Method of producing a plastic coated ink roller for a printing press

In a method for producing a plastic coated ink roller for a printing press, said method being of the type including heating a tubular jacket of a plastic material such as PVC and thereby expanding the internal diameter of said tubular jacket, fitting the thus heated plastic jacket over a metal cylinder, and allowing said jacket to cool, thereby shrinking onto said cylinder with a tight friction fit therebetween, the improvement of preventing said metal cylinder from cooling and thereby shrinking said tubular jacket during said fitting, and thereby of ensuring that said tubular jacket may be fit over said metal cylinder over the entire lengths thereof, said preventing comprising:

• prior to fitting said heated plastic jacket over said metal cylinder, heating said metal cylinder to a temperature on the order of said heated plastic jacket.