Looking for views on the Ezy Taper?

[Robert Lambie]

European dealer of ezytaper got into a bit of trouble with something to do with a bad batch that should have been returned but were sold on. or something along those lines. He later died suddenly and i do not think anyone took up on selling them again in the UK. i could be wrong though!

The guy in question was called peter and actually a really nice guy, i met him at sign uk one year and spent a bit of time chatting with him and being shown the machine. there is a knack to using it for large bits and bobs, but then again, same with a laminator! it has more of a soft rubber wheel that forms around things like rivets etc
is it a laminator, no! it is a vinyl media mounter and a decent one at that. but has its limits.

[Myles Brewer]

quote Robert Lambie:

European dealer of ezytaper got into a bit of trouble with something to do with a bad batch that should have been returned but were sold on. or something along those lines. He later died suddenly and i do not think anyone took up on selling them again in the UK. i could be wrong though!

The guy in question was called peter and actually a really nice guy, i met him at sign uk one year and spent a bit of time chatting with him and being shown the machine. there is a knack to using it for large bits and bobs, but then again, same with a laminator! it has more of a soft rubber wheel that forms around things like rivets etc
is it a laminator, no! it is a vinyl media mounter and a decent one at that. but has its limits.

Blimey! That would maybe explain the lack of recent discussion on them I guess, Poor chap.

Do you know of any other similar manually operated or electric laminators that would be reasonably lightweight? (by which I mean maybe around 100 – 150 kg max.) The other issue potentially is getting it upstairs. As someone here mentioned, if you have 3-4 peeps + a machine that weighs 200kg, your stairs could collapse under the weight!! :shocked:

I presume you can laminate & mount etc with most laminators can you?

[Hugh Potter]

I have an easymount SH 1400 (also the 61" latex), I seriously doubt it weighs more than 75kg-100?? I rarely print onto 60" material so don’t really miss the extra lam width. 99% is on 1370 so the laminator is fine, I’ve used it for laminating, mounting and app tape on wide long runs!

[Myles Brewer]

quote Hugh Potter:

I have an easymount SH 1400 (also the 61″ latex), I seriously doubt it weighs more than 75kg-100?? I rarely print onto 60″ material so don’t really miss the extra lam width. 99% is on 1370 so the laminator is fine, I’ve used it for laminating, mounting and app tape on wide long runs!

Hugh, If it’s the 1400SH, their spec sheet states 210kg gross weight. The S1400H is 161kg Unless they got it wrong somehow? I’d actually been looking at them before we thought too much about weight & floor etc. If you’re right then that should be no problem. & I do agree about the 1400 being big enough. I do understand that obviously having a 1600 gives the option of doing bigger prints if required, but it would be such a rare requirement I really don’t see the point as it would be just as easy to outsource the odd one.

[Hugh Potter]

I’m only guessing at the weight, two of us carried the top half in so I’m guessing it can’t be ‘that’ heavy!

[Myles Brewer]

quote Hugh Potter:

I’m only guessing at the weight, two of us carried the top half in so I’m guessing it can’t be ‘that’ heavy!

Lol, definitely lighter than the HP L26500 printer we finally moved into place through downstairs bedroom window on Friday.. nearly killed 3 of us (one being the wife, who was not impressed!!) even with it off the stand!! Won’t be moving it again in a hurry anyway 🙂

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[Myles Brewer]

Sorry, meant to put the laminator attachment on this post. Was going to ask if anyone had used one like this? I’ve been offered one by a local photographer for €125 he has no need for it any more. He did say they’d had issues with puckering when laminating larger prints but that it was just a case of tweaking the pressure.

I’m tempted for the price but don’t want to bother if it’s really going to be a pain to set up every time & find it’s always likely to pucker or crease. I will mainly be using it for laminating 1370mm vinyl & mounting onto correx or composite.

It would certainly fit the bill regarding weight, but I suspect it may actually be just a bit too basic.

[Kevin Busby]

quote Myles Brewer:

Sorry, meant to put the laminator attachment on this post. Was going to ask if anyone had used one like this? I’ve been offered one by a local photographer for €125 he has no need for it any more. He did say they’d had issues with puckering when laminating larger prints but that it was just a case of tweaking the pressure.

I’m tempted for the price but don’t want to bother if it’s really going to be a pain to set up every time & find it’s always likely to pucker or crease. I will mainly be using it for laminating 1370mm vinyl & mounting onto correx or composite.

It would certainly fit the bill regarding weight, but I suspect it may actually be just a bit too basic.

Used something similar for the first few years when I started out for putting down vinyl on boards, I did laminate a few small jobs with it without problems but the cheap eBay ones tend to fall apart on the tensioners and thats what happened to mine in the end, I would say for that price you cannot go wrong as its very hard to position a laminator to take full sheets in your small space, this you can just throw on the cutting table when you need it then look at moving on to a bigger laminator when things work out and you get your own premises.

[Myles Brewer]

quote Kevin Busby:

quote Myles Brewer:

Sorry, meant to put the laminator attachment on this post. Was going to ask if anyone had used one like this? I’ve been offered one by a local photographer for €125 he has no need for it any more. He did say they’d had issues with puckering when laminating larger prints but that it was just a case of tweaking the pressure.

I’m tempted for the price but don’t want to bother if it’s really going to be a pain to set up every time & find it’s always likely to pucker or crease. I will mainly be using it for laminating 1370mm vinyl & mounting onto correx or composite.

