Screen Printing Workshop first test

Intro

On February 18, 2009 I made my first attempt at creating a screen using Diazo photo emulsion from Speedball. Details to follow. --Nathan

Lightbox (with 6 20 watt daylight fluorescent bulbs, distance from screen: ~7"
12"x10" Dick Blick screen #94708 (upc:651032 947087)
Speedball Diazo photo emulsion kit
Speedball 10" squeegee
NOTE: It would have been good to invest in a scoop coater as well
Flat, heavy materials. I went with Flash MX Bible, Visual Basic 6 Black Book, SAMS Visual C++ 6, SAMS Teach Yourself LAMP & Basic Electronics text book.
Clothes you're not worried about ruining
Patience

Diazo photo emulsion kit requires mixing sensitizer (Black) into the base emulsion (Blue) to activate. Do so and mix vigorously (Resulting mixture turns green.)
- Directions state emulsion can last for up to 4 months when stored in refrigerator.
Carefully applied emulsion to both sides of screen with Speedball squeegee. This is where I could have made less mess with a scoop coater.
After checking that both sides were coated as evenly as possible I IMMEDIATELY took the screen to dry in a dark arrid place. In my case I used my oven (no heat necessary). According to instructions, dry the screen with the flat side down, but elevated.
- screen appeared to be perfectly dry in 1 hour, could have gone with 45 minutes probably.
Do not expose screen to light until you are ready for printing. This is why I need to build a drying box.

I burned the screen for 15 minutes, checked it, uneducated guess is that it needs more time to expose. Check again in 15 more minutes. (10:34 PM)
- Now is a good time to note that I should have attached my positive to the screen so when I checked it the alignment wouldn't get messed up.
I decided to let it stay for another 30 that way if it overexposed I would have a high point of reference. From what little experience I have it doesn't seem to have changed much. The emulsion basically just gets slightly more transparent.
After 45 minutes I pulled the screen off the light and washed out the print areas with my high pressure spray nozzle. It takes a minute or two for the areas to start clearing out (I was worried) but then slowly they will empty out.
Letting screen dry completely will I prepare my kitchen table for test prints.

Came out way better than I could have imagined. Only a few things to note:

The color blends into shirt fabric too much. This isn't so bad on light colored shirts, but on dark/black it's nearly impossible to see. I'll have to research further on types of ink to use (went with water solvable for this attempt) and step up to multi-color prints at some point.
A finer screen mesh, which could be a little more expensive, would yield better results on firmer surfaces like paper.
DEFINITELY need to learn how to stretch my own screens for saving cost.
For future screen burns, I'm thinking of incorporating some kind of test pattern in the corner or my screens that I will mask off at printing time. This will make it easier to check the progress of exposure without compromising the artwork.