Bindery Stack-Up

My time in Bindery has come and gone quickly. However, I think I'll be making a Bindery Come-Back later down the line to get a better grasp of some of the technical concepts, machine capabilities and job nuances etc. It might be helpful to do that after my Press and Shipping rotations, and possibly again after or alongside Production Planning.

I've spent the greater part of the past four weeks engaging with the physical side of Bindery, or what I playfully refer to as "cultivating an intimate relationship with the machinery". As an update from previous Bindery entries, I have gotten much better at fanning paper, and at keeping up with the folder. I do a decent job of driving the guillotine blade down on the 'old skool' cutter, too. CHHHHHHHHHHHHHOP!!! Mimi, who is truly a Bindery Super Woman, said "Bindery is good exercise!" I've been lifting a lot of paper, and stacking my muscles. I even lost a couple pounds. Overall, Bindery has been good to me.

I even made some amazing relationships along the way (not just with the machines, but with the people too). Anyway, back to business, because I always need to be wary of overextending my sentimentality in any situation. Here's some more cool lessons I learned, thanks to the respectable Printing Professors who taught them to me...

Professor Steve, Cutting 101:

• Lesson #1: HOW TO PROGRAM THE CUTTER - This is accomplished by pulling the approved integris (docket) and bindery rule-up (bindery rule-up drawer by the Heidelberg) and meticulously measuring trims (gutters, face and back trims, and other cuts necessary). Programming integrates critical measurements of the work, the trims, and the additional pushes and pulls of the back guage which help with (un-)loading.

• Lesson #2: SIDE GUIDE-GRIPPER TIME! - The side guide edge is indicated by press tags inserted in bindery-ready jobs. From my understanding, the implication of side guides to Bindery is that they are helpful in properly orienting the work for cutting and other finishing processes. In jobs that I saw Steve work with, he chose to make the first cut by registering the gripper edge to the back gauge first (making the first cut opposite the gripper edge), and the second cut by registering the side guide edge, before making any other cuts. These have to be the starting point for programming cuts because they are the critical reference points on press as well. In some cases, the side guide is ambiguous or shifted. The person cutting must verify the side guide before making any cuts, otherwise he could make a costly mistake.
  

• Lesson #3: TOOLS AND TRICKS - False clamp can be removed to create a 2.5 inch clearance which will accomodate different types of work (must take care to add slip sheets to absorb the imprints of the actual clamp, which can leave marks on the work). Book clamps help with saddle stitched pieces, which tend to be spongier, so that they compress and align for accurate trimming.

• Lesson #4: WEIGHING IN - So there's the scale used for shipping, a big platform I always make a point to step on en route to the lunch room, and theres a few others which help with counting paper. There's a mechanical jogging contraption (I don't know what it's called) that not only straightens large piles of paper, but it serves to weigh them, and, using an air compressor, remove any air between sheets. It is hooked up to a smaller scale, which asks for 25 sheets. This is a reference point. Let's say you want bundles of 500 for cutting. You first use the small scale to determine the weight of 25 sheets of paper, which you manually count out. And then you multiply by 20 to get the weight for your bundle. That way, no one's counting out 500 sheets of paper each time they go to the cutter. Pretty cool, man.
  

Professor Chuck & Professor Kevin, Machinery 101:

• Lesson #1: MULLER MARTINI MICKEY MOUSING - "Mickey Mousing" is Watermark slang for cheap, innovative engineering tactics used to manipulate machines into doing what is necessary for the job at hand. Take, for example, a recent job we did for Bare Escentuals, a tiny little Bare Minerals Foundation brochure, to be stitched, one up. I would say the piece was something like 3x3 in size, an 8-page signature (need to verify) on thicker stock, something the Muller Martini isn't used to stitching. Setting up a job on the Muller Martini requires an hour or so regardless, but by the time Chuck was done with it in 2+ hours, it had paper taped here and there to guide the pieces so they wouldn't veer, or spin on the belt, which not only causes misalignments, but jams the machine (no bueno!). The Watermark stitcher is truly a kinetic sculpture, with all sorts of fabulous Mickey Mouse imagineered attachments. In summation, setting up the Muller Martini takes into account the pockets for loading (size adjustments), the belt (speed, and separations between pieces), the placement of the stitching and sizing of the wire relative to the paper stock, the placement of the knives, and where the piece outputs on the belt for final trimming and/or stitching.

