25x36 M3's BOWING

[Clark]

I purchased some new 25x36 M3's and was installing the Newman Flash Panels in them.  I believe my meter to be accurate, and at 30+ N this is what the screens look like.  The bowing along with the eery creaking sound they are making have me scared to go much higher than this.  I have some 23x31's at 40+N's I havent noticed any bowing.  Is the added length causing this, and how will it effect the printing...seems like they are for sure going to be warped when put on press.

[Orion]

I would say it is the length. Those frames can handle the high tension levels with that tube diameter. I believe Newman does not make any frame tube in that diameter longer than 36".

[alan802]

I started noticing bowing on our 23x31's around 45 newtons.  We have some old 18x20 with the plastic corners and they start bowing at 17-18 newtons.

That sucks that they are bowing at 30 newtons.  I thought they would be much stronger than that.  In theory, well factually, it will affect the print, but I think it would be so minimal that the human eye won't be able to catch it.  Our 18x20 are bowed significantly but I've never had any issue on press or registration wise.

[alan802]

Hey Chris, when was the last time your meter was calibrated?  And those frames are from back in the day when they still used the blue coating and they have made some significant upgrades to the frames since then.  The rollers were reconfigured by using a slightly different inside diameter and the addition of channels to add strength.  The corners were also re-done to help with strength issues.  We've got some of the very first newman rollers that were ever sold and I've learned a lot about the differences from the older frames we use to the new ones.  Bill has gone over all of those changes with me at different times whenever we start talking about screens and frames.  He gives me a hard time about using the Shurloc ez frames but it's all in good fun and banter.  I think there is only one guy who knows and understands the newmans better than Bill, and that's Don.

[Clark]

It's never been calibrated since I have owned it.  But when I put it on the glass it hit 100 perfectly.  SO there are newer Rollers than these?  I just bought these new from GSG last week.

[Evo]

It's never been calibrated since I have owned it.  But when I put it on the glass it hit 100 perfectly.  SO there are newer Rollers than these?  I just bought these new from GSG last week.

Looking for the damn Roller Frame pdf manual...

Anyway, there is a way to compensate for this with bolt mesh by cranking up a frame to the desired tension, measuring the total deflection (bowing) then when setting up the mesh in the frame before inserting the lock strips, you release a measured amount of mesh from the clips at the center of the frame. (half the deflection amount at each opposing roller).

I've done it for some lower mesh count frames that I cranked up past 45 newtons on 23x31's. It helps.

Don't think it can be done with panel mesh unless this compensation is built in.

[alan802]

It's never been calibrated since I have owned it.  But when I put it on the glass it hit 100 perfectly.  SO there are newer Rollers than these?  I just bought these new from GSG last week.

Are the new one's from GSG powder coated blue?  I thought that any newman that is blue in color is of the older design without the changes I mentioned earlier.  I'll get back with you on that for clarification to see if perhaps I am wrong and maybe some of the blue frames are of the latest design.  Any newman roller with blue powder coating is a few years old, I think.

I am also looking forward to your thoughts on the newman flash panels.  I've been holding off on buying new mesh because of financial reasons and I just haven't made up my mind as to what mesh I really want to go with.  I'm leaning heavily towards the murakami smartmesh with S threads, but I really want to give the newman flash panels a ride before I invest a $1K in mesh.

[Clark]

Yes, they are blue.  And I ordered them from GSG last week. I think they had been used at a show because there was emulsion and ink on them (another thread/story altogether ).  So they may have been sitting around there awhile.

These are the first flash panels I have purchased, so we will see how it goes.  It may be awhile before I test them, but I can't imagine there being any great advantage if I can't get the Newtons over 30 without the severe bowing.

[alan802]

Alright, I got some clarification on the blue m3 frames.  The m3's are still powder coated blue so I was wrong about that in my previous posts.  They are going to stop powder coating them one of these days, supposedly.