Pallet Rubber

[garagewear]

Just wondering who has installed pallet rubber on their aluminum platens this and if so did it improve your prints on your auto? Easier to flash? Do you still use pallet tape?

[alan802]

yes, but only to replace old rubber so I can't really answer the rest of your questions except hell yes on the pallet tape.

[JBLUE]

That was the one thing I wish we had when we had our Jav. Those pallets get hotter than hell. It well definitely help the print too. Pallet tape is a no brainer. Cant live without it.

[tonypep]

Not sure which auto we are talking about but most assuredly you will need to adjust your off contact if you do this. The glue and rubber may be purchased from M&R or Action. I rough cut the rubber so that it exceeds the dimensions of the platen. Isopropyl alcohol
applied pryor to glue application hepls with adhesion. After applying the rubber turn the platen face down on the flattest surface you can find. Weight it down with a 5 gallon ink bucket (your choice of color). Let sit overnight. Next, using a fresh razor do the final trim. Finally (this step often overlooked) carefully file or grind the edges and finish with a medium grit emory cloth. This helps to minimize the dreaded "shirt board marks"
tp

[mk162]

This helps to minimize the dreaded "shirt board marks"

I still have the marks from my last beating here. 

[Action1]

Just wondering who has installed pallet rubber on their aluminum platens this and if so did it improve your prints on your auto? Easier to flash? Do you still use pallet tape?

The one and only one downside to Soft Top Rubber is that it costs money. After that - there's nothing but benefit.

Advantages -
Better Print Quality
Better penetration into the shirt with less squeegee pressure
Reduced flash times.
Helps keep the pallet warm - but not too hot
Reduces mesh wear & emulsion breakdown
Protects that pallet surface
Flash compatible
Pallet Paper compatible
Easy cleanup with standard industry solvents

There's a good reason that it's used on most  major brands of automatics. The owners of machinery that don't include it - eventually put it on. Machines such as MHM or TAS, or even the TUF are all good equipment. Owners of that machinery very often request pallets with soft top rubber.

[ebscreen]

What about rubber on honeycomb pallets? There was a discussion awhile back
about it, and Rich from M&R ended up saying that they had tried it and ended up
taking back thousands of dollars worth of pallets due to de-lamination. Any insight?

[Action1]

?What about rubber on honeycomb pallets? There was a discussion awhile back
about it, and Rich from M&R ended up saying that they had tried it and ended up
taking back thousands of dollars worth of pallets due to de-lamination. Any insight?

Yes actually - I recall that period when they were using honeycomb and rubber. Circa 1995 -  1996 I think. The difference is that they were using a 1/4" thick honeycomb material. Our honeycomb aluminum for the MHM's is just under 1/2" and sealed with a solid aluminum inset framing. We have had a remarkably low failure rate on this material. To my recollection - there has been no delamination in our 20 years of honeycomb production. The addition of the rubber to the 1/2" thick honeycomb is an excellent idea. We often advise the use of these material for large format pallets but not standard sizes. The only downside to honeycomb is it's surface fragility. With rubber on the honeycomb surface - this issue is almost eliminated completely.

BTW - Rich did take them back - and made good on all of it - with everyone. That had to be very painful - but he did it right. We also have had many expensive lessons over the years and have learned the hard way what works and what doesn't.

[garagewear]

Going to install my pallet rubber this weekend after our last print job. It shoud be ready for flashing on Monday!