New printer, need advice

Can you buy cardstock heavier than 110lb? That's the heaviest I've been able to find at an office supply store or craft store. Unless you count the 1+mm cardboard for framing pictures, and that is way too heavy to cut easily.

1 millimeter = 0.0393700787 inches
1 mil = .001 inches
1 mil = 1 point

.27 millimeters = 0.010629921249 inches

.27 millimeters = 10.6 mils
.27 millimeters = 10.6 points

Epson high quality photo paper is about 10.4 mils thick and is 250 gsm stock. So you can handle something very slightly thicker than photopaper reliably.

110-pound index paper is approximately .0085" (8.5 mils) in thickness.

Now you can handle 10.6 mils and

10.6 / 8.5 = 1.247

So, if my math is right, you can handle a pound weight of card stock about 1.247 times that of 110 pound card stock, or about 137 pound stock.

People DO make 130 pound stock, but it's not common in office supply stores. And, because of the way U.S. pound weights are calculated for stocks, 130 pound of one type of stock may be thicker than 130 pound weight of another kind of stock. If you want to try 130 pound stock, I recommend you acquire a couple of sample sheets.

Or alternately, acquire a couple of sheets of commonly available 65 pound index and glue them together and feed them through your printer.

Now, technically, you can probably handle something a bit thicker than this but you risk a higher percentage chance of ink smears or jamming.

The weight of a stock depends on its density. For instance you could theoretically make 10.6 point stock out of lead and it would weigh a huge amount compared to normal paper.

If you need stock thicker than 110 pound stock going through a typical low end ink jet, I'd recommend using 110 pound stock or photo paper and then laminating it.

I'm sort of stretching my limits of the understanding of printer tech to answer your question, so I may be completely wrong. Take my answers with a grain of salt and don't blame me if my suggestions jam your printer.

Rather than printer tech, I would say paper tech. ;-)

Actually, paper thickness and paper weight are two separate issues, because different papers have different thickness/weight ratios.

Coated papers are usually heavier or less thick (it's up to how you look at it) than uncoated papers, because the coating is heavier than the paper pulp. So a 250gr uncoated paper would be thicker than a 250gr coated paper. Uncoated papers are usually more stiff than coated papers of the same weight.

I'm not sure what points have to do here, but if you mean type measurment points, as in "12 point Times New Roman", then no. I is:

1 mil = 0.07227 points
.27 millimeters = 0.7682244 points
Because 1 inch = 72 points (1 inch = 6 picas, 1 pica = 12 points).

Other than that, I think the core of VeritasGames is perfectly right.

TargetBoy suggestion of full page labels would give you a wider range of cardstock widths, though it adds a bit of extra work.

Seo

"The weight of a stock depends on its density. For instance you could theoretically make 10.6 point stock out of lead and it would weigh a huge amount compared to normal paper. "

Ouch! I missed that paragraph. Sorry. :-(

I had no idea how paper weight is measured in pounds. I'm metric. ;-)
Paper weight in grams is based on a square meter, no matter what the size of the original sheet of paper is measured, so I guess our life is easier here when it comes to compare paper weights.

Still, as you correctly said (and I missed in my previous post), paper density makes impossible to accurately deduce paper thickness from its weight, or viceversa.

Now I got it. Sorry again. Language issues on my side. This things happen when you're reading/writing in a foreign language. And by "you", I mean me.

I hope you're not upset.

Seo

I thought the following link might clarify some of the relationship between a sampling of different stocks. It's got the GSM and Point size of a number of stocks.

http://www.perforatedpaper.com/PaperConversion.aspx

(I couldn't resist adding to the confusion surrounding usage of the word "points".)

If the confusion (I started) wasn't enough, add to the Pica Points the Didot (french typographic) points. Here you have the exact measures of all three points. And this has became totally offtopic now.

Seo

This might take a little time, but here is a quick fix for your problem.

1. Print your game pieces on 110lb cardstock.
2. Glue the opposite side. For best results, smooth the glue with a brush so that it coats the page completely. Work quickly so the page doesn't warp.
3. Carefully glue a second sheet of cardstock to the first. Pat down firmly so there are no air pockets between the two sheets.
4. Put a big, heavy book on the sandwiched sheets. Actually, use several books. Allow to dry completely before removing. This prevents warpage. VERY important!
5. Enjoy your 220lb cardstock!

Obviously, if your pieces need a backing you should print this on the second sheet before gluing them together. I wouldn't suggest printing on anything heavier than 110lb cardstock with a desktop printer, although models vary. My printer manual says not to use anything heavier than 80lb or I void my warranty. Oops! Consider it voided.

I used this process to make map tiles for "The Hunting of the Snark" (check the archives), and a few other games. It works best when the pieces you cut out are fairly small (smaller pieces feel stiffer). If you're interested in a professional-looking game board, however, print on full-page label paper and stick it on matboard.