Thickness of base plate
Hi
After going through this usefull forum for almost two months bought my windmill 10X15 which was installed yesterday. This machine is minus the baseplate which fits into the chase which holds the polymer plates. Could anyone suggest me the thickness of that plate is it 19mm ? I am trying to make the baseplate inhouse the size i am making is 9 “X 13.5 ” can we print of this size. we will be using the polymer plates. Need to produce a sample in next 5 days for customer and I know the very little about the printing. Hope with able guidance of friends of this forum I will be able to pull it through. Machine seems to be working fine paper delivery and everyother thing seems to be working.
thx
Dicky
Hi, Dicky—
I’ve used photopolymer extensively on a base I had machined from steel. Virtually all of this printing was for two-part automobile “Buyers Guides” printed in rubber-base ink on a Miehle Vertical V-50—not what you’d call high-end printing.
It seems to me that you’d need to know the thickness of the plate you intend to use. Then:
thickness of plate
+ thickness of adhesive
+ thickness of base
= .918 inches (typehigh)
If your total height is under .918, paper can always be placed under the form to reach typehigh; but if your total height is over .918, other typehigh material will prove frustrating to use with the plate.
My plates were always made by an outside platemaker and were metal-backed. So I am not certain what depth, hardness, or brand they were. I always mounted them with a two-sided clear cello tape made by Scotch, which was much easier to remove than carpet tape. I understand that some plates have their own adhesive backing. Some people use magnetic bases, but in my experience, the plate “works” out of position without tape. Since it stays in register with tape alone, the magnet turns out to be a nuisance.
I hope this helps. Perhaps other printers with a more comprehensive knowledge and experience with photopolymer will respond.
Good luck, Brian
Thx a ton Brian for such a valuable advice which i would surely be requiring in a very short time. I have my base with me which is 19mm thick 9.5”X13” (almunium) is the size hope this works well in chase.
cheers
dicky
19mm is about 3/4” which is too low for any photopolymer plate. (It is about the height of honeycomb base meant for electrotypes and stereotypes .1522” thick.) Photopolymer plates come in many thicknesses, but you will need to underlay your base to get any plate to .918”.
Solid bases like this are better for flexible plastic-backed plates, since lifting metal-backed plates that have been mounted with adhesive may kink the plate, making it unfit for reuse. I mount metal-backed plates on strips of 18-pt. Elrod lead high-base all the time, but the individual strips of base are easily pulled off the back of the plate without any damage.
Hi
Would like to share my experience with letterpressing, since i have gained immense knowledge through this it is my moral resp to share my experiences though whatever little time I have spend . I have tried Dupoint and Toyobo Photopolymer plates and found that the Toyobo polymer plates produce crisper and deeper impressions on the paper.
cheers
Dicky