Blade Trade-offs

"With chrome anilox rolls, we would recommend a plastic blade because steel can degrade chrome cell volume in seven to nine months," Hahn says. "Converters will choose plastic blades to extend chrome anilox roll life, and ultimately save money on the higher cost item—the roll. On ceramics, customer tests have shown that plastic blades do transfer to the cells, essentially melting at high speeds, and can potentially plug rolls."