One of two Fairfax Media sites equipped for UV printing, Federal Capital Press in Canberra, Australia, is now averaging 920,000 impressions a week of the enhanced curing technology.
But not without effort: Pioneering work introducing an untried UV printing system on a 16-year-old double-width press has demanded a steep learning curve, Jon Clarke admits. And the operations manager says that after a year of experiments, they still have much to learn.
The challenge came with the installation of water-cooled Baldwin QuadCure lamp systems on two towers of the four-tower manroland Geoman double-width press installed under Kerry Stokes’ ownership.
“We took a 16-year-old press, converted half of it to UV and expected it to run like a coldset press,” says Clarke.
It didn’t: There was plate wear at 5000 impressions, problems with build-up of emulsion-like substance on plates, and blankets wore out in a week. Ink viscosity was too high… and then it was too low; fount and washes worked one day and not the next.
“We were stumped, and our expert consumables suppliers were no longer experts,” he recalled, “and then there was the issue of the black-eyed girl.”
The same image produced different results despite being in the same position on the press. Different consumables were trialled, along with ink from DIC, Arets, Flint, Z&G and Hostmann-Steinberg. “There was ink with low tack, high tack, slow tack, fast tack and no tack; satin mix, gloss formulation, slow drying, fast drying… some that didn’t dry at all, and some that dried before they hit the web,” says Clarke.
One issue was the inability to print a 100 per cent solid black without stripping, although a four-colour black would print. Build-up on the plate “looked similar to roller bounce”, and there was problems with text filling in as well as image areas.
Eventually, the problem with solids was solved by screening them back to 91 per cent.
And with UV inks containing hydrocarbons destroying EPDM (ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer) blankets, there was a need to trial alternatives – including Royal Webs, Conti Air, Vulcan Auto, Folio UV, Graffito, Editor 10 and Bottcher – and experimenting with under and over-packing.
Nor was water overlooked: Town water and RO water were tried, as well as hardening it and experimenting with alcohol. “One supplier even imported a cube of water from Belgium, resulting in some raised eyebrows at Customs,” says Clarke.
Recalling the UV journey at the SWUG conference, Clarke said blankets now last six weeks, and baked plates deliver more than 110,000 copies. “We have taken on new work which was traditionally heatset, with a much lower capital outlay, but we are still learning, and will keep learning for some time yet,” he says. “We have diversified our offerings to potential clients… producing gloss covers, gloss products and gloss sections.”
There’s also a downside to much of that: That blankets do only last a maximum of six weeks, and the system requires increased maintenance, with cleaning of ink ducts, and lamp reflectors (every two or three weeks, with some getting dirty sooner). Plateroom throughput has also reduced because baking plates takes longer.
And the smells: Different odours in the presshall, with some stocks smelling more than others.
“Being at the cutting edge of technology brings with it some pain,” Clarke says. “There has been a steep learning curve for us and our suppliers.”
What they did...
Two towers of the manroland Geoman press have been dedicated to UV, with one (vertical) UV unit drying the left side of the web before being turned, and the other (horizontal) drying the other side. Preparations also included replacing the previous S-wrap configuration with a single larger coated roller, as well as the installation of blockout film to the presshall window and ‘welding’ curtains to shield UV light.
• Some bustle wheels have been changed to air bustles, and others have been modified to reduce contact with the web.
Ink agitators and Betz ink pumping has been installed – pneumatic pumps deliver ink via 50 mm galvanised pipes, with pressure relieved when not in use.
• No changes have been made to the ink train, which features undershot inking, but turbo dampening is soon to be replaced with spray bars. “We believe this will give us better ink-water balance, reduce spoilage and may also assist in some of the laydown issues,” Clarke says.
• A year after starting, FCP is using DIC low tack ink – 500kg of black a week, plus 300 kg of each colour – Brissett hybrid rollers, (slightly more acidic) Eurofount R and DS Chemport’s 2781 wash.
Kodak Trillian plates are baked for runs of more than 50,000 copies.
• A range of stocks including 42, 45, 52, 55, 60, 54 semigloss and 54 gloss are being used.
On the OH&S front, Clarke says UV ink is “not new” and requires good normal hygiene. Operators use soap and water – not petroleum products – to wash UV ink from skin, and wear UV glasses to protect their eyes.
Pictured: Jon Clarke shows a UV-printed edition of Domain Canberra... And the hat? ‘My mother always told me to wear protection’
• Adapted from a presentation to Australian SWUG