Confused about laminators :o

[Chris Wool]

you can use a cold laminator but a warm one 40 deg only not hot will help give better results i have found.

chris

[Kate and Danny]

we warm our laminator up to about 35-40 deg as chris has said, find that it reduces a silvering effect from the laminate, and gives a better overall finish to the print.

Kate

[Jon Stephens]

Thanks Chris & Kate … sounds like a hot is the way to go !

I am being offered a 54in one that will do 10mm thickness, new, for £3500 vat by the same supplier i got the printer from … is this a good price do you think ?

Thanks again 🙂

[Kate and Danny]

to be honest I bought ours on a whim via ebay. its was second hand from a printer suppliers, got it for a good price and probably the best piece of kit we ever bought because it saves us so much hassle with that bloody liquid laminate!

its the one and only time my impulse shopping has been celebrated!

Kate 😀

[Jon Stephens]

Nice one Kate !!

Are all laminators the same ?

[Shane Drew]

quote dynamicsjon:

Nice one Kate !!

Are all laminators the same ?

Laminators are like cars, they all do the same thing in the end, but have different ways about getting there 😉

[Jon Stephens]

thanks Shane 🙂

I have been recommended a “Lamination Systems” Easymount EM-1580 …

The machine is here http://www.vivid-online.com/products/4690/58 and is priced about £3850 vat …

anyone got one or any comments, etc ?

many thanks

[Stephen Morriss]

Vivid seem to have a good name and my rep is very helpful even though I’ve never bought anything of them.
I got mine from Ebay as well and use 35 – 40 heat to help get rid of the silvering.

Steve

[Jon Stephens]

Thanks … did you “bid” or “buy now” on ebay

Did you save much on new ?

[Paul Hodges]

Hi,

Is anyone here actually using a cold laminator for inkjet prints?

Paul

[Shane Drew]

quote Paul Hodges:

Hi,

Is anyone here actually using a cold laminator for inkjet prints?

Paul

Yes Paul, I use an ezy taper with all my cold laminates, although I only use Oracal 200, 215 and 290 series. All are cold laminates and require no heat.

The silvering if any, disappears when the print is fitted and out in the sun for a day.

[David Rowland]

I was tempted to bid on this item, but I didn’t expect it to go for that price!

[Dave & Rob Lowery]

Shane, You wrote: The silvering if any, disappears when the print is fitted and out in the sun for a day.

It’s alright for you mate but remember were in England and we only get two weeks of sunshine all year round.

Your just rubbing it in arn’t you 😎

[Shane Drew]

quote Dave Lowery:

Your just rubbing it in arn’t you 😎

:lol1: I was hoping it was not too obvious mate 😉 :lol1:

[Paul Hodges]

quote Shane Drew:

quote Paul Hodges:

Hi,

Is anyone here actually using a cold laminator for inkjet prints?

Paul

Yes Paul, I use an ezy taper with all my cold laminates, although I only use Oracal 200, 215 and 290 series. All are cold laminates and require no heat.

The silvering if any, disappears when the print is fitted and out in the sun for a day.

Hi Shane,

Yes, we’ve noticed the silvering tends to disappear too, so now i’m mainly concerned about getting a good finish without dust particles getting trapped in there. Have you had that problem at all?

[Shane Drew]

That is my biggest prob this time of year here as we have a lot of winds, and dust is my biggest issue.

I run a feather duster over the print as it goes thru the laminator, but still miss some every now an then.

One tip worth remembering is that if you are laminating the print over a substrate, spray a fine mist of metho over the substrate after you have cleaned it down, and it negates the static that attracts dust as you laminate. Just spray it and let it dry.

The process of lamination causes static so reducing that is an important step.

[Gordon Forbes]

I don’t have a laminator but I do laminate you have to
Recently I got piffed off screwing up prints and tried doing it wet.
Brilliant no bubles or sivering but used proper laminate (ORACAL 290F)
and used Rapid Tack saves a lot of greif and no problems so far as I am wanting to buy one later this year.

Goop

[Paul Hodges]

quote Shane Drew:

That is my biggest prob this time of year here as we have a lot of winds, and dust is my biggest issue.

I run a feather duster over the print as it goes thru the laminator, but still miss some every now an then.

