can anyone help me modify this roller ?

[Kevin Flowers]

Stephen
don’t know how you are feeding it but i run my self made one under the front roller this means it is being pulled into the rollers so cannot jump off.
Mine does sit higher this allows you to attach the tape to the work bench forming a tent & then use your hand to apply the tape to the vinyl

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[Stephen Henderson]

Cheers Kevin, will feed it under and see if that helps, and raise it like yours
Thanks

[David Rowland]

what is those bars kev? converyor belt rollers?

[Stephen Henderson]

Kevin, something so simple as feeding it under 😳 has worked a treat, now I just have to stick it onto a non slip mat, or stick suckers on it,,,,good call mate

[Stephen Morriss]

I work mine the other way, I stick the end of the tape down to my table, slide the weeded vinyl under until it’s as far in as it’ll go then pull the whole roller and app tape along the weeded vinyl while using a felt squeegge to stick the app tape down.
Sounds harder than it really is but you have to make sure you start square and with no ripples in the app tape.

Steve

Edit

This is with the rollers on the top and sliding the units feet along the table, not with the rollers touching the table.

[Martin Pearson]

Stephen, you might be better raising it a bit like Kevin has suggested rather than just sticking it on a non slip mat. I find it easier especially with quite long graphics.

Personally I don’t use a dispenser like this but mine does the same sort of job. I have a delux application tape dispenser & graphic installation workstation which is really handy as everything is kept together & can easily be found.

[Chris Windebank]

am with Kev but use a speed clamp to secure just in case. No problems doing a 2m run with this setup

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[Kevin Flowers]

quote Dave Rowland:

what is those bars kev? converyor belt rollers?

Dave
yes mate conveyor rollers mounted to stainless steel angle, the wooden base as a ledge so that it grips the work bench. I have taped up to 5 mtrs but normally i will do half & then spin it around.

Made this back in 2001 & used every day

Kev

[David Hammond]

I mount my app tape on my easy mount laminator.

I run the weeded vinyl through on a piece of composite (saves putting wrinkles in it) and just have the app tape resting on the top.

Bit of a pain getting it square, but did about 3m today perfectly. 🙂

I really struggle with putting app tape on by hand though. Usually get someone to hold the roll and just pull it over the vinyl and let it sit on it before squeeqing

[Nicola McIntosh]

quote Stephen Henderson:

Hello Folks, Bought this piece of (ooops) from Doro

gee wizz this brings back memories i used that same one for years…never had a problem but then i only used application tape from robert horne (europoint) I have to say the black square table ends did come away from the rollers , but that was when I was trying to use the end of the application tape roll, which you all know does take a bit more pulling than normal…..I overcomed this problem by making sure i had plenty of tape in stock and chucking out near to the end of a roll 😀

[Warren Beard]

quote David Hammond:

I mount my app tape on my easy mount laminator.
I run the weeded vinyl through on a piece of composite (saves putting wrinkles in it) and just have the app tape resting on the top.
Bit of a pain getting it square, but did about 3m today perfectly. 🙂

I also use my easy mount 1200 for app tape but can run up to 6m no problem, did this last year for one job, was over 150m in total, just make sure the edge of the backing paper is square, press it against the rolls and run machine, simples.

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[Robert Kulawik]

I need to shoot a photo of my contraption later… it is 3 pieces of old ply offcuts/desk remnants and what not, a baton screwed on the back, low to grip the table, 50mm hole-saw holes to house a mop-stick handrail from selco. Cost me £3 or less and does the job without hiccups…

[Stephen Henderson]

Thanks for all the replies The only thing here is I do not have a work table I use the floor, as I work from home pain in the neck, but I get by,,,,,,,

Thanks again peeps

[Robert Kulawik]

Stephen,

Why don’t you attach some wires to each end on the back and tie it somewhere like a radiator pipe or french door and the you do have it in place. or just nail two nasty rusty nails right in the middle of you nice floor and you’re sorted. Until the boss is back at least 😉

[Martin Pearson]

[quote="Stephen Henderson"]Thanks for all the replies The only thing here is I do not have a work table I use the floor, as I work from home pain in the neck, but I get by,,,,,,,

Thanks again peeps[/quote

Can’t be good for your back working off the floor all the time Stephen, thought most people working from home had a table of some sort to work on be it Kitchen or dinning room.

Couple of hooks in the skirting board and a bit of nylon string or if that’s not possible tie it to something like Robert suggested might be an idea. Looks a bit light which is why I’m not convinced a non slip mat would work. Or find something with a bit more weight to attach permanently or just rest on top to try and stop it moving. As you are working off the floor you don’t really need a lot of extra height as you will be pulling the tape off the roll in an upward direction I would have thought.

[Mo Gillis-Coates]

Daft trick really, but it works for me when I’m on my own in the workshop… I roll the app tape out along the bench sticky side up, then take the cut vinyl face down, I let it sag in the middle on to the tape and allow it to roll down on to the tape from the middle out very gently.

I turn the whole thing over and use a soft hand brush to smooth out from the middle before using the squeegee.

I also use the brush method when I have a second pair of hands in the shop. I lay the tape on the vinyl sticky side up, then using someone else we turn the tape over and stick one end to the bench while the other is held off the the print (u can use the tape dispenser like this too, but I got fed up with mine so it’s collecting dust in the corner of the shop) then i use the brush again to smooth along the tape brushing from the middle out before the squeegee… Gives me a perfect finish every time without any creases

[Martin Pearson]

There are all sorts of methods Mo, some work better for one person than they do for another. Problem with your method usually comes when applying to long graphics.
Another method which works quite well is to stick the end of the application tape to the bench, just a couple of inches or so. Place the graphics on the bench under the roll and then use a roll of vinyl to push the roll of application tape along until you reach the other end. Would also work on Stephens floor as it’s wood.
You need to use a roll of vinyl (or empty tube) at least the same width as the application tape though or the tape will try to crease at the top or bottom.
They call that method of applying application tape "the steamroller method".

Personally I would rather stick to my application tape dispenser/graphics installation workstation as it has 3 different width tapes loaded ready to go.