Printing on covered boards (buckram)
Hello all!
Does anyone have experience printing on buckram covered board? My printing goal is to use polymer plates to print an illustration on my books. I would love it to look like the library books I remember as a kid. Nice consistent ink, etc…
I have done a few tests with black ink (one on a C&P and another on my little Adana) both yielded acceptable impression but odd ink coverage. Grayish. I know that many books were hot stamped for the titles but Ive seen line drawings bigger than 4x5 inches and isnt that too large for hot stamping dies?
Any help will be karmically rewarded.
: ))
Hi Anna;
No tips for what you’re trying, but an answer to one of your queries;
You can hotstamp larger than 4x5. A person with a Kluge 14x22 should be about able to stamp a 10x15 image, I would think. Possibly a bit bigger? Kluge experts?
Anyway, Owosso makes dies up to 15x22 out of copper if I’m not mistaken, and even larger out of Magnesium- either for hotstamping or printing.
Anna:
Most covers are decorated by use of hot stamping foils, and the foils are tailored to bond well to the coatings used on the cover cloths. There is really no limit to the size of the stamped area.
If you are really using buckram, it usually has been coated to bridge over the threads and seal the cloth so glues don’t soak through to the top surface, and it could be that filler (used to be starch, or pyroxylin, but most recently is some sort of acrylic) which is rejecting your ink and giving uneven results. Use as stiff an ink as you can, and possibly give the cover 2 hits, the first creates an impression and the second will leave a film of ink.
John Henry
Havenpress, I will look into the cost of those dies and also a press to use. I had a feeling that the lovely coverage was a result of something other than just ink.
John Henry, While I do research on stamping, I will try stiffening up my ink and sending the covers through twice.
Thanks for the information!
Remember you require additive driers or use a foil ink , if you are only printing the covers why are you not doing so pre bindery ? IE on the flat cloth it was commonly done that way .
Hi Peter,
what are foil inks? I probably could just print the material before I laminate it to the boards. My initial hesitation was that the finished covers would lack a slight deboss that I wanted. Doing them the way you suggest is certainly safer though. Less risk of significant waste. I’ll give it a try.
thanks!
Anna
Foil inks are wax free inks. Talk to your ink supplier on which ones they carry that are wax free. If you don’t use the correct ink the foil will not stick/adhere.
Also see http://www.eckart.net/