just bought a versa cam best place to get a laminator?

[Rodney Gold]

If you are doing vehicle graphics , then a cold pressure laminator is all you really need. Hot lams wont work on vinyls at all. Unless you intend to do a lot of paper , a hot lam is a bit of a waste of time. In terms of hot and cold lams , an all in one (IE does hot and cold with the same rollers) is a bit of a limitation as it takes ages for the rollers to heat up and cool down.
Laminators are actually generally a lot more complex to use than the printer , and cheap models are actually subject to lots of problems . Initially , I would send the lam work out and research laminators big time before buying one. Ease of operation and ease of webbing are what you are looking for in a laminator. Im not sure what you mean by
“I am looking for a hot and color with the take up reel that will print at least up to 24″ but no larger then 30”.
SEAL , GBC , DAIGE etc are all well known stateside names , which ever you choose , make REAL sure you get training (hands on) on how to use it. ALWAYS buy a bigger one than what you are going to print.
At the end of it all , you will HAVE to laminate ALL graphics that are going to be used on a vehicle unless they are of really short term duration if you want to give any sort of warrantee.
Dont even think of liquid lams or frog juice etc , they are a waste of time and money and provide no real protection.

[Shane Drew]

I am using the Duracoat Liquid Laminating system. Has its drawbacks with dust etc, but it is very good in terms of end result. Brilliant for laminating banners. Ideally, you need to do big runs to make the Duracoat economical, as once it is mixed with hardner, you have only got 16 hours to use it before it goes off.

I got rid of my old cold laminator because most of my work is promotional, and it was very temperamental.

The thing with cold laminators is that it has a higher degree of difficulty than printing and is a bit hard to master at times.

The better lamination films are thin, but the thinner films will stuff up easiest. Don’t skimp of the quality of a laminator either, and make sure they have crowned rollers, that is, they are not flat.

Apart from that, make sure you use the same type of laminate to the material you are printing on. ie, dont use a monomeric laminate on a polomeric film etc.

I agree with Rodney, get training. I would further advise to keep their number handy after they leave.

Cheers

[davebrittain]

i use a xativia emseal thermal laminator i bought it from impact graphics theyve got an add on this sight. might be a bit far for you though.
but this make of lam would be ideal for you i dissagree with the last post laminating must be one of the easiest things to do on graphics once youve mastered loading the media.

[Robert Lambie]

i think laminating can be easy like you say dave, but there are many different ways it can go wrong. i think this is were rodney and shane are coming from.. lots of differet lams, with dif procedures to use.
long jobs 3-4 metres long can easily run off over that lengh if not bang online.
loading fresh media on a large laminator can be a bit of a pain. you also loss a certain amount of lamination between jobs, i.e. loading new media etc realing on from previous job and that kind of thing.
i think its best to keep your lam jobs stacked and run them at one time.
not forgetting dust being trapped in prints.. 😕
all this and much more can cost time and money..

i think proper training from the person selling this type of machine is important. (thats just my opinion and im a newbie to it 😉 :lol1:

[Rodney Gold]

Laminating is dead easy if you buy the right machine with all the bells and whistles , but they are very costly. Generally cheaper pressure roller machines are prone to problems like boatwaking , cocking , washboarding and so forth. I dont think its a major problem with 30″ but wider applications are more susceptible. In terms of laminating , you have really 2 types of machines. Dedicated single purpose or dual purpose like cold or hot/cold and then you get print finishing machines that can do stuff like cold pressure , mounting , encapsulation , hot single and double sided and are capable of applying varnishes etc. These are the easiest to use cos they come with computer controls , vacuum tables etc but are generally 3 phase and cost upwards of 10k quid.

Lamination or print finishing is a profit centre itself and adds huge value to your output. It also brings in lam customers that are potential print customers and vice versa. You can charge a lot more to the finish the print and offer some really nice effects. For example a soft matt lam hides a lot of flaws like poor resolution yet adds a sort of luster and quality feel whilst still being almost clear , full matts tend to hide spotty output , banding and make a lower rez printed image look higher. Full glosses are great for added pop. You get wheat grains , sparkles etc. Apart from effect , lams are also essential for display , often glossy prints will reflect too much light where displayed abd you need to do a matt lam.

There is a good option between cold lams and liquids and thats a product called micronex , marked by GMP. This melts a layer of hot protective “glue” over the graphic and is run at about 110 degrees so it doesnt mess up the vinyls glue or warp – can be done with a cheapish variable temp hot lam machine
The micronex is just about anything proof and is flexible , not quite as good as cold cast, but very good. It has a very slight yellow cast , so whites arent dead white , but hardly noticeable. Best of all you can print cut and then lam and then weed , it breaks away at the cut line when weeding. Both paper and vinyl can be done this way and its real cheap , we pay about 60c a sq meter. There might be an equivalent in your country

[sgraphix]

Thanks for the advice. I plan on doing allot of vehicle graphics so i definitely need the cold . I was told that the hot was cheaper than the cold so that would be used for anything indoor. So i figured if i have both in one then i would be able to do allot more with it. What i meant by the take up roller is some laminators don’t come with a take up roller so you print falls to the floor and if you have a large print you don’t want that to happen during laminating( thats what the distributor told me and i read it here a few times). The one i was looking at i have to find the name was a 24″ hot and cold with a take up roller was priced at about $3,000.USD The Sp-300 can print up to 30″ so i am in the market for a laminator up to 30″ but i will take the 24″. I would wait to get the laminator but I’m going to be going into a flea market with it and i will only be open on weekends so i want to be able to sell something and get it right out by finishing the job by laminating it instead of sending it out. And like you said maybe some people will come to me for laminating and then i can make a few extra bucks like that. And if i get a side body job of flames or something i can print, cut, laminate, then install with no send out time.
Now as for liquid do you think that would be good for me. I checked into it and called a few people about it first issue is the odor. And then the dry time between ever layer. and according to the people that sell the laminant said you have to do about 3 passes or coats for doing car. So i think that would not be officiant for me if i can get 3 or 4 side body’s to do on cars it would take forever just in the different drying times and laminating times and i am limited on space to be able to leave stuff laying around to dry.
So with that in mind now do you think it would be worth me to buy a laminator? Also i think hands on is the best training their is yeah i might mess up a few but i will learn from my mistakes i hope. They told me that when they drop off the Sp-300 and train me they will also train me on that because I’m going to be ordering a big media order for my first order. I have to have all kinds of thing to offer when people come to my store because it is a weekend and it is hard to get supply’s on a weekend.
Sorry for the long post but do you still think i should buy a laminator?