Coaster sources, and wetting them first?

Hey all,

 

I bought my last set of balnk coasters from Katz, and they did well, but I thought I’d ask if anyone has any experience with other brands, as it’s time for me to reorder.

Also, I haven’t had any issues with cracking, but I was thinking about experimenting with wetting the surface first. Has anyone tried this? Was the ink more receptive? What technique did you use? I remember at one of the demos in Asheville (paper making?), someone mentioned using a plant mister to wet the paper, then put it in a sealed plastic bag overnight.

 

FYI, I’m printing these on a 5x7ish Craftsmen tabletop press. Not a really heavy impression but it’s working pretty well (especially since I did some much needed maintenance on it?thank you Kelly McMahon!).

You are so welcome!

 

I haven’t tried dampening coasters, but it’s an interesting thought.  I had some cracking with the last box I ordered from Katz, and it made the fine detail look yucky (to me, anyway, but I doubt the client noticed). I also haven’t seen any other brands/suppliers out there for pre-cut coasters, but I’d be interested to know if there were!

 

Kelly

I had some issues with things looking a bit fuzzy/yucky too last time. I think I may give it a try?I’ll let you know how it goes!

I’ve’ always found that dampening helps to solve the cracking issue on coasters.  You still have to take care with the impression depth, but dampening will allow you to get a deeper impression without cracking.  If it’s not a large run (done it for 800 before and the arm started to get sore), I’ll set up my garment steamer and wave the coaster through the steam while the previous coaster prints.  It takes a little bit of coordination to get the timing right,  but so worth it and it doesn’t take up the space of a ‘humidor’.

hmmmm… I’m suddenly feeling the need to own a garment steamer!

Thanks for the feedback!

Chris, 

 

I have ordered pre-cut coasters from Holyoke Fine Papers (out of western MA): http://www.holyokedirect.com

 

I print on their 140# all the time and love it; of course I haven’t gotten around to the coasters yet…

I’ve been thinking about checking out their paper soon- I didn’t realize they did coasters too. Thanks for the tip!

I did end up wetting them down, and got much better ink coverage. although I left them in the bag for 2 days and some of them warped! I’m hoping when I print the other side they’ll flatten out a bit 🙂

[Author]

Posts