Foil On Windmill

We are getting ready to add foil to our windmill. In doing the math for makeready we are wondering how heavy ( caliper, pt) of a stock we can effectively run. Any input or experience would help. Also any make ready advise would be a big plus. I have the hard part figured out ( 1 cold craft beer - not the cheap stuff) it is the rest I am not sure about.

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same as printing max is .040”-.060” depends on height of type/die and whether or not you have makeready/underlay.

same as printing max is .040”-.060” depends on height of type/die and whether or not you have makeready/underlay.

Thank you Mike for you feed back. I am most likely over thinking this but when we looked at running 35-40pt stock I could not figure whether to use Phenolic Board or Epoxy Glass Board or something else for make ready. The Phenolic Board is a .030 and the Epoxy Glass Board .015 and up. I had wanted to make sure I was headed in the correct direction. Our next step will be to try them all see what works and adapt each make ready to the stock caliper being used. Thanks again for your help. Each day we work we get a little better and less goes in the dumpster.

thick stock is sometimes it’s own makeready

the windmill seems very particular to the total thickness allowed in the working area. project sheet+plate+MR.
Foil, is often more fussy about even pressure than ink, although purists out here will argue that. i would plan for some sort of MR. check the back of sheet for even pressure.
You will have to work within the limitations of the press.
For serious foil work, i would suggest a kluge. something you can use gripper bars and even add an air separation system.foil can tend to “pull” the sheet releasing with it as the press opens, so separation can be an issue.
Yes, there are easy releasing foils, but these tend to “not cut so clean and crisp”.
for speed , single color ink, and simple die cutting, I am all about the windmill. but, for foil, complex die cutting,and embossing, the kluge is a better machine, albeit, slower.

Thank you both for the feed back. We will let you know what happens. It has taken a while to get this far with foil and we look forward to the challenge and new learning experience.