ink tac?

I’m having so much trouble, and I don’t know what it is. I bought up a bunch of rubber based inks (from NA Graphics), and they won’t work on either of my presses. My composition rollers entirely reject the ink, won’t even pick it up. My rubber rollers pick all of it up, but won’t transfer the ink to the type. It doesn’t look anything like what it is supposed to- the ink isn’t being spread all around the ink table, and the rollers aren’t becoming solid as a result.

I have printed successfully (a couple of weeks ago) on both sets of rollers with oil based ink, so I am assuming the problem is the new ink. It seems like the ink isn’t sticky enough- almost dry actually. Does anyone have a good standard, starting point or insight for this problem?

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Try washing everything down again and dry it Right away wiyh aclean dry rag. its sounds like oil on the rollers and plate. If the ink was not difficult to get out of the can it should be OK

Kate I think Paul is right. Are you one of those Crisco people? Some folks think Crisco is green and solvent is bad. Crisco will leave a greasy/oily residue and pretty sure guarantee inking problems. I use Crisco, and like it, but in the kitchen.
You will find the problem and print well with rubber base ink.
inky

I have to concur with Inky. Rubber based inks don’t care much for oil residues on one’s rollers or type. If you feel you must use Crisco as a clean-up solvent, you’d be better served by oil-based ink.

I might be a bit of an archaic-type person, but I don’t see any need for rubber based inks in letterpress anyway. It’s only real advantage is it’s longer “open time” on the press…. which is mostly a non-issue for short-run or hobby printers, since we clean our presses often.

Thanks guys! I appreciate your comments. I thought I would try the rubber-based ink because so many people recommend it over oil based.

So, I cleaned up with that new Tersus Chemical wash, and I didn’t have much luck again. Actually, the ink completely dried on my rollers in a very short time- like 1 to 1 & 1/2 hours. I am entirely baffled by it. Is there a step or a product I am missing as far as mixing up colors go? Maybe something that will make it stickier?

Is the ink perhaps Tuff-Tex? Or, it could be the shelf-life is long gone.

I did a little research on Tersus Chemical’s press wash. I think that might be your problem. Their product is a low VOC wash…. which means that it doesn’t evaporate away. No matter how much you clean with it, a residue will remain behind. It could be that this residue is not compatible with the ink you are using. According to Tersus, this residue can be be washed away with a second cleaning step using water, but that would ruin your composition rollers.

If I were having this problem, I’d try a clean up with a normal presswash or mineral spirits. Then if the problem goes away, I’d toss the Tersus. ( I have my doubts about the “green” inks and solvents anyway….. the EPA’s data does not support many of their manufacturer’s claims).

If THAT doesn’t cure the problem, I’d consider the ink to be the problem and switch back to oil based.

Im a crisco disk cleaner. I use it only to clean the ink disk though. I also used NA Graphics oil based ink and could not get a solid print at all. I just bought a can of Vanson rubber ink and it was the first time I got a solid print. Is this because of the Crisco you think? I noticed my oil ink was smooth and the Vanson was tacky if this helps.