How To Build A Cheap T Shirt Screen Printing Press
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- Make a screen printing press to print t shirts for almost nothing. I built this one out of scrap wood and a few things from the hardware store. I do screen printing as a hobby, but you could easily start a small business printing custom t shirts for bands or teams or whatever. Or come up with fun designs and sell the t shirts online or at swap meets or whatever.
This homemade design can be easily modified. Change the size and shape of the shirt board to print long sleeves or sweatpants legs. You can probably even make something to print hats. This is a pretty easy DIY project.
p.s. You don't need all the tools I used. You can do most of it with a regular handsaw. It will just take longer. I had the tools, so I used them.
I built it from scrap wood. Here is a parts list posted by a viewer:
(2) 2.5 in wide 24 in long
(1) 2x4 cut at 45 degree angle on one end
(1)16 in x17 in board, angled
(1) 7 in x 24 inch board
(2) Bolts: ⅜ in bolts, 3.5 in long, washer , wing nut
(1) Strip hinge (or 2 -3 smaller hinges)
(2) Eye Screws
(1) Spring
(1) Zip Tie
Screws
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I can’t believe this video is 10 years old! I’m just looking at diy printing press for glass mirrors and this came up. Lots of good ideas - thanks.
Watched your video a couple of times. Decided "What the hell, I'll try it." I welded the frame and press out of some stock metal I had laying around the shop, forgot about it. 6 months later I sold it, unused, at a yard sale for $100. Good Video.
Hey,
For some reason today I thought about looking up this video, which I watched about 6 months ago, when I made my own press following your design, with a few minor variations due to the different stuff I had available, and changed it slightly due to my own requirements, but its 95% the same as this design.
Six months later, I've printed and sold over 2500 tshirts on ebay, and the press is still going strong.
I'm expecting to be doing 3 times the volume of business by this time next year, and as long as I'm printing one colour designs, this press will serve me well for a long time to come.
Thought you would like to know how your design is helping me to grow a real business.
Thanks a lot,
G
Awesome! I have told people this was a viable business opportunity that would cost very little to get started in. I am glad to see someone who has done it! Way cool!
9
375
glenn presslie What is the name of your store on ebay?
glenn presslie hi
So simple and easy to make...and your tuition was clear to understand. I didn't find any timber that had been discarded so l bought some 1/4th plywood and used epoxy to join two pieces cut to size together making it 1/2 inch thick. I joined two pieces 2"x 1" timber cut to size with epoxy making it 4" wide by 1". This meant the materials were cheap. This was a great video, perfect for anybody to make. Thanks for taking the time to show us this idea.
+Alan Oliver Hey, whatever works! I just put out a basic design that can easily be modified with whatever you have on hand.
just wanna say thank you! i just made one today. I followed your plan step by step and it turned out nice. I used scrap wood and bought bolts, wing nuts, hinges etc from hardware store and only spent $8.70. AWESOME!
Makes things easy when someone good enough in showing the basic design. Thank
you.
That is DOPE. You'll never be useless with a can-do attitude like that.
I can tell it felt good...
Lance Holtman - this is better than dope, aye.
Thank you so much for this! I went out and picked up all the power tools at the local pawn shop and will soon get the wood!
Also, thank you for the closed captioning. I'm hearing impaired and you're a blessing!
You can use hand tools , it just takes longer.
Luckily I was able to go to a liquidation sale. I purchased a jig saw, a miter saw, and a circular saw for a total of $77! This will be my weekend project
I loved your tutorial! Informative, straight forward, detailed enough. To the point.
This is the easiest and cheapest diy print press I've seen! Great video! Thanks :)
I've been dying to build a screen printing press and now that I found this video I know how to build a good and cheap one. Thanks!
I am going to attemp to build two of these with my sister and dad this weekend. Thanks so much for posting this video! Here's a materials list I jotted down from watching if it helpful to anyone else that comes along and watches. I could've missed some stuff and this is obviously about being creative with what you already have. Happy building and printing, everyone!
(2) 2.5 in wide 24 in long
(1) 2x4 cut at 45 degree angle on one end
(1)16 in x17 in board, angled
(1) 7 in x 24 inch board
(2) Bolts: ⅜ in bolts, 3.5 in long, washer , wing nut
(1) Strip hinge (or 2 -3 smaller hinges)
(2) Eye Screws
(1) Spring
(1) Zip Tie
Screws
Thanks! I will add that to the description.
Thanks for this video! I busted out a press in about an hour using a bunch of scraps i had in the basement! Works like a dream:) I made several sizes of the plate for different sized screens too. Thanks again!
