Thread: picking question?

do you mean piling?

Picking? on the plate and blanket?

he must mean piling ??

so much for my screen name!

if it is piling the ink probably doesn't have a good flow and / or is setting to fast , could also be a paper prob or chemistry , I would gel the ink first and see if that helps , also if your running with temp controled rollers check that the rollers aren't too cold....
Steve

Paper piling...characterised by trailing edges of solids building up a deposit of paper coating, can be minimsed by gel reducer, as mentioned, and/or increasing damp and ink levels in unison.

Long runs without blanket washing and removal of the buildup can indent blankets permanently.

Depending on the severity the above can reduce or eliminate the issue but we used to have this problem with one of our monthly jobs and nothing would help until we changed the paper (for a cheaper grade!) and suddenly no piling.

i try to stay away from gel reducer whenever possible because it tends to be a little too greasy for my liking. if you must use gel then use it sparingly. theres a product out in the market called sterling perfect print thats a much better reducer than the gel. you can use lots of it without filling in of the halftones. its an old letterpress product but works good in offset applications too. it doesnt mix in the ink as easily as gel but in my opinion works alot better

stelings used to do a reducer called thixoprint gel Which was excellent very hard to over dose with the product We used it on packaging boards Also spraying the blanket before running with a anti ink skin spray helped

Originally Posted by turbotom1052

i try to stay away from gel reducer whenever possible because it tends to be a little too greasy for my liking. if you must use gel then use it sparingly. theres a product out in the market called sterling perfect print thats a much better reducer than the gel. you can use lots of it without filling in of the halftones. its an old letterpress product but works good in offset applications too. it doesnt mix in the ink as easily as gel but in my opinion works alot better

No doubt sterling is amazing stuff!! have used it since I started printing , I dont have a problem with gel at all or if you have an ink lab they should also have oil (linseed) in a pinch it works , Ive also bleached the blankets if you have bad picking , take the oil out of the rubber.....but whatever you find works for you , Sterling would be my 1st choice! Prisco sells it except they call it "Gold" good luck
Steve