Alternatives to aq coating?

[ScotJ]

We're looking at getting a 29" press and alot of our customers have been asking for AQ coating (we have a QMDI right now), however there are some really good deals on 5 and 6 colour presses without a coater. What are people's thoughts on this?

I am planning to move in a a year or 2, so at that time I'll ugprade or add a new press, so I'm not worried about getting into a press that lacks what I need.

Is there someway to convert a unit to run as a coater and get comperable dry times?

 

[KCrom]

You can run an aqueous acrylic based coating such as Kentucky Shine or Kelstar Aquatrain 300 in your last unit. Along with an IR dryer in your delivery, these coatings dry very quickly and give about the same finish as traditional aqueous coatings from a coater.

 

[ScotJ]

Is that the same as a 'varnish'? Some of the sales guys I've spoken with have bad things to say about this and claim it marks easier.

 

[KCrom]

The coatings I referred to have a much higher gloss than traditional varnishes(IMO) and the fact that they dry much faster is also a plus. I don't know what they mean that it marks easily, as I have not seen that. Also, one nice thing about it is that you can also write on top of it with a ball-point pen, or even a pencil. A couple things to know about these coatings is that first, you can't apply as a spot coating unless you are doing it using a cut blanket(no plate is used), and second, the coating can dry very fast on your rollers(and then is very har d to get off if it does), so quick cleanup is a must.

 

[Cornishpastythighs]

If you feel you will be getting more requests for waterbase coating I would look for a deal on a 5-6 colour press with a coater, there are plenty of those around also. Ink train varnishes are ok but AQ coating is the better choice in my humble opinion

 

[turbotom1052]

the very reason there are such deals on non coater equipped presses is because nobody wants them. My feelings are that a coater should be considered mandatory on any multicolor press purchase. Its more than just your customers desires for aqueous coated jobs but should be considered at least equally for a coaters ability to be much more productive.

 

[Ret Heidelberg Instructor]

Ret Heidelberg Instructor

Ret Heidelberg Instructor

If you buy a 5 or 6 colour without a coater in my opinion you will regret it. I am not a big fan Ink Train coating because any slip up in maintaining the rollers after using the product will come back to haunt you down the road. I actrually saw one shop with a DI Pro that ran and ink train coating in the last unit for a 2nd pass. It worked for what it was but they also lost sheets when the blanket tacked up after a stop.In my opinion your minimum configuration in todays printing world should be a 5 col with coater and dryer. It gives you dusting capability if you run 4 cols and then you have that 5th unit available for Pantones. To digress for a bit, I Instructed on 2 SM 52 4 color Anicolor presses with coating units. They were cash cows for the customer. I saw 4 color jobs fly out the door within hours. They were printed with in-line coating, cut and folded and sent on delivery. I also was able to see that with the Anicolor inking system you could match CMYK Pantone matches pretty close. Corporate logos looked pretty damn good done in 4 colors. Who hasn't seen a dedicated Pantone job vary because the color dropped or was run to strong. Getting back to coating on a press, you would be further ahead to get it.

 

[RGPW17100]

Roller train aqueous has to be running at all times. If you do not the coating will dry in the rollers. The fountain roller needs to be always moving as well. The other problems you face doing this is knowing how much aqueous you are actually applying to the sheet. The purpose of an extended delivery on a press equipped with a coater is to allow the sheet a few seconds of dry time before it stacks in the delivery. These few seconds is enough time for the coating to set up so you can use next to no spray powder. Using the last unit on a multi color press using a product like kentucky shine you will not have the extended delivery and without that extra time even with an IR Dryer you will have to use more powder and you will get a sandpaper feel to the sheet. As mentioned before if you buy a press without a coater you are going to regret it. We had a 4 color GTO and we could never be productive on it. Maybe run 4 jobs a day was all we could sell. With the SM52 with coater we are running 15 jobs a day and because they are aqueous coated we can sell more (cause almost all of our customers want aqueous) plus we can turn the jobs right away and do bindery same day on most jobs.

 

[NGA]

agree with everything above, don't waste your money on a press without inline coater.