Who are the high end custom papermakers in the US?

I’ve got a print job that requires some very special paper. The client wants business cards black on one side and white on the other, and very thick, like museum board, 600-1200gsm. A quick search turned up a 120 lb. cover – not even close.

 

Then I found GFSmith and got excited. Their stuff looks really great, they do 25 sheet minimums and they offer a duplex service with their Colorplan papers. They’re in the UK so I loaded $10 into Skype and gave them a ring. The gentleman who answered was very pleasant and helpful and informed me they can duplex their 540gsm papers for a 1080gsm finished product – perfect! I asked how thick the final product would be and it only took him a moment to tell me it would be 1.44mm thick. This information has been hard to come by so far – these guys know their paper!

 

Okay quote time. I get an email a couple hours later (exceptional customer service) and it’s $258 for 25 sheets of 610x940mm (24x38in). That’s not bad actually considering I might be able to get 2000 cards out of it. Oh, and shipping is $252. Yikes, $20 per sheet.

 

So now I’m looking for their US counterpart. Searched google like crazy, as well as this forum. Have not fund what I’m looking for. There’s got to be a company in the states with similar products and capabilities, right?

I’m not sure about the details (price, weight, etc.), but I know Mohawk offers duplex cardstocks – http://www.mohawkpaperstore.com/.

I’ve seen their 120# cover which is far to light for this job. But since you said that, I called them up to see if they could custom make it. Turns out they can but they have a 15,000 pound minimum and they only sell to merchants.  : (

 

Thanks anyway!

A quick google search yields this: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=duplex+paper+black+white&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=16776469609029545379&sa=X&ei=UJwdTp7OJ4nHgAeJzPnqCQ&ved=0CFAQ8wIwAw

 

So, I wonder if you could talk to someone at Neenah?

Maybe try Rising museum board? Legion paper carries it and it comes in up to 8-ply in a variety of colors. Not sure about minimum orders or price though.

I’ve been looking at Rising Museum Board. Thought it would be cool to do business cards on their ultra thick 120pt stock. I’ve heard it is difficult to print on very thick papers such as these. Is it possible to do such a thing?

 

I’m a total newb with all this stuff so thanks for the advice!

Atlantic Papers can duplex unprinted stock, and they have some pretty heavy printmaking papers available. You can email Trude at atlpapers@aol.com, and their website is atlanticpapers.com.

Graham, It really depends a lot on what type of press you have, how big the stock is you’re trying to print on, and what type of impression you’re trying to achieve. I’d recommend getting samples of whatever you’re trying to print on and see what kind of luck you have. (It’s pretty easy to request a book of swatches of the Rising, and they come in 4 weights–1ply through 8 ply) so you could definitely do some experimenting before spending a lot of money.

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