I finally unpacked my Gocco! I bought it from printaddictjapan etsy shop - highly recommended. Gocco is the cutest/coolest way to do screen printing at home. It was a mad fad for many years in Japan and has loyal users worldwide who do MUCH more advanced printing than I.
I wanted some hand printed mini posters to put in with the vintage jewelery I ship. I think Gocco has a really nice feel to it and makes everything look special.
I took some shots while working so you could really get a feel for how easy it is to use!
Steps to perfect Gocco
Like most things from Japan - it looks cute and tidy right from the get go.
This is the basic setup of Gocco. It comes with the printer, lamp holder, replacement lamps, page holder, screen masters, instructions, basic inks and riso pen. I bought some additional ink colors.
First up you draw the design you want to print. I used my shop logo which was designed in photoshop. I traced over it to get a handrawn and organic feel. You need to use the RISO pen or use a photocopier. The process required carbon to work - many home printers do not have any carbon - you need to check.
Next up , insert the screen master following the handy arrow markings. Your original design will be burnt on this and once ink is applied it will seep through the burned sections to bleed ink onto fresh paper.
This is the lamp head. Once this is loaded with lampbulbs and pressed into the top of the machine the light explosion will be the catalyst for the burning process.
Here are the lamp heads - so cute! Sadly they can only be used once per screen master.
The lamp heads are very easily inserted into the lamp holder.
Its very clear which way the lamp holder gets mounted into the machine.
Once it is in - you simply push down until you hear a pop and see a flash. I wasn't quick enough to get a picture of the actual flash.
You can see your design burned into the print master after you remove the lamp holder.
The lamps are now used and will need to be replaced for burning any future screen masters.
After removing the screen master, you lift up the clear plastic and apply ink to the design. The ink has a thick viscosity and doesn't dribble or make a mess at all.
Here it is all ready to go loaded back into the machine. A fresh piece of paper awaits printing!
It's now just easy to print many copies of your design and leave them to dry in the rack supplied.
You will notice that as you continue, some gaps begin to show where the ink is running low. You can take out the master and reapply ink to these areas if you like.
It's amazing how many prints you can do! I could have done many many more but had run out of the paper I was using.
When you are finished you just discard the screen master and cover the sticky paper holder. It's not messy at all. I don't particularly like throwing away the screen master but considering how many chemicals are used in regular screen printing and the cleanup required after I think it is a good trade off.
Hope you enjoyed the tute and please ask me any questions in the comments!
xx
Great tutorial but no need to throw away the screen! If you want to print again within 24 hours (after you've restocked your paper supply, for example) then seal in a ziplock bag in the fridge. Let it warm up before printing again.
Want to keep it to use again in the future? Fancy doing it all again with a change of ink colour? Clean off the ink and store in a dry, dark place. Nehoc have a great guide on using Gocco Cleaner here: http://www.nehoc.com.au/training/is/02/index.htm.
You've also got oodles of space left on your screen! You can reuse all of that empty space for whatever will fit. Simply put ink blocking around the part you want to print, ink only that section and print again. You can even reflash to add new content and it won't harm the image already flashed (screen needs to be super clean). I get as much as is humanly possible on one screen. I'm learning about Gocco every day and love it so much so wanted to share :)
Posted by: M_13 | Jun 02, 2010 at 05:07 PM
OMG! Thanks so much for your comment. I am quite new to Gocco and didn't know that. Such useful information. It is great to know that this fabulous little apparatus is even better than I first thought. Thanks again! xx
Posted by: Massive Empire | Jun 02, 2010 at 05:10 PM