cd silkscreening

[wing]

my brother and i would like to know more about homemade silkscreening art onto cds rather than doing crappy computer labeling. what can you guys tell me?

[cassembler]

I could be wrong, but silkscreening CD's is a *huge* job, literally... I'm sure there's a way to do the "T-Shirt" style silkscreening onto CD's, but I'd venture to say that it's probably more of a pain than it's worth.

You might want to try finding a dedicated CDR Pirnter. They come in ink jet and thermal (effectively laser printing I think). Only caveat is that you gotta buy special printable surface CDR's that you can't find at Computer Mart, Uber Target, or Guitar Mart. They'll probably run you $.30-$.60 each, minimum 50 order, give or take.

The printers will range from a couple-o-bones up to multiple thousands. It's worth checking out: you can get some very nice looking stuff for not too expensive. Probably as cost effective or better than home silk screening.

[xonlocust]

a cool DIY thing i do for our band that has gotten good responses is spray painting the cdrs. as long as you dont try and get too fancy, like if you're just gonna go completely solid - or put a simple logo or something in there - it's pretty cool. and it gives a cool texture to the cd as well.

[wing]

a cool DIY thing i do for our band that has gotten good responses is spray painting the cdrs. as long as you dont try and get too fancy, like if you're just gonna go completely solid - or put a simple logo or something in there - it's pretty cool. and it gives a cool texture to the cd as well.

could that do anything to harm the CD's data itself? how about its playability in people's cd players? could it get messed up?

[cassembler]

I suspect that it would take a few years to find out... All I know is that the stickers won't last in a car (in Texas at least) for more than six months or so. I'd imagine spray paint would last a couple of years, and it would probably eat the CDR before it rubbed off...

[DeafinONEear]

I think it would be more prudent to make a multi-layered stamping process with permanent ink and 3-4 stamp blocks, which if you think about it is pretty much the same process as silk screening, only thinner print.
You can buy uncut rubber stamp blocks and permanent ink at any stamp store. I would venture to say that it might be a good project.

[cassembler]

Still, you're gonna have to find the right media that will take and hold the ink... But that's a pretty damn good idea!

[A.L.]

I could be wrong, but silkscreening CD's is a *huge* job, literally... I'm sure there's a way to do the "T-Shirt" style silkscreening onto CD's, but I'd venture to say that it's probably more of a pain than it's worth.

Yeah my understanding is that CDs are manufactured in big sheets, which is also the state they're in when they get printed onto. After which they get punched into those fantastic little discs we all know and love.
I don't think there's any good way to screen directly onto a CDR without scratching up the disc. I've screen printed onto inkjet paper CD face sticker sheets, though, to decidedly sexy effect. Carving your own stamps may get crazy, however. Depending on the results you're after and your skill level you could go completely insane in the process......

[DeafinONEear]

I'm willing to believe that if one is aiming to go the route of DIY screening onto CD's, their expectation of professionalism isn't too high. Kind of inherent in the design, no?

[A.L.]

I'm willing to believe that if one is aiming to go the route of DIY screening onto CD's, their expectation of professionalism isn't too high. Kind of inherent in the design, no?

Oh, definitely. I'm personally fairly pathetic at lino / stamp block /etc. carving... I have a bias.
Hmm, thinking back I've also done a stencil / colored marker thing. Paperboard + exacto... can prep on a computer, too. Very cheap but can look swell. I mean, sreen printing is basically a refined stencilling process anways.

[I'm Painting Again]

spray painting can work..but i noticed that half malfunction..

those particles really get under to the data side even if you are carefulll

stamps sound cool.

[DeafinONEear]

the last small run stuff we did we used this method, only with one color and a pre-made stamp with the ink already inside. We used the Verbatim 12x DataLife Plus (that was the thickest dye we could find) with the printable top. Didn't cost much more if I remember correctly.
We got our stock from ProSource, Mark Hunt helped us out and he is a very knowledgeable and friendly guy (he even found a secret stash of 2x media for my boss) and should do you good. Though I think he just might be for West Coast sales.
Anyway, they're the people to call if you are needing this kind of stock.
www.prosourcesales.com
800-903-1234

[cassembler]

I could be wrong, but silkscreening CD's is a *huge* job, literally...

Yeah my understanding is that CDs are manufactured in big sheets, which is also the state they're in when they get printed onto. After which they get punched into those fantastic little discs we all know and love.

Well, I've only seen one CD mfg plant, but they "stamp" a mother plate onto the injection-molded plastic disc, and then coat it with ?aluminum?. The silkscreening process is a giant machine that loads the stamped CD's on one at a time, and rotates the CD's to up to five "stations," each station being a color process (CMYK + white). But perhaps not all CD mfg's are like that...