A follow up post on the use of vinyl masking stencils

As a number of issues arose from my first attempt at using vinyl masking films as screen print stencils, I decided to continue with the experiments. But before I describe the efforts, let me make a couple of points:
 
I know I am not the first by a long way to try this. However I am not interested in simply creating a digital image, having it mechanically cut out for me on a Cricut and then printing it!
That might be good for printing professional looking T-shirts at home, but I am a printmaker and my ambitions lie in creating original images not achievable by other means and which develop progressively in their making. That sounds a bit elitist I know but I'm sure you understand what I mean.
Also, I know there are many serious ‘fine art’ printmakers who do not have easy access to screen stencil making and reclaiming facilities, but could make use of a simple clean method of making quick basic screenprint images or even just overprints on linocuts for example.

Anyway, I thought that some of the problems I had with my first attempts were possibly solvable by using a different product to the Oramask 813.
Some people have tried films like Oracal 651 vinyl. However, that is I think not a stencil film as such, but designed for actual image application. I've not handled any of it.
Nor have I actually tried Oramask 810. I believe this is more flexible - for stencilling on curved surfaces. So I didn't choose that first as I thought it might distort. If I was desperate to use this stencil method more, I might try some.

 I also realised during these efforts that in fact the real key to all of this is actually the use of transfer tape.

The ability this gives to accurately lift all bits of a cut vinyl sheet from its backing and transfer it to whatever surface is really what sets this method apart from other similar methods like paper stencils.

​So I went ahead and tried traditional Frisket film again; which does kind of work in simple areas. It is too transparent and nowhere near adhesive enough to stand up to transfer or repeated printing.

I also bought some cheaper grey 'Ultra Mask' stencil film; mainly because it was thinner than Oramask. It had largely the same problems as the Frisket unfortunately.

So as I still had a roll of the blue Oramask – it was back to that!

 813 is easy to cut - but a right bugger to keep flat off the tight roll it comes in and then prevent it getting warm under the hand and detaching itself from the backing paper. Also the thick backing paper means a good light box is needed to hand cut to a tracing outline drawing, which is what I was doing. In fact sometimes I used a very fine Sharpie to draw on the film surface too; which worked fine. So perhaps a more flexible film like the 810 would be easier to handle?
 
One key requirement I set was that after use, the stencil should come away relatively easily and cleanly and not leave a residue. Generally this is satisfyingly true. Certainly no visible residue that would cause actual printing problems. But even with a good double wash with water and a little detergent after printing and peeling the stencil off the mesh, I think the ink and stencil together do leave a 'greasiness' - that by the 4th and 5th stencil on the same bit of screen was causing a lack of adhesion compared to a fresh chemically cleaned screen.

​If I was asked about durability I would say that I feel confident that once I'd got a good stencil well attached to a clean degreased screen, I could probably print hundreds of copies with no problems. That said, the adhesive is water based and I might be over confident there. In terms of storage for further use, I suspect that if left on a screen they might dry out and come unstuck but I have no experience of that myself.

Some other things learnt from this second little edition were:
Smaller off cuts of film can be peeled from their backing and re applied to a larger sheet of backing paper saved from previous use to print separate small ‘spot’ areas of the image.

One can use more usual temporary blocking methods such as paper stencils on the underside of the screen and pieces of Sellotape on the upper side in very successful conjunction with the Oramask stencil.

The most useful, indeed vital, tool in the process is the cheap plastic squeegee/applicator used to rub down the adhesive layers!

Firstly to make sure the transfer tape is clean and flat; and then to really very firmly press the stencil adhesive to the mesh - particularly the small ‘islands’. I found too that if the ink is washed out and the screen and stencil dried (cold air fan only!) a further re- rubbing down is necessary before another use.

I think I’m going to leave it there for now. Lots still to learn I’m sure. But one of the biggest rewards personally has been the way this method of making images has insisted I work freely and in a non detailed, simple and direct way. I need that sometimes!

In further pursuit of possible ‘table top printmaking’ techniques: using vinyl stencil film to make hand cut screenprint stencils
 
Although I personally have all the kit to make and use any kind of screenprint stencil, many people will not have the ability to wash out and reclaim screens. Simple paper stencils are ok but fragile and almost impossible to accurately leave ‘islands’ of stencil, surrounded by open areas.
I saw this product - Oramask 813; made really for Cricut type digital machine vinyl cutters, to make paint stencils; and wondered if I could hand cut a stencil and effectively adhere it to a screen….print and wash out ink as normal, without destroying the stencil. Then when finished, simply peel off the stencil without recourse to chemicals and pressure washing? My research didn’t turn up anyone else trying this as a multi-layer paper printmaking technique, but I don’t suppose I’m the first?
So here’s a record of my first attempt and initial thoughts and reactions. Note too - all printing was done on one of my simple homemade screenprint tables (a piece of reclaimed kitchen unit and some cheap, but best quality, hinge clamps).