Thanks man, just finished building something very similar using your guide. I have some smaller frames and figured something out to get them to reach the top of the t-shirt (incase you dont want to use >12" tall frames to touch the target spots on a t-shirt) - I loaded a 2x4 into the clamp, and drilled a clamp into the edge of the 2x4 (the bottom of the clamp is nearly level with the surface), and I load my frames into the newly added clamp
Thanks dude, this helped. alot of videos out there with so much useless crap. this one gets to the point i wanted see. every minute of it was helpful!
I have been looking at these tutorials for a few days. this is the one I want to build . clear directions and simple.
thanks
Realy great video, man! One of the best cheap projects I've seen on the web!
Thank you sir for this video, its crazy how you recorded this 9 years ago and here I am using the information, thank you and I hope you're well...
Woohoooo, finally parts I have and simple hardware. Now just have to find a deal on some frames. Ty
Good one, RJ. Thanks. I'll build this on Thursday.
Thanks for giving us the idea on how to build this screen printing machine. Thanks boss
I love the concept and structure of this screen table. Worth watching. Thanks man for sharing.
OMG You have my exact model of table saw... it's my FAVORITE tool...!
OMG!!! O M G!
Excellent video! Love that you use what you have lying around or discarded scraps. Very resourceful and clever!!!!
Thank you for sharing,I have made this and it works, what clever man you are.
you are a genius what a hell of an idea looking forward to doing this great job and thank you for sharing
I built mine and I love it! Thanks for the video!
Awesome video…great presentation. Brings back some memories for me bro!
Great info! I have the capability to make/stretch/coat & burn the screens at work for a different application & have been wanting to apply this to doing my own tshirts at home..Thanks for posting!
Thank you so much. Your demostration is very helpful.
I will be on it tomorrow. This solves the problems I having with my printing. Thanks!
Well done.... I saw it, I built it, I'll use it! Thanx....
really cool!.. zip tie trick is brilliant!
Thank you for sharing your design . Helped me alot . Thumb up
You Sir, are a GENIUS!
excellent, amazing thanks a lot. it is really the best tutorial, if anybody follow the directions step by step he/she can make it easily. thank you a million. recommend it to everybody :)
Great idea , think I'm going to build one myself . Thx !
This is brilliant. Thanks so much for all your work. I'm off and running 8-D
Thanks a lot sir, thats a big help for a beginner like me. I really appreciate it
The best homemade press 👍👍👍
Hey Thank you very much!
Your video guided me and a friend and now I have a screen printing press :)
Thank you so much
Brilliant video going to get my partner to make me one hopefully
Awesome! I have all this scrap at my house and a radial table saw, just learning, but I want a miter saw now. Going to try to do this, I was trying to figure out how to hold the screen I bought yesterday in place without spending a ton of money. Thanks!
Is it a radial arm saw? They will cut angles like a miter saw.
yes. but I am not that good at using it except for straight edges. for my 2 by 4 and cutting scrapwood for my signs.
I have faith in you that you can learn how to use it. :D
Great video! Thank you for sharing this.
Hello, I followed the plans and built this yesterday. The plans are sound and minimalistic and it obviously works as mine does and I say thankyou. I would strongly advise however you make a follow up video from the same kindness that inspired this one. I had to overcome several challenges to make a device that looked and operated like a screen press into one that actually worked. This had much to do with the level of each piece of wood. My sheets of 3/4 ply and my 2x4 were slightly warped. This caused major alignment issues when the press is directly over the platen causing too much off contact and uneven at that (tilted to one side). This is no fault of your design but you may want to instruct people especially newbies to carpentry like me to be careful in what pieces of wood are used and to insure they are fairly level and not too badly warped. I literally spent more time sanding and tinkering before I could get the screen to lay flat and evenly over the platen . Again this is no fault of yours but PLEASE point this out to save possibly thousands of inexperienced people from disappointment and frustration. If I had realized that the tolerances were less forgiving, I may have even sanded every thing first to insure even better alignment and most certainly would have been very careful when selecting my pieces of wood from the hardware store. But I learned something from this process and it will serve me well next time I need to build something. Thanks again.
BOMBSWABS jjujui9
Thank you so much! Awesome, no-frills design!
Great tutorial, very descriptive. Thank you.
Thank you very much - Your video is real support - Good. Also you have nice tools with you. I really highly appreciate.
Excellent teaching video.
The biggest hassles are emulsion setting and screen cleaning, this is a great rig.
WE LOVE U RJ!
You should do a video on how to build a 'table screen printing press' - a row of platens where you manually move your screen(s) from one platen to the next, giving you unlimited color potential.
Hans Zarkov platen?
Go ahead, push the luck :\
really cool!
