Don’t Limit Your Toolbox! Match the Anilox Roller to the UV Coating Application -Darren Gapen

By Darren Gapen

Imagine trying to cut your entire lawn using a weed whacker or bush trimmers. Better yet, how about attempting to repair that leaky kitchen faucet with a pair of pliers and a screw driver?

How many hours on the weekends have you spent taking care of miscellaneous projects around the house? Whether it’s something as large as laying a new ceramic tile floor in the foyer or as small as hanging a new plasma television in the family room, during the project I’m sure you wished that you owned or rented a wet saw or longer drill bits. Or maybe a strap wrench to get to the pipes under that kitchen sink.

These sorts of household tasks are so much easier if you follow the maxim: “The right tool for the right job.”

Don’t limit your toolbox!

Keep all of this in mind when you’re looking to successfully pull off that specialized coating request for a new or current customer.

For Anilox rollers, one size doesn’t fit all!

You have to remember how an Anilox roller functions. Its only purpose is to transfer a variety of coatings from the chamber to the blanket and then to the substrate. There are three factors to take into consideration when determining the proper engraving specifications—the angle of the screen (normally 60°), the LPI (lines per inch) and the cell volume. The cell depth or volume and LPI numbers usually combine to determine the visual lay and the amount of coating transferred onto the substrate.

When you’re attempting to run everything from standard aqueous coating through a special effects UV coating, no one roller will give you the optimum results. You have to determine what specifications are needed for the types of coatings you’re going to most run. It is not uncommon for printers that run a variety of coatings to have numerous screen configured rollers on the shelf for those special needs.

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Offset Printing - UV/LED Curing

Darren Gapen Author's page

Darren has worked in the printing industry for 30 years and spent more than 12 years at two of the nation's leading high-end commercial printers: Bradley Printing in Des Plaines, IL, and Williamson Printing Corp. in Dallas, TX. During that time, he operated conventional and UV 40˝ sheetfed presses and also successfully managed a $15-million pressroom equipment transition. Darren also was Lead Press Instructor for Heidelberg, where he directed specialty equipment startups and was involved in all aspects of the printing process by teaching both instructor and pressroom employees.

In addition, he served as a troubleshooter for various printing companies in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. As operations manager for a start-up specialty folding carton company, he played a key role in achieving more than $6 million in sales within two years. Currently Darren is president of D.G. Print Solutions, a consulting firm that supports printing companies of all sizes. He specializes in growth development planning, pressroom color management and pressroom training through specialty print applications.