What is Co-Cure Ink?

[mattf]

Hey all:

Just had a quick question haven't dealt with this because I've worked with mainly conventional printing equipment. I was asked by a potential customer if we use "Co-Cure Ink". I said no because we use conventional equipment so we aren't into much of any specialty printing and I knew we have never used that type of ink.

However, it was a new term that I had not heard of before. I did some research and I didn't come with much of anything. Is this the same as UV substrate? Is there a difference in UV substrate from co-cure? Is this type of ink used for higher end printing? I know I sound like an amateur, but I guess I'll slap myself later for missing a class of "substrates and paper" back in college.

 

[Bob Peterson]

Co-Cure is actually a process and trade name that was created by Sun Chemical and Graphix. The inks are actually a hybrid UV ink. Part convnetional ink and part UV ink. UV ink is cured by UV lamps on the printing press.

Co-Cure / Hybrid inks were created so that sheetfed presses could UV coat inline without having the UV coating gloss back. When using convnetional inks you must allow them to oxidize before offline UV coating is applied. If you were to apply a UV coating inline the coating would loose its gloss due to the coating soaking into the wet ink film.

Co Cure / Hybrid UV inks are growing with leaps and bounds in the sheetfed printing arena.

 

[fireplug55]

Mattf,
Co-Cure or Hybrid printing is similar or in my eyes more difficult than straight UV. The idea is you should be able to run conventional and Co-Cure on the same press with a few minor changes, such as UV lamps. Our press is set up to cure off of unit six and again after the coating unit. No powder is needed but the process is much more difficult than the geniuses who came up with the idea.

Once we got into this simple process we found that we needed different rollers, special chemicals and blankets. Ink and water is more difficult than straight UV, I know because I spent most of my career running in-line UV and I loved it. Over the past nine years we have fought every co-cure job we print and then fight the next one or two conventionl jobs after coming off co-cure.

This is a process I would not recommend to anyone. Go straight in-line UV you will be much happier. Believe me, the sellers of this process will tell you how easy it is. Take it from thirty years of experience, they are all wet.

 

[mattf]

Mattf,
Co-Cure or Hybrid printing is similar or in my eyes more difficult than straight UV. The idea is you should be able to run conventional and Co-Cure on the same press with a few minor changes, such as UV lamps. Our press is set up to cure off of unit six and again after the coating unit. No powder is needed but the process is much more difficult than the geniuses who came up with the idea.

Once we got into this simple process we found that we needed different rollers, special chemicals and blankets. Ink and water is more difficult than straight UV, I know because I spent most of my career running in-line UV and I loved it. Over the past nine years we have fought every co-cure job we print and then fight the next one or two conventionl jobs after coming off co-cure.

This is a process I would not recommend to anyone. Go straight in-line UV you will be much happier. Believe me, the sellers of this process will tell you how easy it is. Take it from thirty years of experience, they are all wet.

Thanks for the information Bob and Fireplug, this was very helpful.