Coatings, proper setting of the blade, and properly selecting a doctor blade for your application/press will go a long way toward prolonging the life of the blade.

By Chris Mc Loone

According to McLaughlin, metal blades appear to be the predominant doctoring blade in high-screen-count, high-end graphics. Although metal blades provide high-quality doctoring in most situations, they are more difficult to handle. In many cases, they may not offer the life of a nonmetallic blade. Nonmetallic blades tend to be easier to handle and are being used primarily for coating and low-end graphics. Both nonmetallic and metal blades offer a variety of tip configurations that offer additional benefits for particular applications.