One tip worth remembering is that if you are laminating the print over a substrate, spray a fine mist of metho over the substrate after you have cleaned it down, and it negates the static that attracts dust as you laminate. Just spray it and let it dry.

The process of lamination causes static so reducing that is an important step.

Thanks for that advice Shane, that’s just the kind of info i was hoping to find, there are obviously some tricks to the trade with getting good laminating results.

Goop just mentioned wet applying the laminate, i’ve heard of this before and have considered this myself. The only drawback i can see with that is that if you have to laminate then put it back through the machine to cut the print, you probably could do without getting the back of the vinyl wet?

[Vitor Brito]

quote Forbie:

… as I am wanting to buy one later this year.

You’d better hurry up!!!

sorry m8 couldn’t help it! 😉

Sry 4 hijacking the thread. 😳 😳

[David Rowland]

Well, we are closing in on a Laminator decision… however is the following correct?

Using a warm laminator on stickers/wrap, can this effect the performance of the glues? So i have been told that it is best to use it with the heaters off.

Also, the silvering effect vanishes after a few days is what I have heard also? is this correct or only in Austrialia?

Is there any other reasons why a Sign maker should choose Warm over Cold?
Will an Indoor laminated item be silvery or after a few days remain silvery

Thanks

[John Simpson]

Dave,
I have a warm Lam Mach but only got it a few months ago so still learning.
I mainly print & lam graphywrap which as you know is a cast material.
I some times have to load the machine many times to get it to run without creases, this is mainly due to the material being so thin & stretchable (if that is a word).
If i use a bit of heat this seems to stretch the cast material even more, so causing more creases. I stick to cold with this cast material. As for silvering I must admit my work usually goes out next day so don’t keep it long enough to see if it disappears.

Take my advice & make sure you get half a day’s instruction from supplier before you pay for it.

L J

[Paul Hodges]

Dave,

the silvering will disappear, you don’t really even notice it when the print is outside anyway, it’s just under close inspection you can see it.

cold or hot not sure, we have a cold laminator, we don’t suffer from creases at all, dust getting trapped under the laminate is our only concern with it.

Judging by what John just said about using heat and the vinyl stretching, i’ve heard that before about hot laminators, inkjet printing appears to be more suitable to cold laminating, generally speaking.

one thing i have noticed also, is that you need to ‘run in’ a roll of laminate to get it to start working well. the problem being, chopping and changing different types of laminate will be a pain in the ass because you will constantly be trying to run in each roll, therefore you won’t really want to change rolls very often!

[drogers4]

I bought a Daige Quikmount II to ease my laminating issues. It is a cold laminator as I was told hot lam is not good for digital prints.

I must say, I hated the machine at first, when I was following their instructions. Then, I developed my own system for laminating and get perfect results every time. I use only oraguard 210 and 290G and use it ocasionally for mounting prints to boards. It is a pretty good machine, and only costs around $1500 USD. I get slight silvering but by no means does it make the print look bad at all. I have yet to have anyone comment on the faint silvering on my laminated prints. The part I hate is changing out the rolls when switching cast to calendered, almost makes me want to buy another laminator just so I don’t have to change rolls out. I bought mine from beacon graphics but I have seen them on ebay. Good luck!

Doyle

[Jon Stephens]

Thank you for all your comments !

I now have a hot laminator which I am getting some good results mounting onto bigger foam and dibond panels and laminating!

HOWEVER

I want /need (?) to laminate print from my cadet for Van livery, etc. I am using metamark md-5 with the 600 film.

I KEEP getting creasing when running just the prints through.

Any tips or help anyone ? Please !

Thanks all again !

Jon

[John Simpson]

Are you putting foamboard through 1st? or just sending the print through.

Did you have any instruction from your supplier.
L J

[Jon Stephens]

will try the foam board today 🙂

Thanks …

[Andrea M.]

We have hot & cold laminators. Thereare certian materials that are called “hot melt…”. They are used, for example, in encapsulating paper on things like window poster. There is also accushield which we use to laminate paper. The advantage to this is it does not leave overhang on the edges. The cold laminating is for anything vinly like vehicle graphic prints. We also use our laminator to cover full sheets of rigid stock with coloured vinyl. Hope this info helps you.
Andrea