PENGARUH VARIASI MESH SCREEN T54, T61, DAN T77 TERHADAP NILAI OPTICAL DENSITY PADA CETAK SABLON MANUAL

Tugas akhir ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh variasi mesh screen T54, T61, dan T77 terhadap nilai Optical Density hasil cetak sablon manual, mengetahui perbedaan nilai Optical Density pada setiap variasi mesh screen, serta menentukan mesh screen yang menghasilkan nilai Optical Density tertinggi. Pengujian dilakukan menggunakan media kertas HVS 80 gsm dengan tinta rubber water-based. Variabel bebas yang digunakan adalah variasi mesh screen T54, T61, dan T77, sedangkan variabel terikat berupa nilai Optical Density yang diukur menggunakan spectrodensitometer. Seluruh parameter pencetakan, seperti jenis tinta, media cetak, rakel, tekanan rakel, sudut penarikan rakel, dan operator, dibuat tetap agar hasil pengujian hanya dipengaruhi oleh perbedaan ukuran mesh screen. Setiap variasi dilakukan sebanyak lima kali pengulangan, kemudian data dianalisis menggunakan statistik deskriptif, uji One Way ANOVA, dan uji lanjut Tukey HSD. Hasil pengujian menunjukkan bahwa variasi mesh screen memberikan pengaruh yang signifikan terhadap nilai Optical Density hasil cetak sablon manual (p < 0,05). Mesh screen T54 menghasilkan nilai Optical Density tertinggi, diikuti T61 dan T77. Semakin kecil nomor mesh, semakin besar bukaan pori sehingga jumlah tinta yang ditransfer ke media cetak meningkat dan menghasilkan nilai Optical Density yang lebih tinggi. Hasil tugas akhir ini diharapkan dapat menjadi referensi dalam pemilihan mesh screen untuk memperoleh kualitas hasil cetak yang optimal serta mendukung pengendalian mutu pada proses sablon manual.
Kata Kunci: Mesh screen, sablon manual, Optical Density, spectrodensitometer, transfer tinta.

This final project aims to determine the effect of T54, T61, and T77 mesh screen variations on the Optical Density values of manual screen printing, identify the differences in Optical Density produced by each mesh screen, and determine the mesh screen that produces the highest Optical Density. The experiment was conducted using 80 gsm HVS paper and water-based rubber ink. The independent variable was the mesh screen variation (T54, T61, and T77), while the dependent variable was the Optical Density measured using a spectrodensitometer. All other printing parameters, including ink type, printing substrate, squeegee, squeegee pressure, squeegee angle, and operator, were kept constant to ensure that the results were influenced only by the mesh screen variation. Each mesh screen was tested in five repetitions. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, One-Way ANOVA, and Tukey HSD post-hoc analysis. The results indicated that mesh screen variation had a significant effect on the Optical Density values of manual screen printing (p < 0.05). The T54 mesh screen produced the highest Optical Density, followed by T61 and T77. A lower mesh number provides a larger mesh opening, allowing more ink to pass through the screen and resulting in higher Optical Density values. These findings can serve as a reference for selecting appropriate mesh screens to achieve optimal print quality and support quality control in manual screen printing.
Keywords: Mesh screen, manual screen printing, Optical Density, spectrodensitometer, ink transfer.