• Lesson #2: SETTING UP THE FOLDER - Setting up the Stahl Folders is done by removing the plates which are responsible for the buckle aspect of the buckle and fold concept of folding machines. Next, two cylinders are removed to change the scoring or perfing collars, the round wheels with male (scoring or perfing) and female (groove) counterparts. Different paper and different jobs warrant the use of different collars, and when I watched Chuck set up a job, he had to remove the perfing collar used on the last job. While brushing up on the Bindery section of the latest edition of Pocket Pal (thanks LDP team!), I was reminded that the scoring must be done on the backside of the fold, so it goes on the cylinders, top and bottom, accordingly. Once this is done, on a flat surface mind you, the cylinders are placed back on the machine tightly, and are further adjusted during make-ready. Next, we measure the work and divide that measurement in half so we can adjust the metal guide that facilitates loading: it operates best when the work is centered on the belts. The test run is made to wrap down, under the feeding drum (belts are tightened, if necessary), and to the air source. During set up, it is important to verify that the loading is done straight, and the work is not straying off course or running into the machine's parts. After that, various gears are tightened and other adjustments are made. Kevin showed me how the 1-2-3-4-5 knobs work: slips of paper are placed under them to indicate to the folder the thickness of the work at different stages of folding. It informs the tension, and again, mimics the job process. The next stage is a matter of attaching more folders for a greater number of signatures, making sure the paper runs its intended course (weighted balls and guides help), and doing test runs and adjustments to make sure that it outputs work with accurate scores/perfs. Voila!

Professor Larry Bilsky, Bindery 101:

• Lesson #1: BIG PICTURE BINDERY PROCESS FLOW-

1. Press tags signed and dated by Pressmen indicating that a job is ready for Finishing.
2. Retrieve instructions from Production Planning, as indicated on Bindery Schedule and Dockets.
3. Retrieve Integris Proof (usually enclosed in Docket), and S.A.O.K. (same as, ok) Bindery Rule-Up from the Bindery Rule-Up Drawer (stored by the Heidelberg).
4. Review Docket, especially Bindery page, and match up (check and verify) with the physical printed product. If item is to be cut in stages (i.e. cut with the intention of running it on a folder/Roll-Em etc. before cutting again), this is important to note.
5. Work goes through a unique process flow of cutting, scoring, folding, perfing, and/or stitching according to the unique demands of the job. Some are simple cut-only jobs. Others are very complex and take a lot of time.
6. Work is processed through handwork, finishing (shrink wrapping, bundling, kitting) and shipping and distribution (packaging, labeling) and fulfillment (on-floor stocking for the future, at the client's request). Generally, this is overseen by Mimi, and her fleet of temporary workers, in conjunction with Larry Minetti and Larry Bilsky, as well as the Production Planner in charge of the job.
7. Finished work goes to Minetti to ship out to clients.
   
8. Finished work Dockets get placed on the rack, and the Integris goes in a box for Flat Filing (done by Bob in Pre-Press).

• Lesson #2: PRESS MARKINGS AND TAGS -

1. Black Line - Spoilage, minor. See notes.
2. Blue Line - Samples
3. Red Line - Spoilage, major. Recycle!
   
4. Make-Ready Tags - Anything below that was from Press Make-Ready. To be used for Bindery make-ready.
5. Press Tags - Signed and dated by pressman when run is completed. Indicates side guide. Okay for Bindery/Finishing.

• Lesson #3: WET SCORING - Wet Scoring is a process used to facilitate the folding of heavier, uncoated stock, like we used for the cutest job I've ever seen (a Chronicle Books for Kids poster showcasing Little Oink, pictured above). Wet scoring is embedded in the scoring/folding machinery. It calls for a syringe attached to a supply of one part isopropyl alcohol, and ten parts water, which squirts out through the syringe onto the score after scoring. The isopropyl alcohol helps the paper to absorb the water faster, so by the time the work is folded, the fold is effortless. FUN FACT: Larry Bilsky helped invent one of the first devices for Wet Scoring, and employed a UC Berkeley research lab for 6 months while trying to develop wet scoring for coated sheets. While the effort for coated sheets ended in disappointment, Larry can still say that he pioneered the concept of Wet Scoring. Unfortunately, we purchased our Wet Scoring attachment from his competitor. Bilsky holds no hard feelings.

Larry and I also had some interesting discussions comparing small and large printing plant capabilities and the different needs that arise in Bindery because we are a small, commercial printer. This concludes my Bindery Wrap-Up and Reflection. A lot of questions are still unanswered, but I rest assured that I can re-visit them in the future:

• What determines the size of a lift on a cutter? What is a lift?
• How does a work and tumble, work and turn, or sheetwise form affect the way it is trimmed?
• Why would you perforate a folded signature on the spine?
• What is the number of normal 8.5x11 inch faces you can get on a 40" press
• How many folding unit attachments are needed for 4,8,16,32 page sigs?
• What are gate, double gate, roll, and cover wrap folds?
• Where do we have a drill? What determines the size of a lift on the drill?
• What is fan-apart glue and padding glue?
• What are the differences between the Baum folder, and the commonly used Stahl folder?
• If you have a 28-page book plus cover book on the saddle stitcher, how many stations are you feeding? How about a 30-page plus cover book?