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!
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.
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.
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!
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!
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
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
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 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!
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!
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.
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 :)
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.
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!
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.
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?
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 .
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.
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.
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/
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.
+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.
will the screen actually come down unto the shirt, because it looks like there is a space between the screen and the base where the shirt will be layed onto???????????????
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
( : "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!" : )
if i want to print red and blue colors on dark tshirt, i apply white first to the screen then dry it and wash the screen then how can i adjust the screen in this press? does it need something to return the screen to the exact place where it was when i apply the white?
+bushbosh You need a way to 'register' the shirt relative to the printing press. (or have two but you still need to dry it between prints of course) Then you use another screen/squeegee with the exact same registration. I know because I did this back in junior high school.
hello, thank you for your amazing video. im curious about the rubber bands and the spring... it doesnt say anything about needing a spring but in the video its included and also, im not sure where the rubberbands come into play. thank you again and i hope you can clarify this for me.
RJ The Bike Guy okay thank you, what are those springs called if I go to a hardware store. Is there a specific name or is it just a spring. Again thank u.
No problem. The cuts are pretty straight forward. So a regular handsaw, or circular saw like I use in the vid. A jig saw would work too. Nothing is too critical on this. So whatever you got pretty much.
Common 3/4" thick is what I used. I wouldn't use thinner as it will probably be flimsy. You can use thicker, but you want the shirt board and at least the bottom part of the screen clamp to be about the same thickness or they wont be level with each other.
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.
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
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.
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.
Makes things easy when someone good enough in showing the basic design. Thank
you.
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!
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
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
I loved your tutorial! Informative, straight forward, detailed enough. To the point.
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!
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.
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.
I have been looking at these tutorials for a few days. this is the one I want to build . clear directions and simple.
thanks
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...
This is the easiest and cheapest diy print press I've seen! Great video! Thanks :)
Thanks for giving us the idea on how to build this screen printing machine. Thanks boss
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 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!
Realy great video, man! One of the best cheap projects I've seen on the web!
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!!!!
Woohoooo, finally parts I have and simple hardware. Now just have to find a deal on some frames. Ty
I love the concept and structure of this screen table. Worth watching. Thanks man for sharing.
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!
You Sir, are a GENIUS!
Thank you for sharing,I have made this and it works, what clever man you are.
I will be on it tomorrow. This solves the problems I having with my printing. Thanks!
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
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 :)
Good one, RJ. Thanks. I'll build this on Thursday.
I built mine and I love it! Thanks for the video!
The biggest hassles are emulsion setting and screen cleaning, this is a great rig.
you are a genius what a hell of an idea looking forward to doing this great job and thank you for sharing
Thank you so much. Your demostration is very helpful.
really cool!.. zip tie trick is brilliant!
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.
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
Awesome video…great presentation. Brings back some memories for me bro!
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 :\
The best homemade press 👍👍👍
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.
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 .
Well done.... I saw it, I built it, I'll use it! Thanx....
Thank you for sharing your design . Helped me alot . Thumb up
Thanks a lot sir, thats a big help for a beginner like me. I really appreciate it
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
This is great, think I will use t-nuts to assist in the bolts.
Great video! Thank you for sharing this.
Brilliant video going to get my partner to make me one hopefully
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.
Hey Thank you very much!
Your video guided me and a friend and now I have a screen printing press :)
Thank you so much
Thank you very much - Your video is real support - Good. Also you have nice tools with you. I really highly appreciate.
Thank you so much! Awesome, no-frills design!
Pure Genius... Thanks for sharing!
Great tutorial, very descriptive. Thank you.
yo yo love the vids and instructions. To be clear, this is designed for 20/24 screens?
Very good , made mine and it works perfect. Thank you sir
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.
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.
thanks, very helpful. especially for a new start up.
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.
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.
really cool!
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.
will the screen actually come down unto the shirt, because it looks like there is a space between the screen and the base where the shirt will be layed onto???????????????
