Tony Palmer writes a monthly column for Images online magazine in which he responds to printers’ technical questions. In the February edition he addressed a question about “the best squeegee blade profile to use.” His opinion on this is worth considering even though he ends up the article by saying that there is no correct answer to the question but that whichever blade profile you choose should be an informed decision.
Some of the options suggested include a square profile blade which he says is currently the “king of the heap” because of its ability to create sharply-detailed prints. He advises that slightly rounded or worn blades be replaced to ensure clean prints. He doesn’t mention sharpening blades rather than replacing them, but I would suggest that that too is an option.
He goes on to discuss a ‘V’ profile blade describing it as “the new kid n the block.” It has apparently traditionally been used to print hard surfaces such as glass and ceramics but is now finding favour in hybrid textile printing—combining analogue screen printing and digital CMYK printing. This is where a white base screen is used to block out the garment colour before the CMYK digital ink is applied on top of the opaque white. The trick in this process is to put down the white in a way that does not penetrate the substrate because you want to maintain the soft hand of the DTG technique. This is apparently where the ‘V’ profile blade comes in handy.
The bottom line on choosing the “correct” squeegee profile blade? You have research and experimenting to do.