We Reveal The Four Key Reasons Why Common Scoring Devices Fail To Eliminate Fibre Cracking On Your Folding Machine And Exactly How Our Revolutionary Tri-creaser Does

12 Feb 2008 - 14:00

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you could produce perfect letterpress style creasing on your folding machine that solved your cracking problems forever? Imagine having the confidence to crease and fold absolutely any printed stock you produce, regardless of its weight or whether it is has a UV varnish or gloss coating. Imagine never having to worry ever again if the grain of the stocks were running with the fold or not.

To understand how we became the first and only company to produce the perfect creasing device for folding machines we will soon reveal something that even your folding manufacturers and many others have failed to realise - The four key reasons why common scoring devices fail to eliminate fibre cracking.

Have You Experienced The Same Kind Of Problems?

It’s late on Friday afternoon and the Bindery manager is beginning to panic as his top folding machine operator fails to get a decent score on a four page brochure after over five hours of trying. Why hadn’t anyone mentioned to him that the brochure was printed with a solid black ink and that the grain was running against the fold? All he’s getting is cracking, no matter how hard he tries to stop it.

The company account manager has got involved because he promised to drop the brochure off at his client’s house on his way home; after all they are urgently needed for an exhibition in the morning. The folding machine operator knows that the scoring device on his folder is not up to the job in hand and he feels embarrassed as the crowd that is gathering behind him witness his every move. Everyone seems to turn into an expert in the art of scoring as they desperately offer their suggestions on how to stop the ugly cracking from appearing on top of the fold. Nothing seems to work as the steel scoring blade starts to work more like a slitter as it cuts the brochure in half.

The account manager turns and makes the long and difficult journey to the phone in his office to ask if his client will accept the cracking!!

Are You Fed Up With The Same Old Scoring Devices And Techniques That Constantly Fail You Time And Time Again... ?

Outsourcing your creasing may not always be an option and sometimes the work that is not quoted to be pre-creased cracks anyway, this is just the way it happens as your scoring device just isn’t designed to stop it.

Through our quest in coming up with the perfect creasing solution for folding machines we researched and found out why all methods of scoring simply do not work.

Here are the four key reasons why common scoring devices fail to eliminate fibre cracking:

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.

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.

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 settings 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 cutting the sheet in half or creating such a weak and ineffective impression.

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.

So why hasn’t anyone come up with a suitable scoring device that stops cracking?

Opportunists and machine manufacturers alike have all come up with some strange solutions in a bid to improve scoring on a folding machine but none have succeeded in eliminating the problem of cracking. They all fail to realise any of the four key reasons (listed above). Some have tried scoring into rubber in order to cushion the harsh steel blade and reduce stress to the material but this only gives minimal improvement to paper stock and nothing more.

At best there are those talented and skilled technicians that produce a stop gap method that gets them out of a mess sometimes, but is this good enough? Are you prepared to take the gamble?

The simple fact is that they have all got it wrong; a scoring device will never completely eradicate the problem of fibre cracking on a folding machine.

Imagine How much Time and Money You Would Save With A Perfect Creasing Device - As Well As The Added Bonus Of Keeping Control Of Your Own Work

Imagine being able to confidently crease and fold book covers, greetings cards, mailers or any leaflet, even if its printed in dark blue or black, regardless of grain direction. What if the device required no effort to set and that even your least experienced operator could use it?

Ease of use and flexibility are great but what about the other benefits your company will gain such as saving on transport costs, saving on expensive Cylinder time and saving on downtime in production. We all know it can sometimes be stressful handing over your valuable print to another operation and then worrying if it will come back creased the right way and exactly in the right place. What price would you put on avoiding all these unnecessary hassles and be able to keep control of your own work?

The Solution: A Simple And Very Effective Device That Conclusively Dismisses The Scoring Theory

After researching why existing methods of scoring fail we studied the mechanics of the tried and tested flatbed Cylinder crease. We noticed a remarkable distinction between common scoring as opposed to conventional creasing. And with this in mind we set to work on producing a simple device that would produce an array of quality Cylinder style creases as opposed to linear scoring. In fact the only similarity we wanted to inherit from a common scoring device was that our solution would also fit onto the shafts of a folding machine.

The device had to be much easier to use than the drawn out process adopted in letterpress creasing where the operator sticks matrix strips to a drum. We wanted to incorporate all the settings in one device so that instant results were achievable without the users having to make any kind of fine adjustments themselves.

In January 1999 we succeeded in meeting our requirements and produced the worlds first and only rotary creasing solution that totally eliminates fibre cracking. We named it the Tri-creaser.

Below are the reasons why the Tri-creaser is so unique and groundbreaking.

1) Replaces the steel scoring concept with a softer patented creasing solution that penetrates the material up to three times deeper, without splitting or damaging the stock. The forgiving and gentle 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.

2) Replaces the V shape score for a rounded or U-shaped crease that spreads the impression evenly across the width without the distortion to the centre that is common with other devices. 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.

3) Replaces the regular single score setting for 8 crease options that easily stop the cracking on the full range of materials that run through your folding machine from 85-350gsm, regardless of grain direction, solid ink coverage or whether it has been UV varnished or laminated. The Tri-creaser Easy Fit has 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.

4) Replaces the method of scoring on the inside of the product through the effective reverse crease application. This means that the device 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 letterpress method can be replicated on a folding machine.

The Tri-creaser has evolved over the years through natural development and customer feedback in our bid to reach greater levels of flexibility.

The Tri-creaser range of products guarantees all of the following:

• Completely eliminates fibre cracking 100% on stock ranges 100-350gsm
• Produces a crease that is as good or better than a flatbed Cylinder impression
• Produces any one of a choice of multiple crease settings for any imaginable print/stock combination, and works like magic on difficult toner based digital output
• Works just as well when it creases and folds against the grain
• Works as fast as your folding machine can run with no limitations on speed
• Takes only minutes to set up and seconds to change from one crease setting to another
• Pays for itself within 1-3 job runs
• Saves expensive outsourcing costs
• Saves hours and hours of time
• Gets the work to your customer faster

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

“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

Tri-creaser Easy Fit

The Tri-creaser Easy Fit comes pre-set and ready to attach to the exit shafts of your folding machine.

There are 3 types of colour coded creasing ribs with unique profiles to deal with stock ranges of 85-350gsm.

Changing from one setting to another whilst the device is mounted on the shaft takes only minutes. A fixing screw is simply undone to release a security hub so that the old setting can be substituted for another. The two spare creasing ribs are retained in a storage area within the body of the device and can be used when required.

Female creasing component

As the three creasing ribs determine the strength of the crease the female 8 channel component produces the desired width. This component is colour dot-coded to correspond with the creasing ribs. With 8 varying creasing widths available to combine with the relevant strength the perfect combination for any stock is achieved with little effort.

Tri-creaser Fast Fit

For a small capital investment you can own the very latest in Tech-ni-Fold creasing excellence by upgrading to the Tri-creaser Fast Fit.

At a glance the Tri-creaser Fast Fit resembles the previous Easy Fit version and retains exactly the same combination of crease and depth choices. The difference is the introduction of clever split rib technology that allows even quicker insertion of crease styles.

The split creasing rib system was originally designed for those machines where the shafts are not easily removable.

The idea is to simply thread the desired split rib into a separation area of the fixed male component where a special locking hub encompasses it securely into place. There are no gaps as the two ends of the creasing ribs are engaged perfectly.

This latest adaptation means that setting is faster and the storage facility incorporated into the previous Easy Fit version becomes obsolete.

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