Idler Roller Bearings: Living the Good Long Life?

Published: July 01, 2008

Most bearings are designed for a hard life, expecting to end up on a drive shaft of a high-speed motor with a heavy load. Some bearings, however, end

Web Lines: The Spin on Idler Roller Testing

Published: June 01, 2008

It's an election year, so I'd like to join the political pundits and offer some spin of my own, but my spin will be free of political opinions. Instead,

A Recipe for Scratching

Published: May 01, 2008

This month we're having another session of Do the Opposite. I'm going to tell you how to make great scratches. The solution to stopping scratches is to

Buyers & Suppliers: Can We Dance?

Published: March 01, 2008

Buying equipment is a partnership between the equipment buyers and equipment suppliers. The dance begins when a buyer has a need (and hopefully the money)

Web Lines: Thinking About New Equipment?

Published: February 01, 2008

A new year often brings new budgets and thoughts about new equipment. If you are lucky enough to be handed a project to buy new converting equipment,

Roll Winding Dynamics

Published: February 01, 2008

Materials today often are more than they may seem at first glance; many are manufactured with non-conventional properties. Label and semi-glossed enamel stocks are engineered

Get a Grip: Driving Your Web

Published: January 01, 2008

In my October 2007 column, In Search of Tension Isolation, I myth-busted the belief that a high traction driven roller can completely isolate one tension

Picking Up the Pace

Published: January 01, 2008

As press manufacturers continue to introduce presses that can run faster in theory but not necessarily in practice it falls to the manufacturers of register

Parallel Protocol

Published: January 01, 2008

Roll alignment is a requirement for every converting process that produces some sort of web, film, or coating. When a machine is first installed, each

Differential Winding Limits: Part I

Published: November 01, 2007

The purpose of differential winding is to apply a desired torque to two or more rolls winding on a single shaft. Differential winding allows multiple rolls to turn at differing speeds, with each roll free to slip at the speed required to compensate for roll-to-roll diameter variations and strand-to-strand length variations.

Slitting & Rewinding Fundamentals for Converters

Published: October 12, 2007

The CEMA Slitting & Rewinding Fundamentals for Converters Seminar will be held November 13 and 14, 2007, in Minneapolis, MN, and will take you step by step through the best practices techniques in such areas as winding, slitting, cores and cutting, retrofitting, chucks, shafts, spreading, and guiding.

In Search of Tension Isolation

Published: October 01, 2007

In web handling, one of the myths told most frequently is that of the independent tension zone, protected from other tension zones by the protective powers of the tension isolation. Like most myths, we want to believe, but alas, scientific reason is the myth buster.

Ready for Change

Published: October 01, 2007

Expensive materials change attitudes at Gintzler Graphics, where automatic splicing capabilities from Martin Automatic reduce waste.

Support Your Rollers

Published: September 01, 2007

How should a roller be supported or attached to your equipment? To answer this question, let’s review your roller support needs and your options to meet these needs.

Baggy Webs: Part 4 Minimizing

Published: August 01, 2007

What does minimizing a baggy web mean? Two things. First, we would like to minimize the level of bagginess in our webs. Second, we would like to minimize the waste associated with running the inevitable baggy web in our processes. To minimize the creation of baggy webs, we must take on their causes.