Specifications
PAGE 68
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Important Information
Viscospatula Use Instructions
General Description
The viscospatula is designed as a simple but efcient tool to assist
you in establishing a consistent and reasonable accurate viscosity
when mixing inks for use in your pad printing machinery. You will
notice the ve smaller holes at the wider end of the spatula. The
speed at which your ink runs from the top hole (number one) to
the last hole (number ve), is the measure of an ink’s viscosity.
Remember: The thinner the ink, the faster it will move from the
rst hole to the last.
Method of use
1. Mix the ink in a coffee size cup using the spatula and add thinner
until the ink is at the viscosity that appears correct.
2. Dip the spatula into the ink until “A” is covered.
3. Remove the spatula from the ink until the spatula is no longer
submerged in the ink.
4. Immediately when the ink runs out of the hole “A”, begin counting.
Once the ink passes hole “B”, the number you have counted to is
your reference count.
5. This same procedure can be used to maintain consistent ink
viscosities for any inks you use. Once you have an ink working
properly on a particular application, use the viscospatula to
identify it’s viscosity setting and establish a point to mix the
ink at the next time that you need to perform a similar setup.
When the viscospatula is new, it will naturally take longer for the
ink to travel down to hole number ve. This is due to the pores in the
plastic still being open and creating a slight bond with the ink. Once
the viscospatula has been broken in, a suggested time of 6 - 8 sec-
onds should work well under normal conditions with a plate that has
been etched to a depth of approximately .001" or 25μ. The suggest-
ed time will vary depending on the specic application and ambient
conditions.
As a general rule, the deeper the plate etch depth the thicker the ink
should be; however, remember that the plate depth has denite re-
strictions, and etch depths that are too deep will create certain types
of printing problems.