Mention ‘friction feeder’ to someone with bindery experience and you just might see them curl their lip in disgust. It’s in the same category as ‘static’, something to be avoided. But like static, friction has its uses and benefits when understood and applied correctly, especially with regard to friction feeders.
Have you ever said “yes” to a folding job only to find out the piece was a miniature fold which was too small for your equipment? I have, even though I had been specifically asked if any of our folding machines could do a job that small. After it arrived in the bindery and once I got over the initial panic, I remembered there was a simple technique for folding below the minimum published size.
Aside from the usual variety of scoring, perforating and cutting tools that you can add to your folding machine, there are other productivity add-ons you might not have heard about. Or maybe your post-press operation has grown, and that long-forgotten accessory you didn’t need five years ago is exactly what you need today.
As a kid I loved escaping into science fiction books and magazines, blissfully wandering off to a future filled with incredible technologies. The stories made it easy to imagine myself in the cockpit of a 21st century spacecraft or a scientist in a cutting-edge lab. Whatever the story line happened to be I would get lost in the future fantasy.
Most folding machine operators are familiar with the use of marks to aid in setting up any given folding job. Depending on your model of folding machine, it’s likely loaded with marks, indicators, dials and rulers to make it easier to set up. You probably have a lot of home-made marks of your own. Those of you with newer computer controlled automatic folders have it even better. You can dial up the exact same settings again and again with the push of a button.
Want to find out if your next interviewee for a bindery department opening is a good candidate? Try this experiment. Show them a piece of bindery equipment and briefly explain what it does. Then pause for a few moments and ask them, “What’s on your mind?” If they answer, “I was wondering what else I could do with it,” then you have a lifer who is perfect for bindery work.
Small tabletop folding machines are simple, reliable pieces of bindery equipment. With their utility at doing short runs quickly and their prevalence in the used equipment market, they’re a popular option for digital print finishing departments.
Generally speaking, folding book weight stocks is a relatively easy folding machine task. Yet a new operator, upon encountering paper that is lighter than he is accustomed to, might find himself scratching his head wondering why fold consistency is suddenly a problem.
Here’s an ingeniously simple tip on how to eliminate marking problems on a Horizon SPF10 stitcher and folder. It could work on other similar machines too. If you work in a bindery department, it’s safe to say that eventually you’ll have a job with a marking problem, especially on coated, matte or dull coated papers. It doesn’t matter what kind of collator, stitcher, folder or other bindery equipment you’re running. We’re always stretched to the limits of machine, material and labor!
As a bindery novice, folding machines with pile feeders made me want to pull out my hair, or on a really bad day, someone else’s hair. The bigger the pile of crumpled paper around the folder, the further away my co-workers would stay. Except for one friend who intentionally waited until I reached the breaking point. With a Cheshire grin he’d slap me on the back and say, “Hey, Andre, how’s it going?!” In time, I learned a few things about pile feeders which didn’t keep my friend away, but they kept the folder running smoothly.