Kluge 12x18 die cutter w/ foil

We recently got a series “N” Kluge die cutter with foil and have a couple of questions.
How old can a roll of foil be and still create quality stamping?

Any one else have a series “N” that they use for foil?
What size is the die jacket on your press?
How do you “pack” the press for foil?

Thank you-
Jim

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i’ve been foiling for about 20 years, some of my foil i bought when i started i still use, i have foil i got when i bought a couple of table top foil presses, God knows how old it is, but when its bad it seems to flake off. I buy my foil from Crown Foil Co., they have answered questions i had when i started out, Good Luck Dick G.

if it works,,, then it is still good… if not save it for something else. if it won’t stick to a coated stock then it prob won’t stick to anything… barring of course some specialty foil for plastic or something. proper storage is quite the key to foil shelf life. it can be usable for many years.

“packing” or “make-ready” for foil is a little more than for ink. foil is not “kind of”, it is either on or off. it will take more pressure for foil than ink. Kurz and API offer foils that seem alittle more flexible than Crown’s, albeit they are more expensive. but, flexibility means less inventory so your purpose needs to determine this.
Now, provided of course you have a foil that is proper for a given application,,, i use the “love triangle” rule. imagine a small pyramid of 3 items. 1 is always on top with the other 2 below. these are: pressure; temp; and press speed. a given expected results are going to require all 3 of these. to increase press speed then either heat or pressure will need to increase as well. if you increase pressure, then you can usually reduce heat to clean up image. if you reduce heat, then you may have to slow the press down or increase pressure. the press speed results in a function of time, or, “dwell”, being time that the die is closed on the sheet. some customers want super clean. others will want no impression on the back. some will want it “right-freaking-now! it will depend on the requirements.