Cylinder Build Up Material

Advantages to Cylinder Build Up Material

Advantages to cylinder build up material include enabling the user to optimize smaller print cylinders for orders requiring longer repeats, therefore minimizing the need for addition costly print cylinder purchases. Build up materials come in a variety of thickness, two of the most common thicknesses are .040" for 1/4 c.p. print cylinders and .050" for 10 d.p. print cylinders. By increasing the radius of a 1/4 c.p. by .040", you acquire ability to add 1/4" to the print cylinder repeat when accompanied by the correct corresponding gear. By increasing the radius of a 10 d.p. by .050" you acquire ability to jump up one cylinder size when accompanied by the correct corresponding gear.

Note: When utilizing 1/4 c.p. print cylinders, the print cylinder radius naturally increases by .040" from one repeat length to the next. Therefore the user may also use the next larger size print cylinder (if available) with the smaller gear corresponding to the desired print cylinder repeat to, then allowing the transition of .107" plates to .067" plates without the need of new cylinders with a new undercut, and purchasing .040" sleeves or build up material as a means of making up the undercut difference.

The cylinder build up material can be used repeatedly, but can be removed once the user desires to return to it's original BCD (bare cylinder diameter). It therefore can be a very cost effective consideration to the purchase of additional print cylinders, to sleeves that are being used as a repeat extender, or as a means to make up the difference when transitioning from a thicker to a thinner plate.