If both attachement points are level with the screen when its lowered the spring wont pull the screen up. Maybe... Idk it might help if the press side was higher.
If you want good off contact with that set up try taping a couple coins to the under side of the screen so they hit the platten .
Pure Genius... Thanks for sharing!
thanks, very helpful. especially for a new start up.
Just rewatched this video. I have been using this for all my T-shirt printing. I also did some stickers. I have since built a vacuum platen for those.
What else do need? I use it to print T-shirt’s for my business. Give sways really. The piano hinge holds registration. I just do one color.
Thanks for the video, it was the best match for me.
Very good , made mine and it works perfect. Thank you sir
This is great, think I will use t-nuts to assist in the bolts.
( : "That's 100% awesome! Thank you so much for this video! I just want to let you know that you're excellent at your craft! I am truly greatful! Please keep making video's!" : )
thank you very much, great vid and tutorial! thumbs up!
RJ - great plans! I made one from plans but I wish I saw yours first. Yours is much better and simpler to use, store and set up. The only problem I have found with home screen printing is the photo emulsion is expensive and has a short shelf life once it is activated. Thanks. Has anyone found any cheaper way to make photo emulsion last longer or a brand that lasts?
Store the photo emulsion in the refrigerator. It will last longer. I have used mine like 6 months or a year later.
Very Cool Video!
This video is cool. I got the wood to make it, the thing is I don't have all the tools you use, but thanks anyways!
+LadyOscar Hn You don't need all the tools I used. You can do most of it with a regular handsaw. It will just take longer. I had the tools, so I used them.
Cool Video thanks man! I have all of thes woods the i even have a saw but the problem is i don't have a drill to make those holes and screw them.
it was very help full good work thanks
To all involved in sales & promotional activity:a good tool for the future
We made one works fab thank you so much
wow you are a genius man! thanks a lot
Genius! I am making one.
That was awesome! Thanks for that! Subscribed! =)
yo yo love the vids and instructions. To be clear, this is designed for 20/24 screens?
This is a great video. I have wanted to go into business for myself, screenprinting shirts. This really helps. Any videos on building your own screen yet?
Not yet. I will look into it as well as some other screen printing videos, You might check my web site here for more info on getting started screen printing:
www.screen-printing-t-shirts.com/
Thank you so very much.....I'm gonna build my press today, thanks to you. I'll check out that site as well. God bless you.
As far as frames, wood frames are okay, but I really like aluminum ones better. they cost a little more, but they are much sturdier.
I made one from that design and I like it except for one thing. When you get your shirt up close, it bunches up and it won't re-close again very easily so what i have to do is make one side of the frame twice as wide to make up the difference so that I have a little bit more space for the tshirt to bunch up. other than that works great.
Hey, whatever works for you. I haven't had problems with mine. Even with sweatshirts.
I made a little Improvement and now it works great. I added a 3/4 Riser underneath the frame. Which I screwed into the bottom part of the swivel plate that goes up and down. That way it raises the frame up a little bit higher and then I raised up the shirt plate another 3/4 as well so there was a gap underneath the shirt plate so my shirt tail will go underneath the shirt plate and now it works beautifully. Anyway just thought I'd share that with you. It made a big difference.
very good my friend
A big thank you, from me! Realy. : )
great teacher,,,,thank you sir...
I'm going to make 1 too.
Very Good man.
this guy is an absolute DON
Great very helpful
super cool. thank you
muy professional ay ay ay ay que lindo muchacho te felisito & may the God of israel bless you & your family
Making hard work of it!
Thank you for the video 👍
This is awesome ty bud
Any suggestions on a good website to order higher quality wholesale shirts? Zen, American Apparel, District... TIA
very nice
Of all of the designs I've seen I've liked your build the best. Is there any way to modify this to accomodate a 2-4 color press? I was going to use a lazy susan to turn it.
I originally built a 4 color press with a lazy susan type thing. It big and heavy. The registration is the toughest part. but I found myself only doing one color printing. So I built this one. Use the same kind of clamps as this one. Mount them to a square piece of plywood with a lazy susan bearing mounted in the middle and to the 2x4.
Brilliant!
omg i want to build this scream print thanks so much i really like it
Amazing!
ok so how would I make a four color table please help lol I made this now am add colors and like my home made table so much I want to have a four color one jus like it thank it works
thanks it simple to use
useful vid! thanks!
thanks for making the video.
Good Show!
6 yrs later ran across this... great video..any changes /suggestions since? Also where best place to purchase good quality blank T-shirt’s?
You gotta shop around. I bought in smaller quantities at Michaels when they were on sale.
thank you man. thanks
NICE!
good job interesting