This apparatus is based on the traditional long table used to print repeat patterns on fabric and wallpaper. The important feature
is a 3" angle steel rail along one side (a.), which acts as a baseline for aligning the
screen parallel to the shirt's bottom edge. Nails or screws driven into one
side of the screen contact this surface when printing. Alignment along the
centerline (a crease included in the shirt when it's made) is established
by a third screw contacting a small plate ( b.) set at right angles to the
rail. The triangulation of the three screws cancels the natural racking
of wood frames, which makes it easy to micro-register multiple color designs.
Once the screen is set up it never has to be registered again. This means
that with the waterbase 5 minute cleanup it's economical to print a single
shirt.
Materials List
SHIRT PALLET: 3/4" particleboard (faced with formica is nice but
not necessary. Kitchen-cabinet shops have scraps.)
PERIMETER FRAME: 1X2 ,1X4 straight, clear pine or fir. Overlapped, glued
& screwed. HARDWARE:
Rail (a.) 3"X24" steel angle. Aluminum is OK, too. Angle stock
isn't necessary either. Flat steel connector plate used by builders is cheap and easy to
attach to the edge of the frame because it comes pre-drilled.
What's important is that the piece is firmly screwed down.
Plate (b.) Any piece of metal--firmly screwed down. Pair of hinges. If they
wobble, drive the pin out and bend it slightly.
MISC SCRAP LUMBER:
1/2" or thicker plywood bottom.
24" straight 2X3 frame support. The piece supporting the pallet needsto be carefully
located so that a shirt can be easily positioned, but so
that the end of the pallet doesn't bend like a diving board. It needs to
be trimmed or shimmed so the top of the pallet is exactly plane with the
perimeter frame. LINK TO WORKING DRAWING
