Our friends over at Superior Inks and Allied Graphics videoed the most recent batch of samples we sent them for durability testing, utilizing the Sutherland Rub Test machine. This machine rubs the stock together with another piece of stock on a weight to mimic wear and tear on a piece. This allows us to determine if the process, ink, colors, coating and finishing processes are the right fit for a specific job.
Quality is one of our top priorities here at SunDance. But getting a quality product out the door is really only the first step. Knowing how a product is going to be used in the field and testing its performance is really the only way to know for sure if a product is going to meet our high level of expectations. Sometimes we use a Sutherland Rub Test to see how a piece is going to perform in the field. This test will help qualify how a piece is going to perform under folding, mailing conditions, etc. Our friends over at Superior Inks and Allied Graphics videoed the most recent batch of samples we sent them for testing.
This is the Sutherland Rub Test, standard in the industry. Basically we check the rub on the surface of stock that might have a problem. We take that stock and we take the back side of the stock or a piece of virgin stock of the same stock. There’s a two pound weight and also there’s a four pound weight, but the standard is usually with the two pound weight, and you do twenty-five strokes. Each stroke consists of an up and down motion, so it’s actually fifty times. We take your stock and load it into the two pound weight, put a little shim in there so it won’t move. Then we take your stock, center it, two pound weight on, set for twenty-five strokes, turns on. Once it’s finished, remove the weight, take your stock. You can evaluate your rub by looking at your piece here and looking at your stock that was rubbed.
When we got the samples back, we inspect them to see how the piece perform, and see if we should add any coatings, change the ink coverage, or possibly change the material it’s printed on. Thanks again to our friends over at Superior. These tests really help us decide how a piece is going to perform and really what is the best material and choice for you.
With an MBA from the Crummer Graduate School at Rollins College and a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from Lehigh University, JohnHenry was well prepared for his current role in overseeing the print manufacturing side of SunDance. Undoubtedly possessing a unique background in management, his experience includes running a 50,000 acre wild game reserve and cattle ranch in Kenya prior to moving back to the states in 2006.