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Chapter 23 



After drying and cooling, wood grains and certain other decorative patterns 

 are printed on the panels by one or more offset printers (fig. 23-100) in which a 

 metering roll transfers printing ink to a gravure cylinder on which the desired 

 pattern is engraved. A doctor blade removes ink from the cylinder except in the 

 engraved areas. Ink collected in engraved areas is transferred by contact to the 

 relatively soft offset (or print) roll which in turn transfers the ink to the substrate. 

 To reproduce wood patterns based on photographs of real wood panels, three or 

 four offset printers arranged in series and each applying a different color are 

 commonly used. 



A brick pattern containing three colors of brick would be applied (over a 

 mortar-colored ground coat) with three printers — one for each color of brick. 

 Print coats may dry sufficiently utilizing only heat stored in panels; gas-fired 

 infra-red dryers may be used for additional heat. Some solid-color decorative 

 boards may bypass the print line. 



APPLICATOR ROLL 

 DOCTOR BLADES 



METERING ROLL 



WIPING ROLL 



PRESSURE ROLLS 

 Figure 23-98. — Reverse roll coater. (Drawing from Suchsland and Woodson 1985. 



