How To Get Into Hand Screening Boards

[Prinzy]

So me and a homie were thinking about hand screening some boards for us and the homies after seeing brands like Carpet Co. do some really beautiful hand screening.

We don't have intentions of making a brand or anything, just wanted to take on a fun art project. Curious if any of you guys have helpful input or tips on that in regard to equipment, inks, mesh counts, etc. We are starting from scratch and have pretty minimal experience in the medium, so open to all and any advice.

Upon my research, I have found specific presses for boards such as this: https://www.neverthelessscreenprintingsupplies.com/silk-skates-deluxe-skateboard-screen-printing-press/

It seems a tad expensive and gimmicky for something that I feel like we could achieve with a normal press and some DIY finagling, but maybe I am wrong.

Also any recommendations are semi-decent blanks to print on that we wouldn't need a vendor's license to get would be greatly appreciated

[El Chupacabra]

Not easy to do.
 
Single pass, between the trucks graphics are achievable in the backyard but don't expect world class results.
Full length, nose to tail are really challenging. I saw NHS do it back in the day using bent screens that looked like a total pain in the ass to make.

Edit: that press looks like a waste of money. Screen is just flat.

As far as blanks go, good luck.
The deck drought has pretty much killed the blank market, as the suppliers are having enough trouble meeting the demands for graphic decks from their customers, so every deck is spoken for.

Not saying its impossible though. There might be a source out there that I don't know about. What do you wanna pay for blanks and what kinda minimums can you afford?

Check this thread too for alternatives to screening

https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=48527.0

[kneebone]

Would definitely suggest just learning how to screenprint paper prints and t-shirts first.  Then take that experience & knowledge to decks.  I’ve been amateur-screening shirts for over 10 years and I’m still hesitant to take it to boards.  It ain’t easy.

[TwisT]

I actually have that screen printer. It’s pretty gimmicky and doesn’t much that couldn’t be achieved with some wood and some patience. I think the best thing it does is adjust for wheelbase.

need to mount it to something.

You need the pins to hold the board in place

You need a screen and latches

Also you need either a larger screen with enough give to prevent the curve or a lower mesh count.

I think overall my main issue is that they don’t provide you with enough information on how to do a successful print. I just dm some folks and that’s what I was told. Haven’t done a successful print yet. Gotta get a new screen.

[Prinzy]

Not easy to do.
 
Single pass, between the trucks graphics are achievable in the backyard but don't expect world class results.
Full length, nose to tail are really challenging. I saw NHS do it back in the day using bent screens that looked like a total pain in the ass to make.

Edit: that press looks like a waste of money. Screen is just flat.

As far as blanks go, good luck.
The deck drought has pretty much killed the blank market, as the suppliers are having enough trouble meeting the demands for graphic decks from their customers, so every deck is spoken for.

Not saying its impossible though. There might be a source out there that I don't know about. What do you wanna pay for blanks and what kinda minimums can you afford?

Check this thread too for alternatives to screening

https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=48527.0

Yeah, I should've included in my original post that we were only intending on inbetween truck graphics because we dont have the expertise to even go about making a bent screen.

We were intending on only doing 1-3 color designs with fairly simple linework to get started. We'd be doing it all DIY and just as a fun project, so we aren't expecting any wall deck worthy quality yet, especially with our inexperience.

In regards to decks, since our skills wont warrant any products even worth selling to people, we were just going to try it for a now as a little thing for our little crew of dudes to skate and enjoy. I think we'd like to find a way to get maybe 10-15 decks? I assume with the rough $15-30 per deck wholesale range, I'd hope to spend inbetween $150-300 on decks, but maybe thats optimistic? I know http://www.skateboardmfg.com/ordering.html has good review for the most part, I think their 50 board minimum is outside our price range, I do see they have $20 samples, which may be something to look into. This site http://www.wholesaleskateboard.com/store/buy_decks.htm seemed to have fair pricing and shape/size variety but can't seem to find much on here or elsewhere about their quality of wood.

Would definitely suggest just learning how to screenprint paper prints and t-shirts first.  Then take that experience & knowledge to decks.  I’ve been amateur-screening shirts for over 10 years and I’m still hesitant to take it to boards.  It ain’t easy.

I guess a question to both of you, do you think learning to learning to do prints first is a good move? Are there things to practice printing on that are good practice for printing on deck?

I appreciate both of your guys' input so far!

[TheAmericanAntique]

Honestly a little hack would be to find some older 110 or 86 screens with slight Rips on the side. That would give you a looser screen forming that roundness around the board and may help along with a good break on the press.

Mind you tho I have only printed on tees, hoodies and other flat pieces at the print shop I work for. But always thought of trying boards.

[funeral_tuxedo]

That's rad that you and your friend want to get into silkscreening. Emulsion is nasty chemical stuff so make sure your slop sink is safe and wear gloves and a mask and try to ventilate. Always wear safety glasses when when you're washing out screens too. You don't want that shit in your eyes. You're early attempts are probably going to be pretty off registered so you could look at an artist like Gary Panter as an influence for making that aesthetic work out. Speedball paint is really expensive and it's a good idea to have lots of plastic sealable containers to save and label your color mixes. Sometimes it's cheaper to take a class somewhere and utilize their facilities and materials. Good luck and post your boards!

[Sativa Lung]

Definitely learn to screen before you start trying to do boards. As someone said if you're just doing small single color pass on the flat part of the board you can probably pull it off with basic equipment in your garage, but printing on a curved surface is a serious pain in the ass, and can be akin to witchcraft if you're doing several colors. As far as practice, really anything hard and non-porous would probably be a fairly good simulation of a board, coated cardstock scraps are what I always did my test runs on when I was mixing spot colors but that was commercial printing. It's a skill like anything else (albeit one thats slowly dying), so there's going to be a learning curve and you're going to end up having to invest a good bit of time and money if you want it to look good. I wouldn't even fuck with multiple colors until you've got your entire workflow down and have a pretty good feel for what can go wrong and how to fix it.

Maybe try finding a print shop or someone knowledgeable in your area and volunteering to help out with a few runs if they'll teach you the basics. Most of the shops I've been in are run by cool people who would be happy to take you under their wing if you wash their screens and bring them coffee. They'll probably have better equipment and leftover supplies you can use as well.