Printing with plates / pins.
I’ve been having trouble printing with magnesium/photopolymer plates and using my gage pins. I know the *proper* etiquette is to print with space along each edge to leave room, and trim the paper afterwards, but I am without the capability to cut paper. I don’t have a commercial paper cutter, and I’m afraid if I tried to cut by hand or on a office sized guillotine cutter I will mess up the print job. I usually have my paper cut by the company I buy the paper from print to size on my Chandler & Price 10x15. Does anyone else do the same? My plates are smashing onto the pins and I can’t seem to find any other type of device to hold the paper in place.
HELP! Maybe the answer is, invest in a real paper cutter….
You could get Henry Compressible guides, or you can make something.
Get some strong doublestick tape, extra strip pieces of your stock, and make some guides that are the same height as your paper.
Tape a little bit of mylar or something along the edge as a ‘fence’.
You can print a very narrow margin this way if you are careful with the setup.
I personally use the same pressure-sensitive double-stick as polymer plates are mounted with, and usually I cut the guides to be at least 1”x2”, depending on the stock size sometimes I use a strip the same width as the stock.
print oversize, then die cut on the press
It may be that the base being used is one that fills the chase and is based on the recommendation of the base manufacturer. A base that leaves only enough room for a quoin and a couple of pieces of furniture severely limits the use of grippers and gauge pins. I recommend that a printer consider getting one or two smaller bases to supplement the one oversize base, like a 4x5 or 6x8 base that allows flexibility for placement of gauge pins and is much safer to hand feed than relying on one large base.
If Fritz is correct that you are trying to use a large base, consider cutting it into two or more small bases that can be locked together when needed.
A paper cutter is not a bad idea in all events
LD
We do not seem to have progressed, or come very far in the last 40/50/60 years.!!
I.E. regarding all the round and round in circles and getting no where fast with the incessant *mounting plates or otherwise* on the modern methods.
Many moons back, as above,? Everything was mounted on one or the other of several methods, —- All completely compatible, all interchangeable, and could be made up, to any configuration, to suit any/every machine, from the smallest Table top 3” x 2” up to and including the Biggest Meihles, Tirfings, Johannisbergs etc.
Few of many methods:- End grain hardwood, Monotype, mounting quads, Elrod Strip material, (plate mounting height) of course, Cornerstone and similar, Girder furniture, (plate height of course,) Cornerstone and similar, Dowel mount, generally in increments of 6 em x 6 em, and upwards, Honey comb base, — generally used with register hooks, but still perfectly usable as Stand Alone, mounting base. and more etc.etc.
Seems sad that the whole system has degenerated this far,!
especially for New, would be Letterpress Printers, when apparently having to pay, large amounts of money for modern and ONLY equivalent of the above.???