Offset Press Blankets

[indy jones]

I am to evaluate 2 different press blankets. What is the criteria for blankets for press?

 

[mrheidelberg]

Make sure they fit on the press you are testing them on and are correctly packed !!

 

[CD102]

Are you a manager, supervisor or operator? What is your company looking for? Is it more durability? Better dot gains? Better ink transfers? How is the test set up? Are you going to run similar forms with comparable stock on both sets of blankets? For how many impressions?

That was something that irritated me at my old job. They never really had a plan on how they wanted to evaluate the blankets. Dot gain changes from form to form and even from sheet to sheet so you need to be careful when examining the data. And it's hard to determine durability if during the middle of your test run something catastrophic happens like a feeder tape going through the press.

 

[ROCPrinter]

If you do not understand all of the requirements and / or know the right questions to ask I would recommend using a blanket supplier that would help you determine what is best for your company.

A good blanket can make or break your quality of print. For example, you could have a brand new press with all new rollers in it that are set properly etc. and if you have a cheap cheesy blanket on the press it will print poorly. As an Operations Manager I have always preached to my pressroom foreman that blankets will be one area that we will not be cheap on.

Use a company like Day Blankets or Bottcher Systems... that's my opinion?

 

[Blanket Bob]

You may consider getting the blanket manufacterer involved for technical and application support for your evaluation.