SM 102 or SM 102CD?

We are planning on replacing our mid 70's two colour press with a Speedmaster 102 ( late 80's to early 90's ). We are deciding between a SM102 or a SM 102CD. The majority of the jobs we run are on card board ( 70% on 10 to 12pt stock, 25% on 18 to 20 pt, and the rest on 22 / 24 pt stock ). Was told that SM102 would run slowly with stock greater than 16pt.

What realistic printing speeds can we expect if we run stock greater than 16pt?

 

I don’t know about attainable press speeds with that stock, but the late 80/early 90s SMs only have a top speed of 12,000 IPH to begin with. And I would say that ideally, you probably don’t want to push a press that old to more than ¾ top speed. Personally, I would be more concerned with marking - you can expect a lot of it with heavier weight stock on a standard SM. You can also expect to be using some sort of ant-marking net, and/or a significant amount of weatherstripping (or something similar) on the transfer cylinders to help you combat this. In my opinion, the standard SM is better suited for lighter weight substrates.

The CD model is a much better machine overall, and was specifically designed to handle heavier weight stocks.

 

I run a Heidelberg 102 zp 1993. Top speed is 12,000/H. I normally run 50 lb offset paper all day long at a minimum of 9,500 an hour. When we are busy I run it at 11,000 an hour. When I run cover stock (80/100 LB) I slow the press down to 8,000 an hour.

 

You are right about the stock. I run a Heidelberg 102 zp 1993. Every time I run cover stock, 19x25 and 20x25 against the grain, I have a hard time trying to get it to run.

 

So if I run something thicker than cover stock I should expect to run the press slower than 8,000 shts / hour?

Thanks

 

I’m not a Heidelberg expert. I have only 3 years running this press, but that is what I run on cover stock. There are pressman here that have way more experience than me on Heidelberg.

 

For your needs you want the CD without question. Not as much for the increase in speed but for its ability to print cover weight and up stock cleanly. The CD should be able to print at higher speeds too, not because of its ability to spin at higher RPM but more for its ability to run faster without as much trouble with marking.

 

So in order to reduce any problem when running thicker stock boards I should run the boards with the grain?

Thanks
Franco Uy

 

Grain Long will give the best results with slapping and with fit.