So You Want To Stop The Ugly Cracking On All Your Finishing Work?

12 Feb 2008 - 13:00

Here we reveal the secrets to perfect rotary creasing that matches or exceeds the quality you get from the proven and popular Flatbed Cylinder.

Are you or your Print and Bindery staff spending hours or days every single month trying to prevent folded products from cracking? - Here we uncover the four key reasons why the existing scoring devices on your Folders, Saddle Stitchers and Binding machines simply fail to prevent fibre cracking on those heavily printed products.

Whether you are producing low volume digital print, large volume web offset, or anything in between you will experience the age-old problem of fibre cracking when it comes to the finishing stage, unless you run the work through a Cylinder or Platen first, and even then there are no guarantees that cracking will totally disappear.

We all know that outsourcing flat printed sheets to a separate creasing operation is not only time consuming and expensive but it also means you are handing over control of your valuable work to someone else and left with the worry of how the finished product will look once it is processed through your machine.

What would you say if I told you that outsourcing your work was unnecessary and that you could now crease and fold any type of stock using your folding machine, Saddle Stitcher or Perfect Binder and in doing so retain quality control throughout? Imagine receiving the pre-trimmed sheets straight from the guillotine and simply loading them into the feeder of your machine and producing perfectly creased and folded products, without any hint of cracking, every single time!!

Imagine a simple rotary creasing solution that replaces your existing scoring device and works like magic on any stock range from 85 to 350gsm, regardless of solid ink coverage or whether it folded with or against the grain? What if the device was so good that it even worked on UV coated applications, web offset and toner based digital stocks?

After extensive research into the two separate areas of scoring (on a folding machine) and creasing (on a Flatbed Cylinder) we developed the Tri-creaser (a combination of the best of both methods) the world’s first and only rotary creasing device that eliminates fibre cracking 100%.

The Tri-creaser achieved two things (1) It replicated the creasing characteristics of the perfect Cylinder range of creases and (2) It Inherited the rotary action and speed of scoring devices.

Already nearly 30,000 companies are benefiting from using the Tri-creaser all over the world. Here’s what a few of them have said...

“We have purchased a full range of Tech-ni-Fold products over the last few years and I can honestly say they have paid for themselves many times over. The quality of the product and the results we have achieved on folders and Muller Martini lines have been superb. I cannot recommend these products highly enough”

James Green, Witherby & Co Ltd, London

“Tech-ni-Fold undertook to solve one of the most troublesome problems within the finishing area of print and came up with the answers. Their Tri-creaser family for the folding machines have revolutionised the final appearance of our products.
Our devices have paid for themselves many times over as the operators know they need not waste time asking if the cracking along the spine will be acceptable-There is no cracking!"

Ron Watson- Broglia Press Ltd, Poole

“Best invention I’ve come across over the last decade saved me a lot of time and money. Now I do not dread covers coming in, laminated or not”

P Thredfall, E Fish & Co, Liverpool

“We are finding a major benefit is the ability to avoid cracking on centre spreads with the wrong grain direction. By eliminating the entire process of letterpress creasing our turnaround times are considerably faster, increasing our competitive edge”

Hank Roelink, Wyatt & Wilson, New Zealand

Here are the four key reasons why common scoring devices fail to prevent fibre cracking on your Bindery equipment, followed by the secrets to perfect creasing using the Tech-ni-fold creasing solution.

Key Reason 1

Existing scoring devices all use steel scoring blades
The steel male/female construction that combine are too harsh for the material and usually either crushes, splits or damages the fibres of the substrate, particularly if it has a UV varnish or gloss finish. Dry and brittle toner based digital stocks stand no chance and are usually cut in half.

The Tech-ni-Fold creasing devices adopt a softer patented creasing solution that penetrates the material up to three times deeper, without splitting or damaging the stock. The forgiving and gentle rubber application manipulates and stretches even the most difficult print and stock combinations known to us, including oven baked web offset and toner based digital applications.

Key Reason 2

Normal scoring devices produce a V-shaped impression
All the pressure from the steel scoring disc is exerted at the point of the V instead of spreading it evenly across the impression like creasing methods. If you were to look into a magnifying glass at the score just after it was applied you would already see fibres breaking away along a thin line in the centre of the impression. Successful creasing applies the desired impression evenly across an area to form the ‘shoulder’ so that there is room for the fold to be implemented without damage to that area of stock. Scoring techniques simply do not create the correct depth and shape required for successful results.

The Tech-ni-Fold creasing devices produce a rounded or U-shaped crease that spreads the impression evenly across the width without the distortion to the centre. The much greater depth of the crease simply forces the material to form the shape of the set female channel opposite and this is the BIG difference.

Key Reason 3

Common scoring devices produce only one score setting
If you think about it, successful creasing relies on a combination of various crease width and depth setting for a multitude of stock ranges. So why do we expect a single scoring device to cope with everything? Scoring devices rely on the skill of the operator to create an acceptable score width by opening up or closing two collars directly underneath the blade. It’s more like a balancing act to achieve a reasonable width and depth of score without either cutting the sheet in half or creating such a weak and ineffective impression.

