Better Coaster Suppliers? old links not much help

Have been trying Katz Co. coasters and they crack a with deep impression. So far my only solution is to use nicer letterpress paper and then die-cut 4” rounds. Is there any company that supplies a nice thick letterpress friendly coaster. The link to www.americancoaster.com doesn’t work. Holyoke supplies coasters but not it the new double thick. Am told of Legion Eco Rag 600gsm, www.lettterpresspaper.com says they have it, but can’t find where to buy it. Would prefer pre-cut 4” rounds but will diecut if I need to. Just wanting thick/highend letterpress coasters that will handle deep impression.

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I also use Katz and wish they wouldn’t crack so easily.

Maybe this is a case for the paper dampening boys to talk you through .

I don’t think you want to dampen coasters, unless it is with a beer!

Daniel Morris
The Arm Letterpress
Brooklyn, NY

Tried dampening, and everything under the sun with katz. Right now I’m looking at Savoy in the 634 gsm and 4-ply Rising museum board and die cutting for now, but would still like to find pre-cut ones. Have talked to a few others in the business and there seems to be no other option except to die-cut your own.
If anyone knows a better option I’m all ears.

re coasters,I am not expert,but I suggest try 2 dozen coasters as a trial; sprinkle(water, not beer)lightly on 8 coasters;put down food wrap(Aussies call it Gladwrap) then one dry coaster,then one damp,then 2 dry,one damp,2 dry,one damp,till all 24 have been stacked;wrap with food wrap,leave for one hour,examine them for even dampness; perhaps dry 6 in warm place?Check(by feel)any difference to untreated coasters?Early printers must have done much experimenting? Alan. P.S. Hope I can spell;warning: “You can not proof-read your own typing,especially on a computer screen.”A.

Surely Katz can’t be the only pre-cut coasters around. Anyone know of others? The Katz just crack SO easily.

Um, you can get some neenah blotter and then have it die cut. The sheets are really inexpensive for the thickness and it’s the right stock for coasters.

Unfortunately, though, what you’re asking the paper to do is be thick, absorbant, and stiff……

…..when you put the three of those things together, you end up with a brittle stock that will crack. Try to fold a coaster and you’ll see what I mean.

Recently I printed some coasters on Katz’s stock on my C&P, and I experienced the cracking as well under deep impression- the client kept asking me to add sheets of tympan until it eventually was about to bottom out, and the last one I was comfortable printing without thinking about my poor press was the one that cracked the coaster.
But fortunately, I backed the impression off just a bit and it went right away, without a noticeable difference in the actual bite depth.

I suggest you look into the impression strength you’re using on this type of stock, and try to be more careful about how much pressure you apply- back it off a bit and you’ll likely still see and feel the impression, but not crack the blanks.

I do think your idea to use die-cut letterpress stock, like #220 thickness, is a good one- but you may end up spending an arm and a leg. Coaster stock (blotter) is good because it does the job and is cheap. You don’t want to spend lettra prices on it, especially when you’re looking at the amount of loss you result in when die-cutting a 6 up; you don’t really get much out of a sheet in comparison to normal printing!

www.holyokedirect.com

Just such a huge price difference. DAMN YOU KATZ!

You could check out ladybupress.etsy.com. She sells coasters.

I was using up the last of a shipment from Katz received about a year ago and then started with stock from a new shipment received a month ago. The new stock is quite different. Even fresh out of the plastic wrap, the coasters have noticeable cracking around the edges.

I printed the coasters below back-to-back, same setup, same pressure. The old stock is on the left and the new stock is on the right.

I called Katz and they confirmed they are using different materials in their coaster stock and this is the quality of the new coaster stock going forward. I am researching several alternatives. If I land on one that is comparable to the old stock Katz produced, I will report back

image: SidebySide.jpg

SidebySide.jpg

Have you tried using acetate as under packing being harder it wont force the non image areas into the back of your stock and you may then find less pressure will work as the stock will be absorbing pressure not the packing which if soft has nowhere to “go” except upward forcing your stock to split . You get a similar appearance down the spine of capacity wallets when creasing and that is reduced by shaving the surface off the top of the matrix .

I’ve noticed that the thick Katz coasters print well if printing a large area. Fine lines, like the picture above, always results in ugly cracks. For thick images/text, however, the impression isn’t bad.

I tried printing a very thin font on Katz light weight coasters and it worked fantastic! The impression isn’t impressive, but the client was happy and I still got 1,000 of them for $20!

ladybugpress sells a sampler pack of Katz for around $10. If you ask her, she’ll throw in some lightweight coasters.