glassine spot tape

What is the application for glassine spot tape? I assume make-ready but specifically how is it used?

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Really handy when foil stamping, especialy on combination die work, you would spot it on the counter in an area where the foil isn’t hitting hard enough. I’m sure it has other uses in a letterpress makeready… where ever you want a little extra pressure. Carl.

What about die cutting? Could it be used on the cutting plate to create a deeper cut sort of like a cutter stick does on a cutter?

Sure, But NOT on the top of the die plate, you must put it under the plate….but everyone is too lazy for that these days, Put a sheet of 80# coated book stock under you plate at the start of your Makeready, and you can use the spotting tape (or anything else for that matter) as part of your make ready… and spot it on the 80# sheet and slip it back under the die cutting plate. ….in much the same way letterpress pressman of days gone by did their makereadies under the top sheet (tympan) on the platen. I keep a roll of 1/2 wide red #616 Scotch brand Litho masking tape handy and when diecutting as a job progesses, and a rule stops cutting I simply put a red tape there (on top of the die plate) and continue on with the job……the reason I use the red tape is…1. You can see it, and 2. It is a very good,sticky tape… good luck, Carl.

I’ve done the same thing using regular scotch tape. I got an email offer from Ameriken advertising this tape for makeready. I already use the steel tape behind the rules for makeready. I don’t put anything behind the jacket. My experience there is that you end up making dents in the jacket if you have soft material behind it. Sometimes, however I get a rule that just doesn’t quite cut clean enough and it helps to put tape on top of the jacket.

A single layer of Scotch tape is a godsend for dealing with die “fade” However, if you need to use more than one layer, odds are the cut will pack with paper dust and cause other problems. For that, work on the underlay of the die itself. Red litho is a little thicker and softer, but is good for bringing up scores, especially is scoring into the packing (without a matrix). It also will come off of tympan without too much effort and not wrecking the tympan.