Anyway to speed up ink drying?

[JudP]

Hi All,

Just printed a very intricate job - four color on top of silver foil which now has to get three more passes of foil, lamination, spot UV, emboss and die cutting.

Printed the job about 36 hours ago and the ink is still too wet to stamp.

We have been doing extensive testing on this project over the past 10 days or so and found that the second pass of foil does adhere to the ink only after the sheets have been sitting for four days. Unfortunately I don't have three more days to let the sheets sit so I wanted to see if anyone had any tricks to speed up the drying process.

They are printed with conventional inks (yes I know - a UV press with UV inks would have solved my problem but I don't have a UV press)...

If anyone has any ideas please do let me know.

 

[printerpete]

Hi All,

Just printed a very intricate job - four color on top of silver foil which now has to get three more passes of foil, lamination, spot UV, emboss and die cutting.

Printed the job about 36 hours ago and the ink is still too wet to stamp.

We have been doing extensive testing on this project over the past 10 days or so and found that the second pass of foil does adhere to the ink only after the sheets have been sitting for four days. Unfortunately I don't have three more days to let the sheets sit so I wanted to see if anyone had any tricks to speed up the drying process.

They are printed with conventional inks (yes I know - a UV press with UV inks would have solved my problem but I don't have a UV press)...

If anyone has any ideas please do let me know.

Have you tried throwing some cobalt drier into the ink? and abit in the fridge

 

[smalloffsetpressexperts]

What type of press? Zip Set Ink would have been a good choice for foil stamping and quick dry.

 

[Alois Senefelder]

Well

Well

Hello JudP


Well - YOU should have known the "Basics" before printing ! All you can do is "Seal" the already printed sheets

with a suitable "Overprint Varnish" and hope for the best !


Regards, Alois

 

[Asures]

Once the job has been printed, there's really limited options.
*I'm assuming that this is on your Heidelberg XL105 and not the Web, correct?

If you ran this sheet-fed:

1. You can run the sheets through the press with your IR's on but if it's a 2 sided job, you may want to be cautious about resofteneing the coating. That will help open up the coating and allow for better migration of coating and ink while allowing for any moisture to possibly escape from within the printed ink.

2. You can take the job and Lamp it through the offline UV coater without applying coating. That will accelerate the escape of retained moisture within the inks.

3. Take the loads, wind them, them put them in small lifts allowing for better opportuntiy of any retained moisture to possibly escape.

If the foil is not sticking in areas where the ink is, are they heavy 4/c builds? I would look at the the build(s) and try to incorporate some "Under Color Removal" to avoid future headaches.

Perhaps you want to look into a High Solid Ink with shorter stay open times.

 

[D Ink Man]

Flood overprint varnishing it with an 80% screen value may salvage the job. The varnish should be a high solids, hard dry type with VOC's under 3%. Also adding some fountain solution drier stimulator can be of help. IR's at 90-95 F, with small lifts and winding the sheets can expedite. D

 

[JudP]

Hello JudP


Well - YOU should have known the "Basics" before printing ! All you can do is "Seal" the already printed sheets

with a suitable "Overprint Varnish" and hope for the best !


Regards, Alois

Thanks to all for your replies. Sheets have been sitting all weekend under our shops AC units and they are definitely better.

We did seal the sheets with an aqueous coating and Alois - I'm not sure what running the sheets back through with an overprint varnish would do for us. The ink is going onto a solid square of foil so there is no paper for the ink to absorb into. Wouldn't an overprint varnish just put us back to the beginning of the drying process?

Printerpete - Our ink supplier did suggest using cobalt drier for future runs and we will definitely try that for future runs.

Thanks again everyone!

When we ran the job we did use our IR lamps and had the settings up as high as we could go.

Also tried running this through our UV screen press which has additional IR lamps on it which didn't help either.

 

[Lukew]

Thanks to all for your replies. Sheets have been sitting all weekend under our shops AC units and they are definitely better.

We did seal the sheets with an aqueous coating and Alois - I'm not sure what running the sheets back through with an overprint varnish would do for us. The ink is going onto a solid square of foil so there is no paper for the ink to absorb into. Wouldn't an overprint varnish just put us back to the beginning of the drying process?

Printerpete - Our ink supplier did suggest using cobalt drier for future runs and we will definitely try that for future runs.

Thanks again everyone!

When we ran the job we did use our IR lamps and had the settings up as high as we could go.

Also tried running this through our UV screen press which has additional IR lamps on it which didn't help either.

Perhaps you have never put a OP varnish over a job that refuses to dry on problematic stocks. What Alios & D INK MAN have recommended to you could well salvage the job IF the correct varnish is used.
Use a standard varnish and you can forget it and trash the job.
Use a varnish suitable for that stock could well salvage the job.

Next time, use a set of ink that is suited for that type of stock, use a fountain solution suited to that type of stock.

 

[D Ink Man]

Question here; what is the stay open time and VOC content of your process inks?

These are key factors to know if you endeavor into similar job types in the future. D

 

[dgilman]

No suggestions this time , but Van Son makes a Ink for non porous substrates. Its the VS6 series. I have 4/C product numbers if you are interested.
The only ink I have ever had luck with printing on non porous substrates. Usually dries for next day printing.
Van Son is not out normal ink supplier, but if I was printing on foil or plastic, I would not use any other conventional ink.
Additionally use your normal etch (no sub) and 5-10% ISO.

 

[BJONES]

Paper Issue?

Paper Issue?

No suggestions this time , but Van Son makes a Ink for non porous substrates. Its the VS6 series. I have 4/C product numbers if you are interested.
The only ink I have ever had luck with printing on non porous substrates. Usually dries for next day printing.
Van Son is not out normal ink supplier, but if I was printing on foil or plastic, I would not use any other conventional ink.
Additionally use your normal etch (no sub) and 5-10% ISO.

Another possibility, for next time, is checking on your paper. The more additives in it for making it brighter, the longer the drying time.

 

[Cornishpastythighs]

Another possibility, for next time, is checking on your paper. The more additives in it for making it brighter, the longer the drying time.

I think he said he is printing on Foil not paper.

 

[erictoray]

JudP,

Another way to speed up your ink drying is to print these types of jobs using waterless plates.
Assuming your press has temperature controlled ink vibrators, the conversion is relatively easy.
Elimination of the water from the ink will allow for reduced drying times and emulsification issues if any.
Reduction of waste sheets will also save you $$, and believe it or not the price for waterless plates is not as high as many think!

You can contact me @ [email protected] for additional information

Best regards,

Eric Friedman
No. American Sales Manager; Waterless Products
Toray International America

 

[BeauchampT]

Ah...advertising. Just not as enjoyable as a coke commercial though

 

[RGPW17100]

We just did a job on curious metallics. I am guessing the dry time is better for this job then it is for foil but I can tell you this. We printed this job using standard toyo ink about a year ago and it never did dry completely. I have had luck with one and two color but when printing ink builds the dry time increases exponentially. Yesterday we printed this job with a High Solids ink and it is dry enough to back up today. I don't agree that cobalt is the drier for this stock. You should have used an oxidizing drier like grapho or hydro cure.

 

[Dan Roll]

An old timer's trick when printing on foil or plastic is to add hydrogen peroxide to the fountain solution. Hydrogen peroxide is not stable when diluted, so you need to replenish the solution regularly, about every forty-five minutes or so. About one half ounce for each gallon of mixed fountain solution seems to be enough. The hydrogen peroxide increases the oxygen content of the fountain solution, enhancing the oxidation of the ink.