The Tech-ni-Fold creasing devices boast multiple crease options that easily stop the cracking on the full range of materials that run through your machine from 85-350gsm, regardless of grain direction, solid ink coverage or whether it has been UV varnished or laminated. The devices have all the crease settings machined into it so the user doesn’t have to spend endless hours experimenting, in fact all the thinking has been done so that all the guess work is eliminated.

Key Reason 4

Conventional scoring devices all apply the score to the inside of the subsequent fold
All scoring devices work the opposite way to the proven creasing method in that they work from the inside pushing the fibres of the stock outward. As a result the inside of the folded product will sometimes be acceptable but the depth and shape of the score isn’t sufficient enough to prevent the fibres on the outside of the fold from bursting open and this is the most critical area.

The Tech-ni-Fold creasing devices works directly on top of the area that is prone to cracking, gently pushing the fibres back inside the product. We know that cracking to the outside is eliminated this way but also see that a perfect bead has formed on the inside and is highlighted once the folded product is re-opened. This demonstrates the depth of crease penetration from the outside through to the inside of the product and conclusively proves that the perfect letter press method can be replicated on a folding machine.

Are you looking for a cost-effective offline Table-Top Creasing Machine?

Introducing the Speedcreasa

Imagine what it would be like if you could purchase a simple and affordable compact rotary action table-top machine that took care of all you’re creasing, with the added bonus of being able to produce micro-perforating and cutting as an option. What if the results were so good you couldn’t tell the difference from what you would get from a flatbed Cylinder?

Through massive customer feedback and the high demand to fill a big hole in the market we came up with a unique solution based on the success of our first invention the Tri-creaser.

With the Speedcreasa you can:

1. Totally eliminate fibre cracking, even on digital stocks, regardless of grain direction
2. Choose from any one of 8 crease styles to suit every range of stock, not restricted to wide setting.
3. Produce simultaneous multiple crease, micro-perf and cutting without effecting speed
4. Apply crease or micro-perf to either side of sheet, or both at the same time
5. Produce flat, nearly invisible micro-perforations that let sheets run through any laser printer or copier
6. Crease paper from 85gsm up through to 350gsm and above
7. Finish short-run jobs in minutes
8. Eliminate scoring and perf outsourcing

Want to produce fine, flat and almost invisible micro-perforations on your folding or scoring machine?

Introducing the Tech-ni-Fold Micro-Perforator

The Tech-ni-Fold Micro-perforator was created as a result of extensive market research over many years.

Not only does our system produce an array of micro-perf options but it was designed using new technology that adds strength and longevity to the unit, so that it greatly outlasts even those course and rugged solutions that fail you many times over.

Unlike conventional perfs, the Micro-Perforator is designed to kiss-cut the sheet, and the narrow profile perf blade cuts through only to the bottom of the sheet, not beyond, which also minimises the knife area in actual contact with the sheet.

This means you get a cleaner, finer cut which permits the sheet to lay flat, and because the Micro-Perforators blade is mounted on a special shock absorbing cushion, you get an accurate, precise kiss-cut the entire length of the sheet. Micro-Perforator blades are break resistant for two reasons:

1. Strong double bevel construction
2. They cut against a comparatively softer nylon rather than steel.You get perfect, straight line micro perfs without the cost or the headache!
   They cut against a comparatively softer nylon rather than steel.You get perfect, straight line micro perfs without the cost or the headache!

Benefits include:

1. Eliminates micro perf outsourcing
2. Save hours and days in turnaround time
3. Produces sheets that will run through laser printers and copiers
4. Sells jobs that you used to turn away
5. Saves thousands of pounds on smashed printing press blankets
6. No installation required, simply slide onto folders slitter shafts
7. Frees up your printing press and die cutter for profitable work
8. Never break a perf blade again!

Want to Crease, micro-perf and cut using one device?

The Multi-Tool is the answer to your problems

After many years of research, development and mistakes (we learned from the mistakes) we came up with a unique set of patented applications that answer some of the toughest questions in print finishing. Each application was designed to replace the need for print and print finishers to outsource their work for specialist creasing, micro-perforating and cutting. No other single person or company had ever achieved this objective before. The Multi-Tool combines all of these ground breaking applications in one single multi-functional device. Each facet to the device has been thought out by a team of print finishing technicians and world class engineers so that the operator doesn’t have to spend hours setting it up, all the work has been done. Here are just some of the benefits the Multi-Tool has to offer...

• Produces perfect letterpress style creasing with 8 settings to stop cracking on all stock ranges from 85-350gsm
• Produces flat and almost invisible micro-perforations to cater for a full range of material, so good that the perfed sheets can easily run through laser printers 
• Produces Razor sharp slitting, double cutting and edge-trimming that out performs other rotary methods many times over
• Combines close proximity creasing/micro-perforating and cutting.
• Eliminates outsourcing of creasing and micro-perforating
• Allows you to handle jobs you used to turn away
• Saves thousands in smashed up blankets
• Puts an end to broken perf blades
• Simple installation
• Requires no special operator skills
   

Go back