Blanket Tips

From A to Z

Measuring the packing height.
Small effort, big effect.

Even if you followed the requirement profile exactly when producing your cylinder packings, there’s one other thing you should never forget – the tolerances.

No manufacturer of plates, rubber blankets or underpacking foils will ever guarantee the nominal thickness of their products without specifying a thickness tolerance (as defined by the ISO standard). These deviations can occasionally amount to as much as several hundredths of a millimetre. The normal reduction in thickness due to tensioning and sinking must then be added on for rubber blankets. All these tolerances combined can quickly reach a value that exceeds every standard published.

We therefore recommend that you measure your cylinder packings regularly – and why not your stocks as well while you’re at it? – and check the thickness and tension values for all printing units. This is certainly an excellent way to avoid problems in the pressroom and extend the life of your material.

Only essential instruments and accessories
You can find everything you really need in our range: the analogue, easy-to-use BIRKAN thickness gauge, for example, or an electronic packing gauge for on-press measurements in seconds. A torque wrench should also be part of any printer‘s standard equipment.