Ink & Vinyl: Get Comfortable On The Press

Required class before taking this class: Ink & Vinyl: Freestyle Screen Printing Certification and Fun or the 4 Color Press classes

Summary

Passed your Screen Printing 101/102 certifications but still feel a little intimidated to fly solo in the darkroom or on the 4-color press? This class is designed to bridge the gap between "certified" and "confident."

We are operating as a collaborative production crew to print a fresh batch of official TinkerMill Merchandise (T-shirts).

You’ll get low-stakes, supervised practice with the entire shop lifecycle:

• The Wet Lab: Coating screens with emulsion without the mess.
• The Exposure Unit: Aligning transparencies and burning the screens.
• The Washout Booth: Getting the right feel for washing out a screen.
• The Press: Registering the screen, loading garments, and pulling clean, consistent prints.
• The Breakdown: Safely reclaiming screens and cleaning the shop according to TinkerMill protocol.

By the end of this session, the shop layout will feel like second nature, and you'll have the muscle memory needed to confidently book the space for your own personal projects.

Prerequisites: Must have completed TinkerMill Screen Printing Certification (101 & 102) or the Freestyle class. What to Wear: Clothes you don't mind getting permanent ink or chemicals on.

This is a skill-building session for certified printers. Ages 12+ (all minors require adult supervision).

What to Bring

• yourself

What We Provide

• Screens
• Ink
• Squeegees
• Transparencies
• Emulsion coating 
  

About This Class

Passed your certification but still feel too intimidated to use the Ink & Vinyl shop alone? This apprenticeship is designed to conquer those nerves and build real shop muscle memory through hands-on repetition.

You will join a 4-person production crew to run a real print job from start to finish: printing a batch of 50 official TinkerMill t-shirts on a single press. By stepping into the apprentice role, you’ll get low-stakes practice coating screens, burning designs, pulling the squeegee, and reclaiming mesh. Because we are printing shop merchandise, the pressure is entirely off. You'll leave with the confidence needed to comfortably book the space and fly solo for your own projects.

What You Will Practice:

• The Wet Lab: Scoop-coating screens with emulsion cleanly and efficiently.
• The Exposure Unit: Aligning transparencies and burning designs with confidence.
• The Washout Booth: Finding the right distance and pressure with the pressure washer so you never blow out a screen again.
• The Press: Setting up registration, loading garments, managing ink flooding, and pulling clean, consistent prints.
• The Breakdown: Mastering TinkerMill shop etiquette—properly carding ink, stripping tape, and chemical reclaiming.
  

The Production Schedule (4 Hours)

• Hour 1: The Darkroom & Setup
  • We jump right in. Apprentices will print the transparencies, coat the screens, burn the screns, and wash them out.
    
    
• Hour 2: Setting the Press & Registration
  • Setting up the screens on the single press, taping edges, checking registration, and running the first test prints.
    
    
• Hour 3: The Production Run (50 Shirts)
  • The crew goes to work. Apprentices will rotate roles: loading shirts, pulling the squeegee, and managing the heat press until all 50 shirts are cured.
    
    
• Hour 4: The Full Reclaim & Reset
  • Learning how a real shop closes down. We will clean the press, strip the screens down to bare mesh, and reset the Ink & Vinyl space to pristine TinkerMill standards.
    
    

Prerequisites & Details

• Prerequisite: Must have completed the TinkerMill Screen Printing Certification.
• What to Wear: Clothes you do not care about. You will get ink and emulsion on them.
• What's Provided: All shop consumables (ink, emulsion, tape) and the 50 TinkerMill shirt blanks are provided.

(Note: Because this is an apprenticeship lab where you are contributing your labor to print shop merch, the registration fee is kept at a low cost to simply cover the instructors time, shared chemical usage and shop wear-and-tear.)

Safety Guidelines

• Wear closed-toe shoes
• Wear an apron or clothes you don't mind getting stained
• No food or open drinks in the screen printing area
• Tie back long hair; avoid dangling jewelry

Questions? Contact the instructor: natalie.slater@tinkermill.org. Members, message Slater on Slack.

Cancellation Policy 7+ days before class: Full refund or class transfer 3–6 days before class: 50% refund 1–2 days before class: No refund

Not a member yet? Members receive discounted pricing on all classes plus independent access to our shops after certification. Learn more at tinkermill.org.

The main changes: cut the contradictory "no prerequisites" line, fixed the supplies list to reflect that students bring their own designs, removed the spinning equipment safety note, tightened the summary, and gave the whole thing a cleaner flow from top to bottom. Let me know if you want to adjust the tone or any specific section!