200 Years of Experience...
Celebrating our Bicentennial
Anniversary 1812-2012

Fast Delivery...
Need blades urgently? We will do everything possible to meet your needs, including non-standard widths.

Small Quantities...
No order is too small, we are happy to quote for small blade quantities and one-off orders.

Quality...
We only use the finest quality doctor blade material and our rigid inspection procedure ensures a premium finished product.

Customer Service...
Efficient and friendly staff to listen to your requirements.

Technical Support...
Having doctoring problems or coating problems? We are pleased to provide assistance.

Working with You...
We value your business and are committed to meeting customer needs.

MATERIAL & EDGE SELECTION for GRAVURE & FLEXO PRINTING


MATERIAL SELECTION

SQCP600, SQCV600 and SQCB600 Carbon Steel Doctor Blade

  • Fine structure combines micro particle wear with durability/flexibility
  • Operates in all ink environments - corrosion issue can arise in water based conditions, relevant to length of print run/blade clean down
  • Polished (P600) or Blue (B600)? Basically the steel properties are the same, blue is from heat treatment oxidising the surface and performance should be the same – some users report better performance/wear from our blue material, which is often selected for narrow web
  • Combine with SQCG620 where print run requirement varies and for difficult colours

SQCG620 Longlife Doctor Blade (Gold Doctor Blade)

  • Superior structure material
  • All ink environments – corrosion issue can arise in water based conditions
  • Copes well with difficult colours
  • Long print runs – 5 x plus - saving valuable downtime
  • Combine with SQC 600 range where print run requirement varies and difficult colours

SQCSS400 Stainless Doctor Blade

  • The structure of our material enables durabilty/flexibility to match SQC 600 range
  • Use where corrosion is identified as a problem
  • More expensive than carbon steel but justified for avoiding blade corrosion damage to cylinder/roller and streaks in print

PY350 and PY500 Polyester Doctor Blade

  • Durable material – perhaps not for all environments
  • Corrosion not a problem
  • Wear debris less likely to cause damage, although abrasion can still occur
  • Can be used as a retainer blade/containment blade combined with steel doctor

EDGE SELECTION


Square / Rounded edge
  • Full gauge contact may provide longer life – broader area of blade taking the wipeload and more resistant to flexing
  • On the negative side a broader area increases contact friction – drag affect may reduce fineness of wipe
  • A good choice for flexo, perhaps a limitation for gravure
Bevelled edge
  • Fine contact edge improves “tightness” of metering hence quality of wipe/print
  • Excellent for flexo, perhaps a limitation for gravure
  • More resistant to flex than stepped (lamella)
  • Bevelled edge SQCG620 is an ideal choice of longer runs/difficult colours
Stepped (Lamella) edge
  • Area of fine contact remains the same through wear hence consistent wipe/print
  • Excellent for gravure
  • Chosen by some for flexo, however the flexo doctoring angle leaves the fine gauge open to flexing under pressure. This can be a problem.

NOTE - SELECTING CORRECT DOCTORING ANGLE OF THE BLADE IS AN ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENT