How to Build a Screen Press

Gussy up that t-shirt with screen printing.

Screen printing is the use of a framed, permeable fabric with ink blocking stencil designs. Screen printers range from expensive, bulky, high technology affairs for mass production down to a simple hand press. A popular use for screen printers is decorating t-shirts. The fabric was originally silk, ergo the term "silk-screening." A polyester is now most common. The item is stretched on a flat surface, the screen laid over the item to be printed, and paint is pressed through the screening material with a squeegee to force the ink through the screen.

Things You'll Need

• 2 lengths of hardwood 1 inch by 1 inch, 22 inches long
• 2 lengths of hardwood 1 inch by 1 inch, 18 inches long
• Router or table saw
• Staple gun with staples
• 4 C-clamps
• Framer's square
• Wood glue
• 12xx mesh polyester fabric, 24 inches by 20 inches

Instructions

1. Cut 1-inch by 1 ½-inch half-lap joints at each end of each length of hardwood. The lap-joint cuts will be 1 inch long and a 1/2 inch deep, cut at both ends of each board on the same side of the board. When the lap-joint cuts are made, the ends of each piece should overlap to the boards are flush with each other.

2. Lay the two 22-inch pieces of wood parallel to each other on a flat surface with the lap-cuts facing up. Fit the two 18-inch pieces to the long boards by placing the lap-cuts down and into the grooves of the long board cuts. You should have a rectangle that lays flat. Glue the half-lap joints. Lightly clamp the glued corners. Place the square on the corners to ensure they are 90 degrees each. Tighten the clamps and leave the frame for a day to dry.

3. Remove the clamps. Lay the frame on a sturdy, flat surface. Lay the fabric over the frame, with the overlapping margins approximately equal all around. Staple the fabric to the frame midway along one side. Lightly stretch the fabric away from the staple so it is just tight, then staple the fabric midway along the opposite long side. Stretch the fabric toward the short side perpendicular to the first two staples. Only use enough tension to get the fabric tight and no more. Staple midway along the short board of the frame. Stretch the fabric in the opposite direction, again with just enough tension to make the fabric tight, and staple it midway on the other short board. Your frame should now have fabric attached with a staple halfway along each side of the frame.

4. Stretch the fabric lightly to one corner of the frame. Staple it to the frame. Stretch the fabric to the opposite -- diagonal -- corner, and staple the fabric to the frame. Repeat the process with the remaining corners, ensuring that the final stretch leaves the fabric stretched uniformly and flatly across the frame. Staple the fabric midway between all existing staples, pulling slight tension where necessary to keep the fabric uniformly tight and flat. Add one final round of staples, one midway between the existing staples.

   This is a simple screen printer. Just add stencils and paint.

Tips & Warnings

• Inexperienced operators of table saws must always have supervision.

References

• Screen Printing Dog: Screen Printing Press
• Print-Cut-Sew: Silkscreen Frame From Scratch
• Printing Plans: Screen Printer Plans

Resources

• Summer Institute of Linguistics: Silk Screen Printer