Troubleshooting screen printing on glass...please

[Just Tim]

Hello everybody.

I am going totally DIY on this project I've been working on for over 2 years.  In short, I need to screen print text on flat glass.  The glass forms the front of a shadow-box.  I purchased 250-mesh screen material, made frames, used Ulano Proclaim emulsion, and Nazdar 59000 ink (diluted 10% with the Nazdar thinner).  The results are shown in the attached image.

I did try to load the frame above the glass before squeegeeing the ink onto the glass, and the frame was propped above the glass about 1/8-inch.  The emulsion was hard, and I made sure it was compatible with the ink.  The mesh is within the specified range for the ink.

Any guess where I went wrong?  I will not give up this last step in this lengthy project, but I wanted to give the finished products to my doctoral committee as gifts in about a year.

Starting to lose the fun in this project...

Thanks,

Just Tim

[matmosphere]

Looks like the screen smudged the ink. I've never tried screen printing on glass, but I wonder if there is a special ink you could use. Make sure there is enough pressure between the screen and the glass.

Have you considered using a slightly textured glass? That would certainly help.

[wgc]

Could b a number of things, alone or in combination. Been awhile since I screen printed but hope this helps.

My first guess is that your screen might not be stretched tight enough.  Or it moved slightly during the print. The last thing is if your ink is a bit runny, you have to check that it's not making a mess on the stencil's underside before you start. Maybe skip dilution.

This might help too:

http://www.cavaglass.com/blog/2014/4/13/blog-8-nine-easy-steps-to-silk-screen-printing-on-glass

Hope to see the finished project soon!

[matmosphere]

Could b a number of things, alone or in combination. Been awhile since I screen printed but hope this helps.

My first guess is that your screen might not be stretched tight enough.  Or it moved slightly during the print. The last thing is if your ink is a bit runny, you have to check that it's not making a mess on the stencil's underside before you start. Maybe skip dilution.

This might help too:

http://www.cavaglass.com/blog/2014/4/13/blog-8-nine-easy-steps-to-silk-screen-printing-on-glass

Hope to see the finished project soon!

I think wgc nailed it with the idea of the screen not being stretched out enough.

[Just Tim]

Boom!  What great advice.  I did not think of screen tension.  I bet that's it, as, since I made the whole set-up from scratch, the tightness of the screen is totally random and probably a bit loose. I'll also secure the thing with those special hinges.
I hope to try again this weekend.
Thanks again!

[kgull]

If you still have issues, try the ADE Series Epoxy Screen Ink. It's made mainly for metal and glass. Used it to screen print a powdercoated box and it worked beautifully. Pain in the ass to work with because it's a two-part ink but I'm pretty sure it will stick to anything.