Thursday, February 4, 2010

Screen Prince

Back in the Eighties, fresh out of high school, I was offered a job by one of my father's customers. I was to drill 0.77mm holes at a 1mm offset from the circumference. This was to facilitate the insertion of an eye ring through which was passed a ribbon. The end product was a sports medal and I was paid 10 paise per hole. During the normal sports season in Bombay, I drilled more than 5000 holes in the brass discs. Bosco Enterprises pretty much had the market tied up.

It took many processes to get to the finished product from the sheet of brass, of which the drilling of the holes and the tying of the ribbon were the only two processes which were done in house. The rest of the work was subcontracted.

I convinced Bosco that I could do the artwork in house - which I the did, thus lining my pockets with more rupees to spend on more books. I then went for a course in screen printing and convinced Bosco that we could do the printing in house as well, making me slightly richer, and Bosco exponentially wealthier!!! By the time I left Bosco in 1990, we were etching in house as well.

Which brings me to the Post Title.

I've decided to start screen printing all over again. I have a vague idea of what it is that I want to produce, but I'm keeping that under wraps for now. I decided to build myself a table on which to print as all of the other tables in the house are standard height and I wanted to have counter top height so as to alleviate the stress on my back. I also chose to incorporate an exposure station within the table so that I have less stuff floating around when not in use.

Here in picture is what I've accomplished so far.

I got the pieces cut at the Depot. They don't charge me for cuts anymore... Not sure why. 
I wear my ring....

I employed Lynda's drafting table so that I could work at a comfortable height

Basic framework done

GraLab Darkroom Timer for accurate exposures - Retails for over USD 100.00
Got it for CAD 5.99 at the Value Village
Twin 500 W halogens with the safety glass removed  

The exposing glass in place. The table top hinges out of the way.

With the tabletop back in place

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