Blades Utilized
Some 85 percent of the FTA printer member sample report their doctor blade choices include examples made from different materials. Specifically, 46 percent elect two distinct choices, 24 percent say three and 15 percent more than three. Similarly, 15 percent stay with a single option.
What Are Your SOPs on Blade Changes?
Most popular among the different varieties are stainless steel doctor blades. Fifty-seven percent of respondents inventory that material. Fifty-five percent keep plastic doctor blades on hand. Forty-one percent stock carbon steel doctor blades and 39 percent carry coated steel.Preferred edges among poll respondents, with selection of multiple options possible, list out as follows:
- Bevel: 74 percent
- Radius: 37 percent
- Lamela: 20 percent
Ideal blade thickness varies by plant, according to FLEXO’s doctor blade flash poll. Seventy-three percent name 0.008-in as top choice. In second place, at 50 percent, 0.010-in. Third place, at 38 percent, 0.006-in.; and fourth, at 17 percent, 0.012-in.
The story proves similar for containment blades, with 50 percent electing the 0.008-in option; 34 percent selecting, 0.010-in; 25 percent, 0.012-in and 23 percent, 0.006-in.
Seventy-six percent of printers in the query admit to using a different blade for opaque white ink; as compared to 4-color process cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Forty-one percent opt for a different blade when running UV ink.