Customer Reviews

Speedball Ultimate Screen Printing Kit

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Dear artsavedmylife-

We are very sorry that you had a bad experience with your Speedball Screen Printing Kit. While screen printing does require some trial and error, we strive to make the kits complete, fun, and easy to use. Unfortunately, we have not found a way to make them foolproof. Your comments regarding the instructions are well-taken and we have tried to make them easier. To that end, we now include a free instructional DVD in the kit. If you contact me directly, I would be happy to send you the DVD as well as some additional supplies to see if they perform better for you. We include our toll free number in every kit and have people available to help anyone who is having difficulty with our products.

The Ultimate kit does indeed come with 2 different size screens as described on the package. One 8x10 screen and one 10x14 screen provides flexibility and the opportunity to work with 2 screens simultaneously if the printmaker desires. We make many other sizes, but these are two of the most popular. There are also two 9 inch squeegees (referred to as 'scrapers'). One is designed to lay down a heavier layer of ink for printing on fabric, while the other is designed for printing on paper and similar less porous materials. The 9 inch squeegee is the optimal size to print across the width of the 8x10 screen and lengthwise in the 10x14 screen. With this combination you can print either size on both fabric and paper.

You don't need to coat the screen in the dark when using Speedball photo emulsion. We coat screens every day in our lab, at home, in schools, and at printmaking studios around the country in broad daylight with no difficulty. Just be sure to let it dry in a dark place like a cabinet or closet. Once dry, you have a couple minutes in the light before you begin the exposure so there is no need for a darkroom.

It is a real mistake to disparage the "other screen methods" as arts and crafts or child's projects. One need only see the screen prints of Henri Matisse or Jacob Lawrence to learn what an artist can create out of simplicity.

Speedball was the pioneer of water-based screen printing nearly 40 years ago. At a time when other available screen printing materials were harsh, solvent based chemicals, Speedball invested heavily in the research and development of safe, easy to use screen printing materials to complement their water-based relief printing inks. Although we have worked with thousands of students, art educators, and professional artists; we clearly have room to improve and appreciate your feedback.

Walt Glazer
CEO Speedball Art Products Company
waltglazer@speedballart.com

This was a Christmas gift for my 23 year old daughter. She has never screen printed but is a professional dancer and full time adult artsy kid. She watched the DVD and within 24 hours "smudgy panda" was printed on everything she could get under the screen. Yep there was a learning curve--hence the name of the Panda but it was steep and only a few smudgy panda's were actually smudgy. I highly recommend for anyone looking for an entry into silk screening.

This is kit has almost everything you will need to screen print for the first time; the missing items are listed in the instructional manual of this kit and you can find them at your local hardware store or/and at your local dollar store.

Ive bought two sets so far. Its a great starter kit. Has everything you would need to make simple screen prints on shirts or posters. Directions are a little confusing, but there are plenty of helpful videos on YouTube. Good quality.

I bought this as a birthday present to myself and I am pretty happy with it. It is definitely a beginners kit and has everything you need to start. It is a great kit for anyone looking to teach themselves how to screen-print.

I'm not a fan of wolves, but I really wish this kit was made better and more wolf-like. I personally bought from the same company as the other person and had an awesome experience, and I can't blame them for the quality of the product made.

This kit is a lamb of a kit because it basically sucks in every way. I realized this when I started talking to a co-worker who mentioned that he silk screens. I was explaining to him my multitude of problems, including but not limited to: burned image being totally unusable, size of scraper vs. frame, incomplete and shoddy directions, etc. I'm a graphic designer and it worries me to think about the fact that non-graphic designer people are buying this thinking that it might be a great starter product.

They send you two screens and somehow I received two different size frames and two scrapers of the same size, both of which would only fit horizontally in the smaller screen. The bottle of emulsion is small, considering that I had to burn the image at least six times because of horrible burn time instructions and eventually ran out, which means I also ran out of emulsion remover quickly. The only thing I had plenty of were the two bottles of useless screen filler and some other thing that I tossed. The other screen methods are more for arts & crafts for kids, and it seems that this kit is suitable for a child's project... but I don't know anyone who spends $90 on a crafts project. The wait time instructions on burn time are too long, after a few overcooked screens, I had to tweak it. The 1/4" glass that I bought to go inside was not enough to keep the image close enough to the screen when burning (probably due to the quality and tightness of the screen). They fail to mention that you should try to coat your screens in a dark place as well, and not just to put it in a dark place after you coat. Keeping the emulsion out of the light as much as possible is extremely important. These are just a few of the shortcomings that make this kit totally not worth the money. The kit is also highly incomplete and you will be purchasing other items on top of it, which makes the price point even worse. With the $90 you spend on this you can purchase a large, quality, decently made screen with a nice, tight mesh that will give you great results, a decent squeegee, a year's worth of emulsion (already pre-mixed!) and possibly your shop light, bulb and glass. Your money will be better spent at a store that specifically carries screen printing products and/or giving your hard-earned money to a shop that will take your artwork and do it for you. This kit will never give you professional results and it is overpriced and full of cheap materials. Don't spend your money on anything by Speedball, they are the clowns of screen printing.

I not yet received my purchased product nor refund.The company dealing is worst supplier in the world.
Never buy any product from this supplier.