Pallets : with or without rubber

[ol man]

Pallets : with or without rubber -any  arguments for or against? 

[ZooCity]

I've always had them with rubber.

MHM ers use without (honeycomb) and the consensus seems to be that both are dandy but you have to voice your squeegee blade to each.  Harder blade on rubber platens.  Softer blade on straight aluminum. 

I would probably wig out a little trying to print straight to the hard metal at first but I bet it's all the same once you adjust to either.

[ol man]

i have one machine with, one without. 
Ive been wondering lately if the rubber , being malleable ( to a certain degree) might cause it to become uneven over time, and the abuses of printing.

[Evo]

I've printed with both, and I'd have to say rubber all the way. Much, MUCH easier to achieve and control opacity with light on dark prints.

Not for:
- People who are abusive to equipment in general
- People with a short attention span who are in control of things that can start fires, like flash units

Other than that, they will last for many years with a little care. Just don't cut or burn them, and clean them fairly often and you're good.

[brandon]

I have a buddy that when they got their first auto the platens came w/o the rubber. They thought that was just the way it goes until much later. After they found out there was an option involved (applying the rubber) it was too late as they were used to running it that way and had no problems. And since they use water base spray only it just wipes right off. So they have been doing it for years and will never use the rubber application. Makes sense to me

[ZooCity]

I've seen a couple different types of the rubber and yes, it's not perfectly even.  Doesn't have to be though, I think that's the point.

[californiadreamin]

It is to each his own!
Some facts. White rubber as we know it, was first used by American scree print machines
In the late seventies, to hide the tops of screw
Heads, so the surface would be smooth. It was, pre flash days so pallet temp was not important.
As today the white rubber specs max 220 degrees, even to low for todays high temps. Rubber is
Softer, but hardens with heat. Rubber on top is mostly an American idea, but not the norm for around  the world.Plastisol is not as popular,as water base,which is why quartz flashes were first
Used for. Unlike plastisol, high pallet temps,are not welcome in most waterbase operations, because
Drying in of screens, is a big enough problem on its own, which can offer other benifits for plastisol.
Hence the honeycomb pallets! Super flat and they dont retain  heat like solid alum wit rubber. Printers can then use pellons,felt with spray tac and remove  after the job. I have used solid alum
With thin silicone sheet applied to them, which works great! I prefer honeycombs.
Waterbase inks continue to rise,while plastisol as we know iy wanes

[blue moon]

interesting! Our MHM does not use rubber and I often wished for it. Reading the post about the waterbased inks puts things in perspective. Grass is always greener' so I never stopped to think about our advantages, but rather concentrated on what could be better if we had rubber (easier to print, more forgiving, faster flash times . . .).

I wondered why we don't have to use a cool down station but can get away with just slowing down the flood on the afterflash head. This post kinda hit home and I connected all the dots (finally!).

pierre

[TCT]

We actually have both.  anatol-rubber and the S.Roque has no rubber. With using both, I like without better. Subconsciously my opinion may be based off the fact that one machine is far superior than the other.

We put one layer of pallet tape on the rubber,  warm it up and apply another.  Which makes for easier replacement of top layer. The bottom layer is almost never replaced.  We have not had as much luck with that on the rubber-less pallets.  But the 1 layer comes off with ease, so the double application is not really necessary.