I would like to recover a screen-printing frame that has torn mesh. What’s the best way of doing this? Are there any particular products that can be used?
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It’s very simple.
To re-stretch a screen, simply remove the torn mesh completely from the frame. This can be done by hand or with a scraper if the frame is made of metal.
The lower the thread count (55T or less) the easier this process is, because the mesh is less fragile and comes away quite easily.
If the mesh is thinner, it’ll tend to break into several pieces that will need to be removed / cleaned with a scraper.
Once you’ve removed all traces of mesh from the frame, you can stretch a screen using new mesh and a suitable glue, usually bicomponent glue. Avoid using staples, as it makes it more difficult to subsequently recover the screen and it tends not to last as long.
If the side that the mesh was glued to looks particularly damaged, you can turn the frame over and glue the mesh to the opposite side.