Uneven ink- traveling, blotchy, “seude-y”…
INKING PROBLEMS:
I know that this topic has been brought up over and over again but I still have the problem since nothing seems to work. Wondering if there are any updates on this.
1. My uneven inking “travels” on my NS 8x12 C&P. It’ll be light on the top, then the lightness moves to the bottom after a few prints.
2. Sometimes I just want a kiss impression but the inking becomes blotchy as soon as I remove some packing.
3. I get a “suede-y” finish to the ink on designs sometimes but they aren’t too large of a surface area at all (about .5 inch of surface area printed). This hasn’t happened until recently.
I’m using rubber-based ink, taping my metal trucks with electrical tape but replacing the tape often, and using rubber rollers which are a year old.
The only thing I can think of are bent roller cores for the “traveling” inking. But you’d think the company who replaced my rollers would have checked?
Help! Thank you. It’s been a consistent problem and I’ve searched and searched for answers but nothing has worked yet.
Ok, UPDATE. I decided, hey i guess I should use the roller gauge and make sure everything is set correctly.
So I am using a roller gauge and I get different results many times AND sometimes they are crooked/uneven lines.
What does this mean?
Also, the middle of the roller has a smaller line than the outline edges. Or am I being too picky? Is it okay to be within 1/32 of 3/32”…how absolutely exact is required?
You’ll see the photos below as reference.
I am following the directions of Boxcar for using the gauge but maybe there’s a trick that I don’t know?
thank you in advance!
End of the roller gauge -- notice how the line is still a bit uneven.
I mostly pull this unevenness - Sometimes less severe
Pulling from the center of the roller, although it's mostly uneven like the one below.
Are the rollers old or new?
What kind of trucks do you have?
Do you have a lot of tape on the bearers?
I’d love to try to help, but need more information!
Daniel Morris
The Arm Letterpress
Brooklyn, NY
It sure looks like your rollers are not truly cylindrical. If they are new I would contact the manufacturer and see if they will make it right. If they are composition rollers it’s possible they have swelled at the ends from humidity but that is usually only less than an inch at the end. If you turn the press over by hand with the rollers at the middle of the bed, chase removed, you can watch to see if they appear to wobble as they turn. If you are taping the trucks you must be sure the tape layers are uniform thickness all the way around the truck or that can cause this kind of problem too.
Bob
Thanks for the input so far.
I am using metal trucks and the rollers have been recast — they’re less than a year old. Rubber.
I tape the rails and the trucks using electrical tape… I’d say there’s about 6 layers of tape on the trucks and two on the rails.
I have kept them as uniform as I could.
They don’t seem to wobble when I manually move them.
A lot of times I get that unevenness in the “ink reading” of the gauge, but other times it looks a bit more uniform in width. How do I get different readings like that?
Thanks for the input so far.
I am using metal trucks and the rollers have been recast — they’re less than a year old. Rubber.
I tape the rails and the trucks using electrical tape… I’d say there’s about 6 layers of tape on the trucks and two on the rails.
I have kept them as uniform as I could.
They don’t seem to wobble when I manually move them.
A lot of times I get that unevenness in the “ink reading” of the gauge, but other times it looks a bit more uniform in width. How do I get different readings like that?
Thanks for the input so far.
I am using metal trucks and the rollers have been recast — they’re less than a year old. Rubber.
I tape the rails and the trucks using electrical tape… I’d say there’s about 6 layers of tape on the trucks and two on the rails.
I have kept them as uniform as I could.
They don’t seem to wobble when I manually move them.
A lot of times I get that unevenness in the “ink reading” of the gauge, but other times it looks a bit more uniform in width. How do I get different readings like that?
The uneven line reading you show- might it be that the guage was not flat on the press bed when you took that reading? It seems too exaggerated to be from any other issue.
Dan
Thanks — That’s what I’m thinking it has to be? Maybe I’m not good at keeping it straight when I’m moving the gauge.
Do you think though that there is some wiggle room in terms of the width? Or does it need to be exactly 3/32”? It seems like the middle of the roller is thinner than the sides.
Thanks!
I have a Craftsmen Superior and my rollers weren’t rolling uniformly either. My husband added a couple washers to one side of the rollers and now it prints perfectly. I too added tape on edges and everything looked great until ink was added. It seems there was uneven wear on the sides where the rollers move.