Looking into a RISO for short run envelopes

[delooch]

Anyone have a RISO/duplicator in the shop?

Thinking about picking up a refurb to do short run 1 and 2 color envelopes. More concerned about print quality,  color is not critical.

Any other suggestions?

[Joe]

We have one but I know nothing about it other than the quality looks good.

[gnubler]

Without being a clueless dork, can you explain what a RISO is? Just curious, because I'm a learner and not a sausage.

[Joe]

Without being a clueless dork, can you explain what a RISO is? Just curious, because I'm a learner and not a sausage.

[smg id=346]

The RISO digital duplicator prints on a much broader range of media at speeds that cannot be matched by common office technology. The RISO digital duplicator (previously called the Risograph) is specifically designed to bridge the gap between copier and offset systems by handling run lengths that are too long for copiers or laser printers and too short for offset printers.

The RISO digital duplicator allows organizations to bring many outsourced print jobs in house for maximum control and cost containment resulting in economical, on-demand printing. And digital duplicators can handle print jobs ranging from everyday documents and business communications to more specialized applications like forms-on-demand, business cards, labels, and even paper bags. Some call this product a digital press and some call it a digital printer. Some long-timers still call it a Risograph. One thing for sure is that this product saves time and money!

[gnubler]

Okay, so it's a copier. Joe, you should be a tech writer. Your next career path?

[Joe]

That was a copy/paste. I would be a plagiarizer.

[hotmetal]

Hey, I bought a Risograph for my science fiction club about 15 years ago. Saved a ton of money over taking stuff to Kinkos. Now they're apparently calling 'em Riso's. Back then, they only had models that printed with inks via mimeograph stencils, now I see they also sell high-speed inkjets.

Yes, mimeograph stencils. But you don't have to type them on typewriters anymore. The Riso combines a scanner and a laser-stencil burner. The stencils come on a roll (used to come in "quires") and when you hit "print" the machine ejects the previous stencil into an inky little bin, wraps a fresh one around the ink drum, scans the original, then burns the image into the stencil.

Mimeographs work by squeeging ink through cut-out areas of stencil material, traditionally a wax impregnated sheet of rice paper. There is an impression roller that comes up and presses on on the other side of the sheet being printed as it passes through the innards of the machine.

Ink is still much cheaper than toner. These machines are great for medium length runs. They print on pretty much any paper stock that accepts ink.The resolution is quite high. It's actually a silk screen machine, there is a silkscreen behind the stencil, and the ink is squeegeed through that.

To be more specific, the mimeographic process was patented by Thomas Edison in the 19th century, and used an inked–up cloth pad behind the stencil. A guy named Gestetner patented the silkscreen stencil reproduction process a decade or so later. Silkscreen dupers do much finer detail work than actual mimeographs. I have 14 very, very old Gestetner silk screen duplicators in my basement, and 3 ancient electronic stencil scanners. They're so old they have tubes in the amplifier circuit and burn the stencil with a sparkgap needle.

One last thing:  this isn't the printed stuff you (or your parents) sniffed to get high in grade school. Everyone calls those things "mimeo" these days, but that is wrong. That process used a thin film of alcohol to dissolve pigment from a typed (or drawn) master onto the special hard surfaced paper. You were sniffing the alcohol and that process was called "Ditto." You could only get, say, 60 or 70 readable copies from a ditto master. On the other hand, they came in many colors, and you could combine colors from different doner sheets on one master.

A mimeo stencil can run a couple thousand copies before it falls apart.

Oh, yeah, the Riso drums slide out easily and are interchangeable, that's how you change colors. However, you can only print one color per pass.

[delooch]

i remember mimiographs from my grade school days... we had a teacher who used to reproduce any art that  you drew up for the classroom, but the catch was that you had to do it in ink pen so the mimeo would pick it up.  I used to draw vipers from battelstar glactica endlessly... so i digress...

i lost my pressroom around 3 weeks ago, and ive got a crapload of short run envelopes (500-1000 qty) ive been outsourcing at 2-3x of what i used to produce them for. im trying to get a riso-type machine, ive found refurbs for around $3000-4000. im thinking this is the way to go since this place will never see a traditional ink press again.  it just cant look like it came off of an inkjet addresser or something similar. trying to find a local dealer, but i cant really afford a new unit at the moment..

[hotmetal]

i remember mimiographs from my grade school days... we had a teacher who used to reproduce any art that  you drew up for the classroom, but the catch was that you had to do it in ink pen so the mimeo would pick it up.  I used to draw vipers from battelstar glactica endlessly... so i digress...

i lost my pressroom around 3 weeks ago, and ive got a crapload of short run envelopes (500-1000 qty) ive been outsourcing at 2-3x of what i used to produce them for. im trying to get a riso-type machine, ive found refurbs for around $3000-4000. im thinking this is the way to go since this place will never see a traditional ink press again.  it just cant look like it came off of an inkjet addresser or something similar. trying to find a local dealer, but i cant really afford a new unit at the moment..

I've seen them on ebay. They're pretty simple to maintain and repair, the paper path is a straight line. And I see parts on ebay, too.

[gnubler]

Some very interesting comments...and so late in the day here at GST-7.

When I was young they were called "dittos" and yes the whole class would put their faces onto the freshly printed sheets and take a sniff of the blue ink. The ditto machine. I never saw it in action, but our teachers would disappear for a while to make copies while we created mischief in the classroom alone. I think the ditto machine went away around 83-84 (in my lifetime).

[gnubler]

That was a copy/paste. I would be a plagiarizer.

I know. Maybe you didn't pick up on the ?

[delooch]

ive seen alot of them there too. its tempting..  i never thought id be forcefeeding envelopes through a copier. ever. times are changing my frineds.

[delooch]

Some very interesting comments...and so late in the day here at GST-7.

When I was young they were called "dittos" and yes the whole class would put their faces onto the freshly printed sheets and take a sniff of the blue ink. The ditto machine. I never saw it in action, but our teachers would disappear for a while to make copies while we created mischief in the classroom alone. I think the ditto machine went away around 83-84 (in my lifetime).

yeah, i remember that blue ink.  i remember it was a hand-cranked machine, dirty black rubber, and i can remember the smell of the ink. im thinking this was 3rd or 4th grade, im 38 now..

[hotmetal]

Some very interesting comments...and so late in the day here at GST-7.

When I was young they were called "dittos" and yes the whole class would put their faces onto the freshly printed sheets and take a sniff of the blue ink. The ditto machine. I never saw it in action, but our teachers would disappear for a while to make copies while we created mischief in the classroom alone. I think the ditto machine went away around 83-84 (in my lifetime).

The last Ditto I saw was sitting in a South Minneapolis alley behind the building a cartoonist friend of mine was moving out of. (It was his, it was called The Dollar Ditto 'cause that's what he paid for it. (By the way, he accidentally invented the basic comics that lead to "furries" and now wishes he hadn't done that... )

Back to Risos - I can get repro that looks just like offset from a Risograph. I can get it from my old gear, too. Except for halftones, that's a dead giveaway. Type and linework looks great, especially if you consistantly scan at the highest resolution the built-in (or, in my case, the vacuum tube unit) scanner will do. You also may have to run at the slow speed to get solid inking.

[Joe]

That was a copy/paste. I would be a plagiarizer.

I know. Maybe you didn't pick up on the ?

Ha Ha...actually I didn't. :tongue: