scrub the design with a toothbrush to fully remove the emulsion from the design. This is an important step in creating the design imprint, as any areas of the screen which are covered by the design will remain in liquid form.

Step 4: Printing Preparation

Make sure the metal surface is dry and spotless. To get rid of any loose dirt or stains, scrub using a sponge’s rough end. Use rubbing alcohol to scrub any grease or sticky stuff off. Silk screen printing on metal works well on a light-colored, flat surface. The part to be printed is placed flat on the printing press, and the screen is carefully placed on top, ready to print.

Step 5: Apply Ink On Screen

Spread ink heavily on one side of the screen. Drag the ink along the length of the screen with the squeegee to completely cover it. This process leaves an ink pattern in the desired design when the ink is squeezed through the design’s open spaces and transfers to the screen underneath. If numerous parts are to be printed, this can be done as many times as necessary using the same screen. The screen must be cleansed using a special fluid to eliminate the hardened emulsion, allowing the screen to be reused once more.

Step 6: Dry The Ink

Once the design has been inspected and is satisfactory, let the ink dry for over 30 mins. If bake the parts at 70 degrees for 3-5 minutes, the ink will dry quiicker. The final product will be inspected before being used.

This is the point at which the printed design actually begins to come to life!

Advantages Of Silk Screening printing

The specifics of screen printing are already familiar to you. Now we talk about the advantages of silk screen printing. Despite being a very old printing technique, silkscreen printing has several benefits. Thus, it is clear that there is a sizable market for silkscreen printing. Now let’s look at a few of the most important advantages of screen printing.

1. Low Cost

When printing in large quantities, silk screen printing is the most economical printing technique. A silkscreen template with the design is all you need to print using the silk screen process, and you may use the template to repeatedly print on thousands of metal parts. If your products sell out, you can even print more without spending money on putting up the silkscreen template as long as the template is still in use.

2. Durability

Silkscreen printing employs ink to give it an extremely colorful and opaque finish that can stay for a very long period, even in outdoor. To do the part for the environment, we provide options of eco-friendly ink based on your preferences.

3. Accuracy and Beautiful Appeal

Screen printing produces precise, lucid patterns and shapes directly on metal. Your trademark or design will have sharp, clean edges, understandable text, and an immaculately smooth surface. You may be confident that your finished project will appear precisely how you imagined it thanks to the large selection of colors and effects.

A guide to screen printing tools

We must have the appropriate tools for the work in order to produce a crisp, clear print. Here, we’ll go through each piece of screen printing tools and discuss how it works during the printing process.

1. Screen printing Press

Although screen printing is only making with a screen and a squeegee, most printers prefer to use a press because it allows for more efficient printing of many items. This is because the press holds the screen in place between prints, making it easy to change the metal part they are printing on. There are three types of presses: manual, semi-automatic and automatic. Manual presses are manually operated, which means they are quite labor intensive. Semi-automatic presses are partially mechanical but still require human input to change the items being pressed, while automatic presses are fully automated and require little or no human input. Companies that need to print in large quantities usually use a semi or fully automatic printer because it allows faster and more efficient printing and minimizes errors. Smaller businesses or those who screen print as a hobby may find that a manual bench press (sometimes called a “bench press”) is better suited to their needs.

2. Inks

The ink, pigment or paint is forced through a mesh screen onto the object to be printed, transferring a color impression of the stencil pattern onto the product. Choosing an ink is much more than just choosing a color. There are many special inks that can be used to create different effects on metal.

Heat Curing Solvent Ink This type of screen printing ink ensures a very strong bond after baked. Examples of heat curing solvent inks include: Acrylics Enamels Polyesters Epoxies The heat-curing technologies used in these inks provide extreme durability. Whether you want to screen print an outdoor metal product, heat-curing solvent ink is the perfect choice.

Air-dry Solvent Ink

When using air-dry solvent ink, heat curing should not be used. Air drying is included in the process. Therefore, it is suitable for indoor and outdoor applications. It can be found in different formulations such as;

Varnish Base Acrylic Base Vinyl Base

UV-cured Ink

UV-cured inks are less common inks that are used for metal silk screen printings. However, its unique qualities such as chemical bonding makes them popular lately. This ink offers a scratching and scuffing resistance end result.

3. Silk Screen

The silk screen in silkscreen printing is a metal or wood frame with a fine mesh material stretched over the top. Traditional silk screens were made from silk thread, but these days polyester fabrics are often used instead. The thickness and thread counts of the mesh can be adjusted to suit the desired effect, with finer meshes producing higher resolution prints. Once emulsion coating on the screen has exposed, it is ready to use as a stencil. When the screen printing process finishes, it can be washed out and reused.

4. Squeegee

A squeegee is an implement used to spread ink across a printing medium such as metal. It consists of a flat piece of material (usually rubber) attached to a handle. Squeegees can be made of various materials including wood, plastic, metal, and rubber. They may be hand held or machine operated. Normally, we will choose a squeegee with the same size with the screen frame, in order to get better coverage. A firmer rubber squeegee is better for printing intricate details, as it ensures all nooks and crannys in the stencil receive even layers of ink. A softer rubber squeegee is often utilized when printing less detailed designs or when printing onto fabric, as it yields a smoother print.

Know Your Metal Substrate Before Screen Printing

Typically, the metal substrates that are sent out for printing have coatings and treatments and aren’t raw metal. The coating have an impact on how specific inks will react with the metal and how well inks printed on the metal will hold up against fading and scratching. There are two types of metal coatings:

Thermoplastic. Since thermoplastic coatings are air cured, the underlying metal doesn’t become permanently bonded to them. Because thermoplastic coatings are softer, ink deposits do adhere to them rather easily. Thermoplastic coatings, on the other hand, will scratch or rub away more easily than metal surfaces because they are not linked to the metal, carrying with them any ink that has been printed on top. The inability of thermoplastic coatings to withstand corrosive chemicals or high temperatures can also be problematic when screen printing.

Thermoset. In contrast, Thermoset coatings are hardened on the metal by a protracted baking procedure. By virtue of the polymerization that results from that process, the coating solidly adheres to the metal beneath. This increases the durability of thermoset, but it can also make it difficult for ink to adhere during screen printing. The results of your silk screen printing on metals will be significantly impacted by these two coatings.

Meeting the Requirements for Your Product Demands

Knowing the specifications your product must meet will help you choose the right metal type and ink type for the project, which will help you successfully screen print on metal substrates. You need to know whether it needs to be scratch- and solvent-resistant, as well as whether it needs to be firm and resilient or softer and more flexible. You may choose the best ink for the work by taking into consideration the type of metal, as well as the requirements for flexibility and durability.

If you have any further questions about what silk screening entails or how it might be the right choice for your project, please contact us. We are ready to help in any way we can.