How a CD/DVD is Silk-screened
If you have ever bought or rented a CD or DVD, you have probably noticed the face of the disc looks very crisp and has a very nice look to it. To accomplish this, a process called silk-screening is used. This process is the same type of process used to screen shirts and specialty items.
A silk-screening machine is a full robotic CNC system. It uses a large round wheel that has smaller round indentations in which hold each separate disc. The machine will move each disc along the process until the completed disc exits the system.
A pre-measured color of Ink is applied by a controlled dispenser and then a squeegee spreads the ink across the screen in a smooth controlled fashion which in turn transfers the ink to a target disc. With t-shirt silk screening, many times the squeegee is done by hand but with the discs, it is all operated by an expensive CNC robotics machine.
The automated table will rotate to the next position skipping a position after each color is applied. It skips a position to allow for drying time and can actually screen two sets of discs at once by doing this.
To prevent the ink from dripping or bleeding, an exact measured amount of ink is applied through the screen by a squeegee. Specially formulated inks are used that react with UV lamps and cure when passed under them. This permanently dries the ink so that it can not be smeared even if it is exposed to moisture. Once cured under the UV lamp, they are removed and stacked onto a spindle for further packaging.
CD and DVD discs that have been silks-creened have the same store bought look to it that all discs in video stores have. That same look can not be achieved with the traditional thermal or ink jet printer and some of the effects like filling in the hub with ink are just not possible. Silk-screening your disc will provide any project a much more professional appearance.
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