I just got brand new rollers and cores.
The weird thing is that when I check my roller height, it’s not even throughout. The ends are the same but the middle of the roller has a thinner stripe when I check. Is it the gauge I’m using? That’s steel but I’ve heard that those can go flat and I think I got that with my press about 10 years ago. I’m perplexed! My printing is coming out wonky too with ink distribution. Any thoughts?
Thanks, Carmela
Sounds like a bad set.This is not uncommon in my experience.
I had new cores made and I made the steel thicker in the area corresponding to the rubber area so that the rubber covering is only 5/8”.
We found that over time the centre of the standard spec.rollers sag a bit and of course they also swell at the ends.
The thicker cores are amazing,in use since
2012.A bit glazed and slightly harder which is ok on polymer.
As is often the case, there may be more that one contributing factor.
– As lad suggested, check the roller diameter with calipers. A Universal III should be at 3.0″
– Is the form inking consistently?
– Is the cylinder packing fresh?
– Wipe the plate with a lint-free towel to remove any oil from your fingers.
Here’s a photo for reference. You can see on the bottom left, there isn’t good ink coverage, and it’s muddy on the right.
Ok, I’ll clean the ink off and check. Ugh, I sure hope I don’t have to send them back–that would be a shame!
With new rollers it is possible that they are not consistent in diameter, i.e., out of round – to check, you can place each on a perfectly flat surface and roll them – put a flashlight or some type of light behind to see if there is a variation in diameter as you roll. Or, find/borrow a mechanical gauge that is capable of measuring diameter to see it it is consistent across the rollers. If out of round, send them back to be replaced
lad