Foam Board Edge Ink Chipping on Fuji Direct Print!

[F1225hgB42w]

Hey Everybody!

We've started doing more direct printing in our shop on a Fuji Acuity with KI inks (we upgraded from KO inks to try and solve issues with dark ink coverage chipping out on Foam Board - lets say 300% plus). We use a knife system with a drag knife to finish cutting out foam board direct prints. In areas of heavy coverage we have ink chip out and don't know how to solve it! Any help is much appreciated!!!

Summary:

3/16 Foam Board - Direct Print with Fuji Acuity KI ink set
Cutting with a drag knife on a cnc/knife system
Inks chip out along the edge of foam board in heavy ink coverage - we need help to stop this from happening

Thoughts:

- Could we use a different UV curing setting - our Acuity goes from level 2 cure up to level 5 cure (5 is the strongest cure)?
- Is there a knifing strategy we should try (we run 500 in./min. in a climb direction)?
- Should we let our inks sit longer before cutting (we typically cut within a few hours of printing)? How long should we wait until cutting - 24 hours 48 hours?

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[arvindrlaxman]

There is an option to lower the ink density. If your ink density is 100% try lowering it down. Should make a difference.

And i have a doubt which one of them provides a glossy finish. KI or KO ?

 

[Techman]

cut first half way through then print.

 

[F1225hgB42w]

Ink Chipping follow up

Hey Guys/Gals -

Thanks for taking time to give me some feedback!

arvindrlaxman -

When you say lower ink density, do you mean lower the ink limits per channel? Do you mean drop Total ink limit? Or if you are talking about shooting for a lower target ink density when profiling builds? I'm not sure what you mean to lower ink density, I use the Onyx RIP and make profiles through Onyx Thrive.

As for the KO vs KI and gloss finish - both have a glossier finish the their KA ink set that Fuji released (which has a matte finish and a much smaller gamut), but Fuji says the KO inks are glossier and that the KI inks are a satin finish. I personally feel that the KI inks are glossier (but what do I know).

Your advise is really appreciated!

Techman -

When we cut with our cnc router in multipass it still chips out, when I use a panel cutting (our Keen Cutter) and a regular razor knife in two passes we don't have much if any chipout at all. Any ideas why a regular box cutter/razor knife would work but our cnc drag knife system seems to chip out a lot more?

Thanks for all the help!

 

[lgroth]

We have the same problem with Fuji inks... We've resorted to pre-cutting almost everything that goes on our Acuity.