Panels
Between the platens of a multi-daylight press.
Photo: Balterio
Handscraped oak, farmhouse floorboard
Photo: Balterio
of martensitic stainless steel with surface textures produced by a combination of machining, shot peening, electrolytic etching, buffing and polishing. They are often hard chrome anodised for durability against the wear and tear of several thousand pressings in a typical production run. These press plates are sometimes chrome plated on both sides so that they can be flipped over and reused when one side has been worn out.
and alignment of wood grain effects such as ‘knots’ across the joints of floor tiles. Mechanical interlocking systems have been developed to allow glueless and easy installation. A wide array of methodologies are employed by manufacturers to fashion embossed surface textures on laminates which range from etching of the steel press plate surfaces based on photographic reproduction techniques to the use of nonadhering texture/release papers and films which can produce fine grained surface textures and be simply removed after pressing. In décor printing, laser engraving on the printing cylinders themselves have also been used by some manufacturers producing effects of great accuracy and precision. Innovative effects such as imitations of scraped wood can be produced by embossing the surfaces of laminates. FDM
Realistic reproduction of slate.
Surface Matters While a smooth press plate surface results in smooth and featureless flooring surfaces, in the ever increasing quest to simulate realistic wood grain, concrete, marble effects etc, manufacturers have developed ingenious ways of developing three dimensional profiled surface textures. This includes sandblasting portions of the smooth stainless steel press plate surface to create matte finishes or to effect different degrees of gloss. Matching decorative motifs to textural effects can be achieved in a number of ways. One of these methods is chemical embossing which relies on the method of chemically reacting inks which forms the decorative motif with the underlying layer. These sometimes produce surface effects which are not as well defined.
Getting Real
ENQUIRY NO. 666
Embossed 3D textural effects when superpositioned against accurate photographic print depictions of natural wood grains of different popular wood species products startlingly realistic effects. Such ‘embossed-in-registration’ techniques have been used by some leading laminate flooring producers. Manufacturers have also found ways to overcome deficiencies such as the accurate continuation
FDM ASIA JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007
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