Swedev AB
Swedcut® Doctor Blades

Improving Print Quality with Swedcut® Doctor Blades

Swedcut® Doctor Blades from Swedev AB

Since 1985, Swedev AB of Sweden has been developing and producing Swedcut® doctor blades for flexo and gravure printing applications. Doctor blades are a critical part of controlling printing quality in modern print operations. Swedev has worked closely both with steel manufacturers and printing firms to develop its products, and employs highly flexible production machinery to meet special customer requests as well. From the production process to shipment of finished products, all Swedcut® doctor blades are handled under a system certified to ISO9001 standards.

Using Only the Highest Quality Swedish Steel

Swedev's doctor blades for the printing industry are created using only Swedish steel of the highest purity. With its long experience working on behalf of the printing industry, Swedev has drawn on the skills and technology of major Swedish steel manufacturers to create doctor blades using the most suitable high-grade steels. These are very expensive, specialized steels created using a special melting process, then cold rolled to create uniform steel that is hard, strong, fine and true. This material results in a blade that, with the lightest pressure possible, provides for extremely high-quality printing.

Surface Coating to Enhance Printing Quality

The quality of the doctor blade has a direct influence on the finished printing. For example, when excessive pressure is placed on the doctor blade, a thin hair-like piece of metal can form on the blade edge, causing streaking or overprinting. The blade must then be cleaned or replaced. If the blade continues to be used without cleaning, the blade edge becomes progressively longer, developing a file-like texture, until an increase in friction and heat causes the increasingly thin edge to curl. The cause of these problems include excessive pressure on the blade, the blade at too low of an angle to the cylinder, or poor material used for the blade. These problems can be avoided by using Swedcut® doctor blades with a coated surface.