Monofilament mesh is the product you will notice in practically all screen printing shops as we speak. Because the term mono would infer, this mesh is composed of single polyester threads woven collectively.
The completely different mesh numbers are determined by mesh rely. That is the variety of threads per inch in your mesh fabric. Lower mesh counts (fewer threads per inch) interprets to extra ink lay down. So, an 86 mesh will lay down extra ink than a 305 mesh. Different inks, different substrates, our graphic, the shade of our garment, all impact the mesh count we use.
The proper Mesh for the proper Job
The mesh you select will depend on 1.) the ink you select to make use of, 2.) the garment you plan to print, and 3.) the graphic happening that garment.Below are some fundamental recommendations primarily based on inks and pictures:
– 30 Mesh: Glitter or Crystallina
– 60 Mesh: coustic mesh Athletic Print (football jerseys for instance)
– 86 Mesh: Heavy Ink on Dark Garments, Puff Ink, Plastisol Transfers
– a hundred and ten Mesh: Underbase for Heavy Block Letters or Artwork
– 156 Mesh: General Prints on Light Garments
– 196 industrial filter mesh: Multi-shade Prints on Light Garments, Jackets
– 230 Mesh: Underbase for Simulated Process, Suede Ink
– 305 Mesh: Process Inks for Light Garments, Simulated Process Overprints
Don’t let the record overwhelm you. In the common screen printing store, you should have maybe five totally different mesh counts readily available, depending on the markets during which you promote.
Numbers May Not MatchThe numbers you see above are common within the business, but you may very nicely see numbers which are slightly different. For example, your provider would possibly inform you they sell 158 mesh, and never 156. As long as you are very close, it’s all the identical.
The reason for the close-however-totally different numbers is in the fact that mesh is manufactured in Europe and Asia. Since these products are made outside the U.S., they are measured in metric numbers and not inches. When the mesh is imported, the numbers are recalculated and the product relabeled. So, some numbers shall be off by a one or two, screen printing mesh however the products are nearly the identical.
The Halftone/Mesh Formulas
Halftone dots are used to both provide the notion of a shade of the shade you’re printing, or to mix colors in process printing or simulated course of printing. Since we are printing small dots, we should use the correct mesh rely that can hold these dots and allow us to print them. Here’s how we decide each the mesh and the halftone dots we can hold and print.
Let’s start with the halftone dot. To determine the proper mesh to make use of with a selected dot, we multiply by 4.5.
Dot Size x 4.5 = Mesh Count
For instance, let’s say now we have artwork with 35 LPI (traces per inch) dots:
35 LPI x 4. If you have any questions concerning where and how to use screen printing mesh – https://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/show_user.php?userid=2549402 -, you can call us at the internet site. 5 = 157.5 Mesh Count
Your mesh needs to be no less than 157.5 or greater to hold you 35 LPI halftone dots. 156 mesh is close sufficient. In reality, some instructors will inform you to use 4 slightly than 4.5 as your multiplier, so there’s some wiggle room when doing this calculation.
Now, let’s assume we’ve a limited variety of screens available, and for this job right now the highest mesh count we’ve on hand is a 196. We are able to reverse our method and divide mesh rely by 4.5 to find out the maximum dot size we will hold and print on this display.
Mesh Count / 4.5 = LPI
As one other example:
196 Mesh Count / 4.5 = 43.5 LPI
The smallest dot we are able to print on our 196 mesh shall be approximately 43.Four LPI.
Using the correct mesh is half the battle in display printing. On the subject of printing halftone dots, correct mesh will be 90% of our production ground battle.
