Buckle vs Knife and continuous vs flat-pile feeders

[Laxmi Kant Kuthiala]

Hi Everbody,
I need someone to educate me on the merits and demerits of Buckle folding machines vs combination folders. I need to do 32 page folding on paper from 50 to 95 gsm (roughly 6 to 14 micron). Also which feeder is better continuous or flat-pile for this range of papers?
Most of my folding is on uncoated stock, but we do have some books on 95 to 110 gsm art paper. What would be the ideal machine for my jobs?
Laxmi Kant Kuthiala

 

[mpellman]

Dear Laxmi,

Their are many factors that define which type of folder you will need and what type of feeder you will need. A buckle folder provides the most possibilities of folds that can be performed. A combination buckle knife folder is limited in the amount of impositions it can produce versus a machine that is all buckle plates. If your jobs require you to score or perforate the sheet on the folder in the first station and then perform the fold in the second and or third stations , you will need an all buckle fold design machine to work as a scoring/ perforating and folding machine.

The weight of stock that you are describing is fairly light weight. The 50 gsm stock can create problems due to the possibility of wrinkling of the sheet.

If you are wanting to create 32 page signatures, you may need a 3 station folder with a knife as the last station to create the 32 page fold. YOu can also change the layout of your imposition to be able to perform this with less equipment. You can also create a 32 page imposition by using a 1st and 2nd station buckle folder using 3 fold plates in the first folder and 2 fold plates in the second folder. See this link for more technical help on the 32 page imposition: http://www.baumfolder.com/sheets/foldPlate/popfolds.pdf

In regards to the selection of what feeder to use, the size or length of the runs helps decide what feeder is needed. If your average run lengths are short runs of 100-5000 to 50,000, you need a pile feed machine. If you have much longer run lengths, you should consider a continuous feed machine. Also consider the type of work you will be feeding. If your stock does not lay flat well due to excessive curl, embossing, mutple thickness etc, you should also consider a continuous feeder to be able to shingle out the work. It takes more operator skill to operate a continuous feeder.

Best regards,

Mark