Perf setup

We have a perf project that requires running to guides. We want to set up the perf rule up to the bottom edge of the chase but we are not sure if it will work. I know it cant perf to the edge due to the limitations of the guides and that is OK, I dont want to damage something by locking up the perf rule all the way to the bottom edge of the chase. I would like to ask first rather than damage first and ask how to fix it later.

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You can perf to the bottom of the chase just stay away from the guides. If you have nickel guides it may seem like you can perf the bottom of the sheet.
I have made some modifications so I can perf to the bottom of the sheet with brass guides for my clients.

Hi Mike, thanks for the feedback. I had forgotten all about the nickel guides. We had to overcome a few stupid little issues which combined into one big blunder mess with the guides. Even though it took us a while to figure out running guides I was impressed with the registration. I think the windmill registers better than my Ryobi. I also took some of knowledge from 10 years on the GTOV feeder and each day we get a little better. I know you are one of the smart ones so I would like to ask another question of you. We discovered by mistake that to much roller pressure may be adding to our slurring. We feel that if our roller inkers have to much pressure we are in effect inking the sides of a letter. As that die pushes into the sheet that extra buildup is in effect scraped along the edge of the letter causing a build up or piling on the outside letter edges. Is it fair to assume that rollers should only touch the top of the letters and limit contact with the shoulder of the die or does it really have no effect?

Rails can be adjusted for less contact to type. Rails should be clean to stop sliding and in some cases rosin can be applied to the rails to help the rollers turn.

Thanks Mike

I know this is a strange question. Andy Rooney once said “Do you ever wonder why people wonder” - I live in that world.

We are wondering if to much roller pressure can cause the ink to contact the edge of a type character and if so when the character prints that extra ink used in effect draws off along the edge of the printed character impression in effect causing a build up. We had noticed in some cases the outside edge of our typeface slurring a little. By mistake we had backed of the rollers to far but noticed our print edges looked better. In a perfect world we felt the rollers should contact only the true face or type high part with minimum contact to the edge of the text and not to far down to the shoulders. We have not found a true answer and are left to ponder life.

You are exactly correct in your analysis of the cause of the fuzzy edge letters. It is more pronounced if you are attempting a deeper impression. Good printing starts with kiss inking. You want just the right amount of ink on the disk and the rollers set to apply ink just to the face of the type. A roller height gauge is very helpful. John Falstrom makes a very nice one at a bargain price. You can measure and adjust your rollers the way the old fashioned printer did before roller height gauges were made. Set an un-inked form in the press and roll the rollers down over the form. Work a 1” wide strip of copy paper between the roller and form. Tug the strip. It should just barely resist.
When ink is applied the gap is closed up and it will resist just a tad more. We are talking .001 to .0005”
Get some ink on your shirt

Inky - thank you for the feedback. We are still new to the printing side of letterpress. We make mistakes, learn from them and move forward each day. I have a roller gauge and thought everything was correct but could not get past the pressure idea. Back in the day we used to set 3M press dampening sleeves in the way describe using a piece of mylar. I never thought to set the Windmill rollers that way. We know all press rollers can expand as they spin and we thought the soft durometer of the rollers was to allow a strong pass fulling engulfing the plate but not hitting the base. Today I learned something new. Time for a beer and celebrate.