Heidelberg GT gripper height off platen + packing

Heidelberg GT gripper height off platen + packing

Did some experiments this afternoon to resolve a recurring problem on my Heidelberg GT. My Heidelberg GT came with a “ground-out” platen whose purpose, I’m surmising, is to allow for flexibility in handling die-cutting jobs.

It came with two steel plates for platen mounting. A thick one (1) with a thickness of 7.02 pts (0.0975”) and thinner one (2) measuring 5.33 pts (0.0740”).

Now, when mounting the thinner 5.33-pt plate (2), the gripper height off the platen (with no packing) is about the Heidelberg-recommended 6 pts. This sounds as it should. The problem is that this constellation requires nearly 6 pts of packing (at impression “4”) to get a good, normal clear impression (with no debossment). Of course, having this much packing causes the gripper to rip the tympan sheet+packing as it scrapes heavily across the platen - as the clearance between packing (which should max. be 3 pts.) and gripper should be 3 points.

If I screw in the thicker 7.02-pt plate, I’m nowhere near the Heidelberg recommended platen-to-gripper distance of 6 pts with almost no room for packing.

Any ideas?

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