Silk Screen source

Apr 04, 2011 14 Replies

I have a project that has been stuck for awhile now. Perhaps one of you folks in this newsgroup has a source for a silk screen. I have converted an Ohio Class battleship compass repeater from the original syncro 70 volt drive to NMEA 0183. The new drive also suports a 10 degree inner wheel. I have made these cards from hardened polycarbonate, but now I need to paint these with degree markings and cardinal point graphics. I have created a data file of these images using MS Visio. I now need some one to do the rest. Any help will be appreciated. Steve


If you're only making one to a few cards, and an engraved and paint-filled part is OK, this place will be cheaper than silk screening.

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If you've got your heart set on silk screen I can ask a friend who may have the name of a reliable vendor. Or ask an art student -- there's a photo to screen process that requires minimal equipment.

Thanks for the reply Ned. I don't think an engraved card will work. The clear Lexan cards must be painted with a translucent white paint first. Then a flat black paint (or Ink) be painted via the silk screen leaving only the cardinal markings unpainted. In that way, the red LEDs around the circumference and underneath the cards will be able to illuminate the markings for night sailing.

If you can think of another way, I'm all ears. Steve

Can you laser print onto transparency film and laminate that to your Lexan? Otherwise it sounds like your best bet would be to visit a good art supply store for a silk screen kit.

I have done that Pete and it looks like the decal it is. Worse, even the supposedly translucent film is not translucent enough to properly glow in the dark. On your other suggestion, the silk screen kit, I have no clue what that is, but I'll Gookle it and see if it can work. However, this artsy fartsy stuff is not my thing. Smart people know what they're good at and what they are not. I would prefer to give this to an expert to do, but I have had no luck finding one. Steve

Check around for a local sign shop, or custom T-Shirt shoppe. Both use silk screens daily...

skrev i en meddelelse news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

How about printing on a overhead transparant and then laminating it. Self adhesive laminates are available.

On 4/4/2011 4:07 PM, snipped-for-privacy@lusardi.de wrote: I would prefer to give

You don't say if you care where it is done. In the distant past, I have had similar work done by:

Photo Art Stencil & Sign

701 17th Avenue Belmar, NJ 07719-3011 (732) 681-7300

Kevin Gallimore

I use these guys:

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but any city of a few million with a big advertising industry should have one or more similar companies. Send them a vector file (eg. PDF) and they courier back a finished silk screen.

On a related note, a sign shop will also have a vinyl cutter and doing a vinyl overlay with your negative lettering removed should be easy for them and less time and cost than silk screen. You can actually buy a consumer version of a vinyl cutter at crafts stores for ~$100 or so which might let you DIY it in addition to adding to your shop capabilities.

Your local t-shirt screening company will be happy to sell some to you or make your screens for you. (about $25 a pop here in Oregon)

Are you sure you wouldn't rather use a CNC setup to engrave those?

You can find screen mesh and frames on eBay, too.

-- Not merely an absence of noise, Real Silence begins when a reasonable being withdraws from the noise in order to find peace and order in his inner sanctuary. -- Peter Minard

I printed my CorelDraw output to clear mylar sheets and the tee screening company made screens from them to make my Schnazzy line of shirts.

While we're all off-topic, has anyone sold their domain for a good profit? Any caveats?

Ned, the books arrived today. Thanks!

-- Not merely an absence of noise, Real Silence begins when a reasonable being withdraws from the noise in order to find peace and order in his inner sanctuary. -- Peter Minard

========== You may find this helpful

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also see

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-- Unka George (George McDuffee) .............................. The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. L. P. Hartley (1895-1972), British author. The Go-Between, Prologue (1953).

Thanks to all transponders. This project has been very frustrating because of this silkscreen problem. I now have several paths to investigate. I did receive an initial response from RD Screen design in Salt Lake city......we will see. Steve

A screenmaker who can do halftones is probably one who can do fine work well. A lot just do T-shirts and signs, which are relatively crude.

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