Another technique for edge trimming on the folder (to continue from last weeks blog post) involves the use of extra thick cutting knives. Typically these are about 1mm thick and come in various diameters to correspond with the total thickness of the piece you are trimming.
If you struggle with edge trimming on your folding machine, here's a tip that could 'straighten' out your problem.
When you work with folding machines, it’s inevitable that you’ll be involved with a job that is “impossible” to run. Perhaps one fold just won’t fold consistently, or the sheet is ripping, or scuffing, or hanging up in a fold plate, and none of your regular tricks work. And because you’re the last guy in the production line, the time scheduled to produce those hundreds of thousands of pieces has evaporated and the job, which arrived in your department at 3 p.m., has to be delivered the next day. Panic sets in as you start to calculate how many people it would take to hand-fold the job overnight. Yet most folder operators figure out how to run these “impossible” jobs.
The introduction of aqueous coatings in the late 70’s was a plus for a few reasons, one of which was that aqueous coated jobs could be sent to the bindery for cutting and folding within minutes. But that great looking high-gloss finish often makes the folding machine operator’s job more difficult. The fold rollers simply have a tougher time gripping the super slick surface.
Dog ears can be a thorn in the side of folding machine operators. Sometimes a simple turn of the dial to adjust the inside panel fold length is all that’s needed to fix it. Other times it seems nothing will work. For some it may feel like it is a conspiracy with everyone from the designer through the press room participating, to see how creative, clever and experienced the operator really is. In true adherence to Murphy’s Laws, the problem was always at its worst when there was the least amount of time to fix it.
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“I can’t get my folding machine score (or perforation) to run straight." It’s a question we hear from operators of folding machines and scoring machines on a regular basis. We’ve seen the problem stump the experienced bindery pro as well as the novice.
One sound you really don't want to hear in your bindery department is the sound of a hammer on a machine, unless you have a mechanic working in-house. Yet any moderately experienced bindery equipment operator will confess to using a 'convincer' to make an 'adjustment' at least once in his career.
This is a bindery trick that is elegant in its simplicity. In other words, you really must see this at work on a folding machine, even if you never plan to use it!
It happens every year around this time with our customers in wintry climates, so we will review a handy tip that came to us in 2011:
A printer recently sent us four-color samples on 70# C2S litho text which were cracking horribly when folded. They couldn’t get rid of the problem with their own scoring devices and wondered if the EZ-Fit or Fast Fit Tri-Creaser would take care of the problem.