Doctor blade

The doctor blade is a relatively cheap and disposable consumable, while the gravure cylinder or flexo anilox is a more expensive component of the press.

Typical materials for the blade are steel or polymer:[3] gravure cylinders are normally hard-chrome plated[4] and flexo aniloxes may be chromed or ceramic.

[6] Fine adjustment of in-and-out position, independently on left and right, must also be possible, in order to compensate for any misalignment between blade geometry and cylinder axis.

Doctor blades are traditionally designed in 3 main tip configurations: straight, bevel and lamella.

[7] The oscillation, flexibility of the blade, and the various possible misalignments and problems due to a lack of stiffness may result in the failure to achieve the desired angle of contact between the blade and the cylinder, or at least a failure to consistently achieve this desired angle.