Which Duplo Folder

[OUPrint872]

We have a Morgana Creaser/Folder to handle our cover weight needs, but our MBM 352S for text weight has decided to fail after 20+ years of service.

Looking at the Duplo DF-1300L and the Duplo DF-999A.

Anyone have experience with these machines and give pros and cons? We do a lot of variable data letters.

 

[Ynot_UK]

Until recently we had the DF-1200. It was a good little folder, compact & quiet and particularly ideal with lightweight coated stocks.
We got to know the optimum air settings, etc. through tinkering, don't take the guidelines in the manual too seriously.
Two things it really didn't like and I guess the DF-1300L will be the same...
Static - ideally leave digital jobs a few hours or better still overnight, to avoid misfeeds
GIGO - again a digital thing, batches that are not flat, i.e. have upcurl, will give the Duplo indigestion

We only sold ours because of getting a new Digifold Pro XL (arrives tomorrow) which would have made it redundant.
Note the DF-1200 and DF-1300L are air suction feed models, whereas the DF-999 is friction feed, which may not be great with coated stocks.
I'm not familiar with the "A" suffix on the latter, haven't seen that.

 

[jwheeler]

You and/or your operators may not like switching from a bottom feed folder to a top feed folder. Out of those 2 options, the 1300 is better simply because it's vacuum feed as opposed to friction fed as @Ynot_UK pointed out. However, you can only load a stack up to 1.9" thick, then press start...it raises up the stack, then starts feeding. After that stack, it lowers down again for you to load more, then repeats the process.

With your old MBM folder, you could keep adding to the stack while it runs, allowing for faster, continuous operation. We usually print many thousand brochures per order, and it would be quite tedious if we had to stop at every stack to keep reloading. I'd considering looking at another bottom fed model such as the Baum 714XLT (which is manual setup of the folding plates), the Baum 714XAP (which is automatic setup of the folding plates) or Morgana DocuFold. We have the Morgana DocuFold in my shop and it's incredibly fast when the operator sets it up correctly. We also like that it has automatic counting features to pause at whatever increment you need if your customer requests you to package in certain amounts.

 

[Shawnd]

We do a lot of variable data letters.

Why are you not doing this on a folder/inserter with barcodes to do perfect matching?

 

[Ynot_UK]

Why are you not doing this on a folder/inserter with barcodes to do perfect matching?

Indeed. If your volume isn't enormous, there are some nice compact solutions around nowadays, that don't need to take up an entire wall.
For example the Quadient (formerly Neopost) DS-75i with its 50" x 20" footprint is 3" smaller all round than that Duplo DF-1300L. It costs a bit more, but that said, not an enormous lot more. Happy to be corrected but I'm sure I read it will do fold only jobs as well as mailings.

 

[Shawnd]

Heck, if your volume is really low you could get the DS-40i with tri-fold kit for fold only jobs.

https://mail.quadient.com/en/folder-inserters/ds-40i

 

[jdodoubleg]

Ink/Toner cracks on the 1200, so it probably will on the 1300. Just an FYI for any jobs that have full coverage.

 

[OUPrint872]

Ended up getting the Duplo DF-1300L to compliment our Morgana creaser/folder. So far very happy with the unit. Folds text weight items very well.

Only con I can see is that the pre-programmed auto folds are not accurate to proper folding. It was explained that the output is a ballpark setting and allows for needed adjustment. Too bad they cannot be dialed in or overwritten. I just setup our own programs and they fold perfect.

Variable data projects should go much smoother now as this folder folds and outputs in a pretty controlled manner.

 

[jwheeler]

Only con I can see is that the pre-programmed auto folds are not accurate to proper folding. It was explained that the output is a ballpark setting and allows for needed adjustment. Too bad they cannot be dialed in or overwritten. I just setup our own programs and they fold perfect.

The same thing happened with our Morgana. Thanks for sharing an update.