​The film is 3 mil/thou thickness and comes on a tight roll with a fairly thick backing sheet. Which brings me right away to the only real problems I encountered:
3 mil is actually very thick for a screen print stencil. Using my usual fine (140 T) mesh which I prefer with water based inks to minimise paper cockling, it needed two squeegee pulls at high pressure to get all of the ink through finer lines and points.
Also, with transparent ink – which for me is likely to be usual with multiple layers  – a dark outline at the edge of the shape appears, from the ‘wall’ of the stencil itself. I personally like this effect as it brings more life to screen printing -  which can have quite a flat uniform and rather ‘dead’ quality.
Secondly, the adhesive of the film obviously and quite rightly does not hold it to its backing paper all that well. Unrolling a useable piece and keeping it flat is quite is quite tricky. The film tends to release in places where one doesn’t want it to; especially with the warmth of handling during tracing and cutting etc. I found that these were also then the areas that did not adhere quite so well to the mesh and began to come off during printing and clean up.

​This thick backing paper also means that tracing from a working drawing in the normal way with hand cut stencils requires a light box (or window) behind it. I did however find that a fine Sharpie pen can be used to draw on the film first without detriment.
I have a lot of experience at cutting stencil film, from my days of using toxic, smelly solvent inks, so I used my usual 10a scalpel to cut the stencil and a point pick to ‘weed’. There are other knives, even swivelling ones available but they do need to be sharp and fine pointed. The trick is not to cut into the backing sheet but only and cleanly through the film. Practice first!
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Now I know that some people will use Cricut type machines to accurately duplicate a digital image as a stencil. Well, it’s a big debate that there is no time to argue here, but personally I prefer images that are ‘drawn’ with the tool in hand in much the same way as I do with linocuts. However I do make photo film screen stencils too – so one day I may have a go!

Once the stencil is cut and weeded the method then is really very simple.


A piece of vinyl transfer tape (lots available from craft suppliers) a little smaller than the stencil, is peeled from its backing and smoothly laid directly on to the face (cut side) of the stencil and smoothed down with some sort of small smooth soft edged squeegee. I had one of these already but one could be fashioned from soft plastic - or they’re a couple of quid from craft suppliers.

The backing is then peeled from the stencil and, with its sticky side up, positioned under the screen. In fact, I got where I was using the same part of the screen and positioning the stencil in register on a print, before lowering the screen to attach it in the correct position.
 
Once tacked on to the underside of the mesh, I put a flat pad of a few sheets of clean newsprint under it and using the small squeegee, carefully avoiding damaging the screen mesh, but with pressure, really rubbed all parts of the stencil to attach it to the mesh. The transfer tape is then peeled away, leaving the open stencil and making sure all the small ‘island’ pieces remain in place. Then a careful final rub down.

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The screen can then be prepared and set up just like any other stencil.



However, when it comes to actually printing, as previously noted the thickness of the stencil will probably mean some adaption of squeegee technique, angle and pressure; especially if the stencil image has thin lines or sharp angles.

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​The adhesive of this Oramask 813 is water based and I expected problems using water-based screen inks. It is possible that very long runs might cause some detaching of the stencil. But with normal art printmaking edition sizes I’m sure it will be very durable.


I also tend to wash up my screens after printing without removing them from the press. Again, I thought this might destroy the stencil. In fact, it was not until the fifth use of the same area of the screen that some areas of that stencil began to problematically detach during printing and cleaning.

​I put this down simply to the fact that these very fine meshes do not have much ‘tooth’ for the adhesive; and that after four printings and cleanings with just plain water and a sponge, that area of the screen had a microscopic ‘greasy’ film left from the acrylic inks and stencils. If I had used a freshly degreased screen area, there would have been better adhesion.

After printing, to reclaim the screen, the stencil itself just peels off the mesh. Small areas may tear, but simpler stencils come off in one piece and could well be used again!


​A second wash with clean water removes any ink residue and the screen is effectively ‘clean’ again.

​ However, I personally would use something (as eco friendly as you like) to really clean and degrease the mesh before further use.

Conclusions: As a first experiment for me, I was delighted. I have even already sold most of the small edition that came from it! There are other similar products around which I intend to try out and like all techniques in printmaking, continued practice will bring about improvements and solutions to problems.
Of course, at the end of the day, this technique has big limitations and is really only suitable for appropriate images. Simple flat shapes will not suit everyone. But with some thought and the use of overprinting of layers, I’m sure results can be exciting and dynamic.
It may well also be useful to overprint other images such as linocuts instead of laborious and potentially inconsistent hand colouring. So in combination with say a craft press, and using a simple home made screen table, this method is capable of producing full editions of high quality prints ….in anyone’s kitchen!