68 email: news@printmonthly.co.uk July / August 2023 - Issue 343 higher level of clamping power in order to secure the stock as it is cut. “This is where fully hydraulic power guillotines come into their own. Using hydraulics gives you far greater control over the clamping pressure but also gives you far more cutting power for the blade. Some electro-mechanically powered guillotines struggle when cutting full stacks of heavy-weight paper which leads to skewing or inaccuracies in the cut.” Going further, O’Brien says that users should consider the addition of a program function, especially one that can store multiple jobs with full character naming for easy future recall. He explains these guillotines might allow users the opportunity to buy their chosen substrate at the optimum price by buying larger-sized sheets and trimming them down to a preferred printing size – possibly cutting down from A2 to A4 sheets. Beyond this basic cost-cutting exercise, Hillhouse says the guillotine opens up a whole raft of print work that might require an image to bleed off the edge of a sheet. “This needs oversized sheets and an accurate trim to remove the excess paper after the printing process,” he says, adding: “With longer sheet printing now being a feature of some digital print engines, format is a very important thing to get right.” So, what does Morgana have to offer? Hillhouse picks out the 55cm EBA 5260 as the most popular machine with customers, but adds that in recent years, the company has witnessed many more sales of its 66cm and 72cm machines, due to digital print manufacturers moving to larger sheet sizes and promoting long sheet applications. The latest release from Morgana is ‘The 56’ from EBA, which features a 15.6” multitouch control screen, and a cutting width of 56cm with a stack height of 8cm, which Hillhouse says provides for increased operator efficiency and productivity by working smarter from the tablet-like display. It also incorporates an electro-mechanical precision blade drive and hydraulic clamp drive along with an IR light beam safety curtain. In addition to the EBA collection, Morgana also supplies the Mohr range of machines. Mohr devices are a heavier-duty hydraulic range of units in 56, 66, and 80cm cut sizes, with the most popular model being the 66cm. “Although normally supplied as a threephase unit, this machine can also be supplied as a single-phase machine – obviously making it popular in sites where a three-phase supply is unavailable, or seen as an unnecessary expense,” Hillhouse says. All three sizes are supplied in either ECO or PLUS models: the ECO model is controlled by a 5.5” touchscreen, whereas the ◄ Supplied by Morgana, ‘The 56’ from EBA features a 15.6” multi-touch control screen Available from Morgana, EBA’s ‘The 56’ has a cutting width of 56cm 56 BACK TO BASICS / GUILLOTINES PLUS model is controlled by a colour 18.5” touchscreen that also shows job visualisation, taking the operator through each step in the cutting process. The PLUS models can also be equipped with a barcode-reading capability, delivering the desired cutting program by reading from a barcode added within the trim of the printed job. Digital Driving Development Another specialist provider in this market is AfterPrint. Director Chris O’Brien says there are a number of key features to consider including power options, electro-mechanical or hydraulic power, and automated program functions. “Digital print has opened up a far more diverse range of paper types to print on but often companies forget that not all paper media cuts the same,” O’Brien says, adding: “Often if you are cutting thick, heavy materials for digital production you need not only greater cutting power but also a Being able to give a job a full descriptive name can mean the difference between a good job or a bad job which often also involves losing hours of valuable time reprinting work
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