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who is using Flint inks?

Albert Noel

Well-known member
I've been trying to figure out a new ink-set to try for the last few months.
In general we aren't very happy with our current inks from H/S. They were great for the longest time, but within the last year or so have had real issues with batch consistency and issues with dry times.
According to the supplier, there's no issue that they know of. I'm not really interested in trying anything else from them and would like to jump ship.

I tried getting some samples of some Toyo inks with no luck (which is great, as ive heard people are having trouble with them too)
We've been though Hostmann, Sun, Vanson and tried a set from rycoline/the printing ink company. None of them have met our expectations.

I've always been curious about Flint's inks, but haven't used anything from them in about 9 years.

Can anyone comment? suggest a series? or perhaps another manufacturer that's readily available in Canada?
Needs to set fast, reasonable duct fresh, rapid turnaround, aq coatable, (offline UV and laminating if needed) good strong colour but dry times are the important thing.

would really appreciate some help.
thanks!
 
Since you're thinking of jumping ink suppliers you might want to try a smaller, probably more responsive "craft" ink supplier like The Printing Ink Company, Rycoline Inc.

Contact:

Peter Welfare
The Printing Ink Company, Rycoline Inc.
145 Westcreek Drive
Vaughan, ON
905-850-3905

They have a video on YouTube: YouTube - The Printing Ink Company: An Introduction
 
as i said in my initial post, we've tried inks from them. we didn't have very good results. They insisted it was the best series for our needs but didn't run very well at all.
it was the diamond series. i dont know, it may be worth a second look, but i'm hesitant.
 
Have used Flint ink for some time now and although not ecstatic about them they perform well on our presses both conventional and UV. From what I remember in Canada you have pretty much tried most of the ink suppliers. A couple I dont see on your list are Siegwerk, INX or Wikoff. They could have some presence in Canada but not sure how much local technical support you would get
 
Havent used flint in many years but when we did I was not happy with it. They had three lines and each had some problems. Have you tried Superior? We are currently using the Van Son Vivid line. It is pretty good but I think it is a cheaper line. I like Superior. Had pretty good luck with it and it was a company that is smaller so you had good tech support and delt with people who know their product.
 
I've used UV Flexo and waterbased inks from Siegwerk for sometime now with very good results.
I would be comfertable recommeding them to anyone
 
Currently using Flint ink black on heatset newsprint, non-heat newsprint, and gloss paper. Love the stuff. (3 different sets of blacks).
 
Currently using Flint ink black on heatset newsprint, non-heat newsprint, and gloss paper. Love the stuff. (3 different sets of blacks).

Hope this wasn't yours:

Ramp from Route 128 to I-95 North will be closed for evening commute

I'll second the suggestion for Superior inks. The Biolocity line is incredible as long as you run the Mid-Tack. I didn't have good luck with the low tack.

I also had good luck with Wikoff's Resolution line in a test, but decided to stick with Superior.
 
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Albert, It looks like you have tried a large rang of inks, but still have not found one that works as you want it to.
I trust you have taken into consideration that the fountain solution you are using, could be causing some of the negative issues you are experiencing.

Can you list which series of Vanson you ran, I see there main line is VS3, VS3xs, VS5 VSzero

We have run / trialed - backed up with the recomended fountain solutions:
T&K Toka Best one , (poor dot, ink slinging / misting at high speed)
Flint K+E Novavit 918 / 950, (picture framing / ink mileage slightly lower)
Toyo hyplus100 , Hyunity (Fail)
Zipset cervo ( slow drying)
Habitat (Sharp dot, fast drying, high ink mileage)

Hands down the Habitat stood out from all the inks listed, put simply the issues we normaly faced didnt appear with the Habitat, though it needs to be backed up with the Habitat fountain solution. The dot was the sharpest too..

Alas Habitat isn't distributed in our area, atm, so we have settled back with the Flint K+E novavit 918 but we substitute the magenta with the 950 series, this gives us better trapping and you get the benefits of a higher gloss and more duct fresh then if you run the complete 950 series.. The flint series is not with out some faults though, picture framing, lower ink mileage..
 
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Flint ink

Flint ink

I've used Flint ink for meny years, oxidative kind and fresh ink seeds kind, the first one is very good for his dry-up, but remember to clean ink fountain rollers every day.
The second kind is good enough, the good thing is that you can mix the two kinds for mediate the oxidation.
To conclude in 2009, I've changed ink for Huber, as a matter of price, the oxidative is inferior but the fresh one is better, both are Fgra certified.
 
We used Flint years ago, all i will say is you get what you pay for. It was an ok ink, but my personal opinion is there are better inks out there, but then again it depends what market your in. Were in a high end commerical end of things. We have also been searching for the perfect ink over the last few months. We ran braden for years (10+) but due to recent service issues have been looking for a alternitive, right now we have settled on toyo and are very happy with them. Also consider that not all inks are compatiable with all fountain solutions so don't expect to just throw another ink set in and it to work with out adjusting your dosage or even different solutions.
 
I totally agree with you, and fountain sollution is determinant, when Heidelberg was installed our first CD 102 had many troubles with waterm, themselves were thinking ink problems.
Anyway I know that Toyo is very good and very expensive.
 
cant recall which VanSon we tried. i think it was the VS3.

where can i get Superior inks in canada? i'd be willing to try the biolocity. ive actually heard good things about that one.

it seems like there's entirely too many options. seigwerk canada is actually somewhat local to me. we used to print some materials for them (of course NOT using their inks lol)
ive been turned off from them though. and the flint stuff having heard too many so/so things.

my boss really seems to really want to stick with the current supplier and and just choose another HS inkline. im really up in the air as to what to do.
 
Our web press use flint ink,I found the magenta part not good enough,but I`m not knowing whether the sheetfeed ink also got this problem~
 
Flint - K+E Novavite 918 and 950. Can anyone list the voc% in this ink. I have searched online but can't find a msds that has it. Our msds do not by law need to include the VOC%, so it has been left off the sheet and I would like to know..

We are trialing Vansons VS3 line, only a few jobs run so far, but the level of dry back seems rather high compared to the K+E 918.
 
I'will try Novavit F 3000 Extreme, I've used Novavit F100 for many years, actually I use Huber Resita Quick Fast. Waht do you think about?
 
Albert, what percentage of your work do you aqueous coat?

And please give me an approximate estimate of the percentage type of paper stocks ran; Gloss Coated-Uncoated Offset-Silk/Satin-Synthetics. That will help with a recommendation.
 

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