Spindle Capacity – Why Only Rolls Of A Certain Size Will Fit

We explain one reason why some Large Format Printers can accommodate bigger rolls than others: Spindle Capacity.

We are going to explain why some wide format printers can accommodate a much larger media roll than others. Not only does this have to do with the recess that the rolls fit into, but also the spindle capacity.

So what is a spindle?

A spindle is the long metal bar that runs the full length of the printer and of which you slip a roll of paper onto. You can fit rolls that are of equal size to the spindle or smaller.

What do we mean by core size?

The middle cardboard tube of a paper roll is referred to as the ‘core’. So when we refer to core size, what we are referring to is the inner diameter of this cardboard tube. Knowing this helps us to purchase paper that will fit on our printer and printer spindles.

As an example to help you to see the differences we are trying to explain here, we are going to have a look at the media capacity of the Canon TM-Series, compared to that of the HP T600 Series.

Canon TM-200 (24″) Paper capacity
Width – 297mm – 610mm
Length – CAD up to 175mt, heavy or photo paper up to 60mt
Max. diameter – 15cms

Canon TM-300 (36″) Paper capacity
Width – 297mm – 914mm
Length – CAD up to 175mt, heavy or photo paper up to 60mt
Max. diameter – 15cms

HP DesignJet T630 (24″)
Width – 297mm – 610mm
Length – CAD up to 50mt, 120-190gsm up to 30mt, no known rolls over 190gsm
Max. diameter – 10 / 11cms

HP DesignJet T630 (36″)
Width – 297mm – 914mm
Length – CAD up to 50mt, 120-190gsm up to 30mt, no known rolls over 190gsm
Max. diameter – 10 / 11cms

Below you can see the HP spindle on the left and the Canon spindle pictured right, which fits the printers listed above. You can clearly see how much bigger the Canon spindle is compared to the HP spindle and how much larger a roll the Canon can accommodate.

Then just to complicate things, these are 3 inch core adaptors for the Canon TM-200 / TM-300, pictured right. You just slot them over the spindle and they fill the wider 3″ cores, making the 3″ core paper roll fit tightly.

On the HP T630 there are no core adaptors, you can only use media on a 2″ core. With the Canon TM-Series printers you have the option to select media on either a 2″ or 3″ core, so long as overall the roll diameter does not exceed the maximum roll diameter that these printers will accept (150mm).

Suggested Further Reading

Selecting the Perfect Large Format Paper

Discover which Rolls will fit on Your Large Format Printer