Screen Printing Laminates w/ Water Based inks

I am a screen printer from Santa Cruz, and I’ve got two shapers coming out with some models in the next week or so. They’re funding me to get me started on printing on rice paper. I don’t think there are many printers here that do rice paper, so info is hard to come by. I am using the Nazdar 2700 series water based ink with a retarder. I’ve been told the 6100 solvant based works well too. I am relatively sure how to do it. I’ve been looking to find out as much as possible. I’ve been looking at the “printer” laminates and they just don’t have that detail screening does. What I want to know is the actuall technique of the process of printing on the rice paper. Also, how well does water based inks hold up against resin?

How many logos can go on a sheet? One logo per sheet(8x14)? Or just enough so it can be filled up and cut out?

-Drew

we all print on rice paper straight from our standard inkjet printers (hp, epson, etc.). the general method for smaller pieces of rice paper is to tape the rice paper to a standard piece of paper (tape all the way across the leading edge to prevent feed problems) and print as normal. the ink stands up just fine when glassed, and you can squeeze as many logos onto a sheet as can fit (so long as there’s still enough room to cut out around it).

there was once a time when none of this had been done before, and it was learned through trial and error. if you’ve got a different setup, try it out and see what works. print up a logo, and glass it onto a piece of scrap. just see how things go.

Damn near any screen printer will print laminates for you if you talk to the right person. They may not have the rice paper in stock, but they definitely have the necessary ink. Rice paper isn’t hard to come by either, it’s just a matter of negotiating a price with the screener.

Here’s the website of a company that prints laminates near my place - http://www.dolphinshirt.com/surfboardlams.htm

I used to do all my own screen printing for my logos on laminant (rice) paper. I always used gloss acrylic enamels from Nazdar. I tried water-based inks with a friend who had a flash dryer but the slight amount of water in the ink caused the paper to shrink, thus not allowing the paper to sit flat under the glass…

…fill your space but consider how difficult it will be to cut out unless you have a die cutter.

I am an industrial screen printer. Mainly do printing on housings for electronics, and many other odds and ends. Anyway, I’ve been using Nazdar 9700 inks for my laminates, with no problems. Solvent based, I don’t know if it’s legal in Cali.

The only issue I’ve had is during printing, the ink gets forced through the paper and builds up on the table (I just use a vacuum table to hold the rice paper in place). Not a problem unless you slide the lam when picking it up - ink smears on the backside. It’s no biggie for me since I usually only print a handful at a time. I’ve been using a 280 mesh screen, which is probably courser than I need, allowing too much ink through. Thickening the ink more would probably help as well.