Impression Issues

Hi, it’s been a while since I posted. I am running into a problem I’ve not had before, it’s kinda baffling me. I’ll try to explain: it seems lately when I run, say, a 5×7 card, I am picking up what looks like “heeling”. If I was running typeset, I’d blame it on form imposition, but this is happening with polymer dies that I know are level, and a new boxcar base, on a perfectly level platen, new rollers, in fact, it’s a virtually new press! (Kluge Open, 10×15, an MD “box” model, one of the very last made, from 1966. It’s essentially a new press.)

When I first got the boxcar base last year and ran about five jobs on it, impressions were perfect. In fact, this machine has the ink coverage prowess of a Vandy, with it’s full compliment of rollers plus oscillators (vibrator rollers). Nothing has changed. Rollers are set to just contact the die print surface. Makeready is one sheet of paper, one sheet of red board, and new typman. Roller trucks are new delrin, nothing is skidding. And only the upper part of the form, which usually works out to be a line of text, has this issue, the rest of the die impresses well. If I flip the die upside down, the same section of the die facing the top does the same thing. It shows up most on open sized, uncallendered papers, like 320 gsm Lettra, not so much on hard stock. It’s as if ink is gathering a little just as the rollers make contact on their down-swing. The impression anomaly resembles a slight shadowing.

I had this before on presses that had unkeyed trucks, like Kelseys. Of course, this is not the case, here.

I am not a newbee, kind of an old hand at the plough, but I would not frame myself an ‘expert’ either. The older I get, the more I am prone to screw things up…. usually because I forgot something. Getting old ain’t fer sissies.

So, I guess I am fishing for some ideas what to look for, or what may be happening. The rails are freshly taped to just make contact with the die, one more layer of tape and the rollers begin to miss.

Thanks! 🙂

-gary // Paper Wren Press

Hi Gary! Have you tried raising the rollers a bit higher near the top of the form with some tape? Or . . . roller bearers? Maybe solid bars outside the trim area on the plate would help?

Hi, Kseniya! No, can’t say I’ve ever used roller bearings. I will try raising the rollers with added rail tape at the top. It could be that one of the rollers, possibly the end roller which sets a bit higher by design, might in fact by skidding a bit. I’ll have to see where roller bearings for 10×15 and 8×12 chases might be available.

Or . . . you could try rotating the rollers. Sometimes that solves mystery problems for me when I’ve tried everything else.

It’s true, I only change the vibrator rollers, I keep the other four in place all the time. I’ll try that, too! You know what’s funny? I posted this question on three different letterpress lists, and yours, here, is the one and only response I’ve had! I didn’t think my problem was that unique! 🙂

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