so i’ll fully admit i’m not nearly as active in here as i should be - or have been in the past, and my cursory search found a couple of links - here or here - who have had success with lasering the screen for use.
here’s my weird question - do you think it would work onto a book? my sister in law is asking for ~175 sets of scripture to have a multicolor logo printed onto the front. there’s text, isolated blocks of color (like the inside of an “O” or a window) - i wonder if i make a few screens that can be lasered, then airbrush the color through?
the scripture is navy (a Book of Mormon, for those curious) - and i would put down a white background, then black text and then 5 other colors.
I think if you can make a working screen printing screen, it’s going to print on pretty much anything. It’s just tiny holes for paint to squeeze through; it doesn’t care what’s underneath it. Definitely an interesting project!
I don’t have any screen printing wisdom to share, but I would love to see updates on your project as you move forward.
For what it’s worth, if I were tasked with this job, I think I’d try using sticker paper. I have had good success with paper that runs through my color laser printer (it’s available for inkjet printers as well). It sticks to a variety of surfaces, and I’ve found it pretty durable and water resistant. There are also a lot of companies that make “water bottle” stickers that would stick perfectly well to the book and hold up through a lot of handling. I ordered some recently for a work project, and I was very impressed by the quality.
Seven colors is a lot for silk screening. I suppose your idea of doing three screens (white, black, the do all the colors at once) might make it easier with a print tree (used for registration).
What is the book cover made of? Is there a texture? How large?
Maybe you can do stickers in color to hand out and engrave on directly on the books? Or laser foil?
Since proving that I could make a “silk screen” with mylar on my Glowforge, and stubbornly doing it several times, I bought myself a used 4-color silk screen press.
The right tool for the right job.
The screen press is FAR superior to the mylar. I’ve used it for a few dozen short-run t-shirts for scout troops and family events and it is the right answer.
When you have a laser, everything should be done on a laser.
When you are a hammer, everything is a nail.
To your project:
I think you CAN do it, and it would be a great keepsake for the kids who participate.
If it were me, I would make a jig so your prints all fall EXACTLY on your books.
And I’d absolutely go with a wood block rather than a screen print for this application.
It will be cleaner and less frustrating.
You might have problems making those exact fonts work well and may adjust thicker or thinner.
A sticker might be cleaner; but ink and paint has its own personality and that might be what you want.
If your sister-in-law wants you to do this because she thinks you are more affordable than stickers, then she needs to adjust her budget and buy the stickers. It isn’t worth your time.
If your sister-in-law wants you to do this because this is the effect she wants, then build a jig and some wood blocks and teach her how to accomplish. Her committee will appreciate you more when you pull back the curtain, and they will own their books. Better yet, get her stake youth committee to use your jig to print the logos on the scriptures and then you are not doing 175 books… you are facilitating for the teenagers to own their experience.
