blanket torque
John:
To be honest, I don't recall exactly what happened at those specific torques - we did the test a number of years ago. But in general if the blanket is slightly loose the dot quality "shimmered" slightly. I suspect this is because the rubber surface didn't have enough stiffness. This shimmering is very minor and most people wouldn't even notice it, but it was there. If the blanket is way too loose you get doubling and waves.
When we "overtorqued" the blanket - and by that I mean our definition of overtorqued - we had an uneven break in print at the lead and tail. Our test showed a tendency for the blanket to start getting thinner at the lead and tail after a certain point was reached. My guess is once the blanket starts actually stretching it initially gives up mass closest to the clamps. When that happens if you run breakaways you can see the slightly uneven break in pressure.
Our number of 43 lbs fell just below that point of unevenness.
Bear in mind, this was a test to determine the ideal blanket torque to optimize dots. We didn't test for ink release, solid lay, etc. After determining our number we later went on to check durability and the ability to take a hit without smashing (ultimately this was inconclusive), I am sure different blankets may have different ideal torques, etc. but our test gave us a good number that has proven successful over the years.
Doug Schardt
Komori America