What Will This Cost to Get Started?

Minimally you will need an exposure unit, some form of press, flash dryer
and some supplies.  Here are the numbers.

You can
make the exposure unit yourself, and should.  Budget $50-75, depending
where you shop for materials.  For a drawing and instructions, write to roger@rjennings.com requesting
same, and he will send the information.  This should take about 30 minutes
to construct.  Another manufacturer or distributor will not tell you
this either because they do not know or because they do not see themselves
making money at your expense.  They will want to sell you a multiple light
exposure unit that costs between $1100 and $1400 that does not work as well.  You
could buy a professional unit costing something like $4000, but when starting
your business such an expense for the few screens you will make does not make
sense.  The home made unit will work as well, but will not be as pretty.

For more information on building your own exposure unit, see ”Screen
Printing’s Best Exposure Unit.”  You can have the best, and
pay the least.

At the same time you build the exposure unit, you should spend another 10
minutes and make a Screen Registration Guide.  This will save you countless
hours, avoid wasting materials, and help to keep you sane.

For more information on building a Screen Registration Guide, see the video “Screen
Printing Registration Guide” on this website.

You will need a press.  That could be 2 hinge clamps screwed to a board
to an inexpensive one color press, two color, four color or six color manual
press.  Larger manual presses are offered, but you will never make money
with a larger press.  Larger presses are typically purchased as sampling
presses prior to customer approval of a very large order that will be printed
on an automatic press.  To get some idea of pricing, go to www.rjennings.com.

You will definitely need a flash dryer, if you are planning on printing plastisol
inks.  New shops will limited funds will use the flash dryer for both
flash curing (typically 6-8 seconds of heat) and a full cure (typically 60-70
seconds).  If the flash is being used for full cures, the most production
you should expect is 30 shirts per hour.  If you are able to print 120
shirts per hour, the flash will bind production.  However, a new business
might only have orders of 25 or so shirts.  Once you get 300 shirt orders,
then you will definitely want a conveyor dryer that cures as fast as you print.

When buying a flash dryer, you want to make sure you have temperature control.  Preferably
that is solid state so you have no maintenance issues in the future.  Also,
operating at 600 degrees you want to make sure the dryer is built with your
safety in mind.  So casters are a must.  The base should be under
the platen rather than having spider legs sticking out as a tripping hazard.  The
base should be heavier than the top to prevent tipping over.

See the video “Screen Printing Flash Dryers” for more information.

To learn more on this subject, see these articles on this website:

Flash Curing Slows Production
Drying and Curing Inks; Equipment and Procedures
Cutting Power Costs