Foiling on Leatherette Vinyl Composition Cover

What kind of press? What foil releases do you have? MSJ from API is good, NV or PP from Nakai( now sold by Infinity) keep adjusting heat and impression. Is the stock you describe a name brand or generic description, if it’s the latter I have not had too much trouble stamping on such stock. Gane Bros. sells book cover stock which usually stamps handily. F it’s really plastic you may have trouble getting anything to stick. Perhaps too you could post to the FSEA sight for help.

What is the dyne count? You may have to use a foil made for plastics. The Japanese foils such as Nakai and MSJ are some of the best foils. What color foil do you need to use?

I have a distant memory that some one out there will remember better maybe than i , we used to have to prep the area on some materials to remove the silicon that was often on the surface of some rexine like materials ,i cant remember if we used rubbing alcohol or methylated spirit but i am certain that there were materials that just wont foil without you get the slippy muck off the surface .
The back of the foil also had diffrent types of adhesives and these were different in appearance to help identify which was which .You may need to have more dwell to allow the glue to melt and the release agent work on the foil , some materials dissipate heat qite efficiently even though a few tenths of a second may be the difference between release from the backing and failure , a bit of temperature adjustment may do it , a combination of time in contact and heat will be the problem other than silicon coating . I assume you are familiar with foiling printed boards or even plain board ?
It may be a good idea to do a test with some bold type that you know heats well just to check the receptability of the material , you may have a problem with using copper which also has very efficient heat transfer abilitys .

Thanks for your feedback! I have ordered MSJ which is American foil and is formulated for book cloths, ribbons, leathers, laminates and problem coated stocks. I also ordered MVS which is a Japanese foil which also works well on these coatings. I found out that it’s a hit and miss situation.
VPI - Heidelberg Windmill
GWAK (and a Heidelburg ) - I’ll have to invest in some dyne pens -Gold
Peter - I am NOT rubbing 1000 sheets with rubbing alcohol:)

It’s great how letterpress is a never ending learning experience and that there is a site like this to help everyone.

Dennis , you havent lived till you have had to undertake such interesting tasks !
I once had to wipe a register target from the back of 1500 sheets of astralux !!

astralux
boy that brings a few unhappy memories back

No can do!
I’ve tried 4 different special foils with a variety of temperatures ranging from 180 to 280 degrees. I’ve also tried different pressure. I noticed the longer the die was in contact with the stock (or higher temp), the deeper the impression so it was actually melting into the stock.

AND I actually got out the rubbing alcohol which didn’t work.

hello, I used to goldblock diaries years ago they were plastic imitation leather cant remember heat settings but just looked up in a book settings for plastic and it recommends 80-90 degrees centigrade for plastic and 90-100 for imitation leather, in the troubleshooting it says for incomplete impression; wrong foil or foil to close to block and is being pre-heated or impression too low, give it a try, good luck

Here’s an update. I found out the stock my customer provided was actually Leatherette Vinyl POLY cover. (not Composition) I had no labels to go by so I took their word for it.
They provided me with the Composition Cover and I foiled that with regular foil. No problems!
If anyone has ever foiled the Vinyl Poly Cover, I’d love to hear from them.
Thanks again!