The press OEM supplies and designs the mandrels with an amount of air that will expand the inner liner minimally, not to over stretch the inner liner, but to compress the expansion foam layer and create an air bearing so that the sleeve can slide over the length of the mandrel. The design was intended to work with clean components.
Also, did you know that clean sleeve bores helps prevent sleeve damages? When ink (from multiple ways) gets in the bores of the sleeves, it is normally concentrated within 10” to 18” of each end.
The ink on the inner liner of the sleeve adds to the ID and changes the size very slightly but does change the size. The changing of the sizes can create the following issues:
A.It tightens up the sleeve.
B.Increases sliding friction.