Yes, it comes down on the shirt. It would be pointless if it didn't.
great
So the shirt board and the bottom clamp board are the same thickness?
Any suggestions on a good website to order higher quality wholesale shirts? Zen, American Apparel, District... TIA
Very Cool Video!
How big is the screen you are using. I built this and it doesn't work well with smaller screens.
Excellent teaching video.
WE LOVE U RJ!
thank you very much, great vid and tutorial! thumbs up!
That was awesome! Thanks for that! Subscribed! =)
wow you are a genius man! thanks a lot
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
( : "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!" : )
We made one works fab thank you so much
it was very help full good work thanks
To all involved in sales & promotional activity:a good tool for the future
Yes, teach us to build frames, thank you please. And what type wood is used :\
P.S. because i cannot find ....:(
Genius! I am making one.
A big thank you, from me! Realy. : )
this guy is an absolute DON
very good my friend
Built one like this yesterday -- thanks.
Any suggestions on the off-contact amount? I assume we could control that with spacers under the screen?
I have generally done contact printing, but you can use spacers if you want.
Where can I find your other videos on screen printing
if i want to print red and blue colors on dark tshirt, i apply white first to the screen then dry it and wash the screen then how can i adjust the screen in this press? does it need something to return the screen to the exact place where it was when i apply the white?
bushbosh You pretty much need a multicolor press and a flash dryer.
+bushbosh You need a way to 'register' the shirt relative to the printing press. (or have two but you still need to dry it between prints of course) Then you use another screen/squeegee with the exact same registration. I know because I did this back in junior high school.
hello, thank you for your amazing video. im curious about the rubber bands and the spring... it doesnt say anything about needing a spring but in the video its included and also, im not sure where the rubberbands come into play. thank you again and i hope you can clarify this for me.
Where did I mention rubber bands?
RJ The Bike Guy I clicked on the link "for some free plans" and scroll down it lists all the materials needed and it lists rubber bands.
Okay, over there. You can use rubber bands in place of the spring. The plans were written long before the video.
RJ The Bike Guy okay thank you, what are those springs called if I go to a hardware store. Is there a specific name or is it just a spring. Again thank u.
It's just a spring. Hunt around and see what you can find.
great teacher,,,,thank you sir...
I'm going to make 1 too.
Very Good man.
do you have another tutorial showing how to do two/three/four colors logo design? i guess (maybe) adding something to this or not?
bushbosh Sorry, I don't. The registration on a multicolor press gets really tricky and hard to build using cheap materials.
I dont really have any wood cutting tools beyond an orbital jigsaw. Is there any 1 tool I could use to cut all of my wood?
A ordinary handsaw.
shyflirt1 Thanks!
No problem. The cuts are pretty straight forward. So a regular handsaw, or circular saw like I use in the vid. A jig saw would work too. Nothing is too critical on this. So whatever you got pretty much.
do you have any issues with registration on multi-color jobs using the clamps you made?
This press is not really meant for multi color printing.
are you printing shirts now? you know i still have my multi color printer
Conrado Casallo I only print shirts occasionally. I print them for fun. For myself and friends. Not as a business.
Thanks, RJ, this is just my speed. BTW, where is your tutorial on building the screen? Thanks, Moses
I never made it. If you shop around, you find some nice aluminum framed screens for decent prices and they will last a long time.
Thanks for the suggestion. I think you would have done a worthwhile video on making though.
Moses
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!
May I please get the exact measurements of the pieces of wood that you used?
It doesn't need to be exact.
super cool. thank you
Does it matter the thickness of the wood?
Common 3/4" thick is what I used. I wouldn't use thinner as it will probably be flimsy. You can use thicker, but you want the shirt board and at least the bottom part of the screen clamp to be about the same thickness or they wont be level with each other.
do you need to heat the shirt, when you apply color
or is it ready once you are 21:29
The shirt needs to be heat set after printed. Check my tutorial: www.screen-printing-t-shirts.com/