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Cold Foiling Guide
Benefits of Cold Foiling
•
Fast set up
•
No up front tooling costs - or dies
•
Faster running speeds
•
Works on a
wide variety of substrates
•
Quick
turnaround
•
Short
or long
print runs
•
Excellent
registration
•
In-line
and in house
What is
Cold Foiling?
Cold
foiling is the process of applying adhesive to a substrate and then
applying easy release foils onto the adhesive without the use of hot
dies or heated rollers. Over the last 5 - 10 years only a few companies
have commercially used cold foiling.
What do I need for Cold Foiling?
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UV Letterpress / UV Flexo machine
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Medium - hard printing plate
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UV curing adhesive
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Lamination station (85 durometer or harder)
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Cold foil
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Nip rollers (top-rubber / bottom-steel)
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UV lamp (min 400 watts per inch)
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Various anilox rollers (300/20 recommended)
Adhesive Type
The free radical adhesive reacts only when exposed to UV light. A cure
through foil must be applied to the un-cured adhesive before the UV lamp
station.
Wet Lamination Process
1.
Print adhesive
2. Laminate foil to surface
3. Pass substrate and laminated foil through UV lamp to
harden adhesive
and to bond the foil to the substrate
4. De-laminate foil (die-cut / strip as needed)
* cure through foil is required for this application *
Items that are Crucial to Successful Application
• UV Letterpress / UV Flexo press
• Coated or
filled stock is recommended to prevent soaking in
(paper or board
stocks)
• Films should be
pre-treated or top coated or primed
• Use our "cure
through" Cold foil
• The proper UV
curing adhesive for your type of printing
• Various anilox
rollers
• Anilox -
carefully selected to suit plate design and substrate
• Medium/Hard
printing plate
• Bearer bars on plates significantly improve quality
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Unwind and
rewind laminating unit must be true
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Foil tension
through web must be controlled
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Debris on the
substrate can reduce the quality and affect the
cure of the adhesive
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Nip rollers
(top-rubber / bottom-steel) (85 durometer or harder)
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Ability to
alter the pressure on the nip roller for different substrates
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Rollers must be
clean with a smooth surface
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UV lamp (min
400 watts per inch)
Procedure
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Apply a thin film of adhesive to surface using an anilox roller.
•
Film thickness
depends on users requirements and substrate.
•
Us as sharp an angle as possible when lifting the foil away
from the substrate to maintain sharp lines on your image.
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Press speeds of
between 150 and 300 fpm are recommended.
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Make sure that
the surface to be coated is clean and
contaminant free.
Please Note:
Always
consult your sales representative regarding any new application.
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