Charlotte, NC – At the recent PLGA Global Tech Conference on "The Gravure Advantage," Tony Donato offered a detailed briefing on the benefits and uses of laser engraved ceramic cylinders. As Product Development Engineer at global anilox supplier Harper Corporation of America, he's more than a little familiar with the subject. 

Donato made extensive use of photos, illustrations, histograms and charts in his presentation on engraved ceramic cylinders in gravure applications. A Harper tabletop display during the Charlotte sessions featured a sampling of company products, highlighted by the patent pending Phantom QD family of precision, self-powered portable proofing systems.

Donato recapped the general characteristics of ceramic cylinders. These include superior wear resistance enabling use of tool steel and ceramic tipped doctor blades; the importance of post engraving polishing for substrates and doctor blade wear; that ceramic can be applied over SST and corrosion resistant bonds can be used; that a ceramic cylinder meters best at 60-degrees or more of blade angle.

The Harper product specialist pointed out that while ceramic cylinders are more expensive than conventional ones, they deliver dramatically extended service life and can be reverse metered for chamber metering. Also, the cylinders can be engraved with cells or using TIF file images or patterns. Another key: they accommodate a virtually limitless combination of Lpi and volumes (BCM).