Equipment tiers · 4 of 9 · 1 min read
Tier 3: small shop
Full-time manual production.
- Press: a heavy-duty manual, 6-color/4-station or larger.
- Curing: a 6-ft or longer, or wider, conveyor dryer. Several need 240V and a dedicated circuit. Forced-air models are aimed at water-based and discharge inks.
- Screens: retensionable frames and a tension meter; a larger washout booth with drain filtration; a wide-format film printer or computer-to-screen (see Art & separations).
Trade-off: electrical work, floor space and freight start to matter as much as the equipment itself. An automatic press isn’t a first purchase.
Sources for this guide (17)
- ScreenPrinting.com Help, What do I need to start a shop?
- ScreenPrinting.com Help, How do I pick the right press?
- ScreenPrinting.com, Which screen printing press is right for me?
- Lawson Screen & Digital, Curing plastisol inks
- International Coatings, Curing ink with a heat gun
- ScreenPrinting.com, 4 curing methods
- ScreenPrinting.com Help, How do you cure plastisol with a flash dryer?
- Avient, Mapping your conveyor dryer (PDF)
- Ink Kitchen, Buying used screen printing equipment (July 2026)
- Ink Kitchen, Why out of register? Let me count the ways
- Signs101 forum, Where to find used equipment
- Signs101 forum, Looking for a new or used conveyor dryer
- Screen Printing Magazine, Stencilmaking in the age of CTS
- ScreenPrinting.com, Compression vs. vacuum exposure units
- OSHA, Hazard Communication (29 CFR 1910.1200)
- NIOSH, Health hazard evaluation 2007-0053-3092 (PDF)
- Cedar City, UT, Screen printers best management practices
Where sources disagree, the page says so.