It would certainly fit the bill regarding weight, but I suspect it may actually be just a bit too basic.

Used something similar for the first few years when I started out for putting down vinyl on boards, I did laminate a few small jobs with it without problems but the cheap eBay ones tend to fall apart on the tensioners and thats what happened to mine in the end, I would say for that price you cannot go wrong as its very hard to position a laminator to take full sheets in your small space, this you can just throw on the cutting table when you need it then look at moving on to a bigger laminator when things work out and you get your own premises.

Thanks a million Kevin, I don’t think this guy used it much, mostly for small prints so it shouldn’t be too warn. Do you think it would handle long runs of laminating say 10m lengths at 1370 for example? Did you have to spend much time fiddling to set up each run?

Space isn’t so much of an issue as weight to be honest. The bedroom upstairs has a span of 20ft, so would have room to feed 8x4s in one side & out the other. I presume you only really need a bench on the exit side?

[Hugh Potter]

only downside to consider with this type of laminator, is that you need to cut the laminate to length as there’s no means to mount the roll, that means pulling back the liner (without moving the lam and inadvertantly sticking it to the print), all the while trying to wind the handle, keep it suitably taught, and check it’s all still in line – I find that thought daunting after recent experiences cost me almost 15m of printed reflective when trying to save time by not loading the rolls on the machine properly!

[Daniel Evans]

I had a small 700mm one, not the same name and can’t even remember where I bought it. Served a purpose but what a pain and I certainly don’t envy you, 700mm wide was hard enough, sod doing 1220+. It was ok for mounting boards though but I much prefer my heated laminator

[Hugh Potter]

I retract what I said about the laminator not being as heavy as you stated… I had a big strong friend with me earlier so I asked him to help me lift the top off the laminator and turn the base around the right way (it arrived as it was wheeled on and off the truck), the two of us struggled with the weight and I would guess the top was easily 80-100kg on it’s own!!

[Myles Brewer]

Thanks Hugh/Daniel, Those are exactly the type of comments I was hoping to hear (Or not as the case may be 🙁 )

I suspected they might be a bit of a pain to use. I guess if they were any good, everyone would be using them. You get what you pay for at the end of the day so can’t expect too much from them. Think I’ll give it a miss then, even at that price I think I might end up throwing it out the window with frustration & loosing more money in Fecked up vinyl/laminate than the machine is worth!!

OK so the search continues for something more user friendly but not too heavy!(I intend to be able to train up the wife to do the laminating & mounting, so user friendly is key 😉 in the nicest possible way.) I don’t want to skimp & regret what I get a few months down the line. I’m still wondering if getting one with heat is necessary or not? I do the occasional run of gallery wrap signs with vinyl wrapped onto MDF so I’m presuming heated would be handy for these?

I may get away with something upto around 150kg I guess. I reckon a large solid timber king size bed & mattress wouldn’t be far off that & they aren’t an issue in domestic dwellings obviously!!

[Dan Osterbery]

Hi Guys,
quick question, could these cheap cold laminators be used to apply transfer paper to cut graphics? I am looking for a cheap solution to allow, one man to apply 4, or 5 m lengths of backing paper on his own. When we have long lengths of cut vinyl we use our big laminator to apply the backing paper but it is a pain constantly changing the media, and i would like something that can sit permanently on a bench?

Cheers

Dan

[Derek Heron]

regarding ezy taper
i had one of the first ones and it is still used on a regular basis to laminate up to 3 metres we always use a backing board and rarely have problems (touch wood)
we have a couple of small foamex wedges to open the nip in reverse and slide our board and substrate in and straighten up
and away we go
we often put vinyl down onto correx 3×2 we have the original demo disc and set up info which seems to keep us right
i know some people have had problems with some versions but we seem to have been lucky with ours
we have a roll to roll laminator for bigger jobs but the ezy taper for smaller jobs takes seconds to set up
we also tried to set it up as a transfer tape applicator but couldnt get it right .so its good for somethings but not others
i for one would miss it
if you can get a good one cheap happy days
oh and we also built a more robust custom stand which fits our bench

Derek

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[Myles Brewer]

Thanks Derek, that’s interesting first hand info.

I Just wonder, out of interest, if you could only keep one, which would it be? I’m presuming the roll to roll does everything, whereas the Ezy Taper is only good for certain things, generally smaller stuff, would it be fair to say?

[Derek Heron]

hi myles

would miss both of them
but can do more with the ezy taper

derek

[Pane Talev]

As a person who tried to save on cold laminator for years I strongly advise you to get a proper laminator and save yourself lots of time and nerves.
If you get this, in few months you will want proper laminator. I’ve been there for years. I now have Royal Sovereign cold laminator and laminating was transformed from frustration and stress to pleasure.
My opinion.

[Myles Brewer]

quote Pane Talev:

As a person who tried to save on cold laminator for years I strongly advise you to get a proper laminator and save yourself lots of time and nerves.
If you get this, in few months you will want proper laminator. I’ve been there for years. I now have Royal Sovereign cold laminator and laminating was transformed from frustration and stress to pleasure.
My opinion.

I have a feeling your right Pane. Sometimes even the simplest of tools can make a huge difference. I worked for years applying application tape by hand with outstretched arms laying it carefully down over the cut vinyl, then bought one of the end of bench application tape rollers & life was suddenly transformed!! :smiles:

Do you ever wish that you had gone with a heated laminator though?

[Myles Brewer]

quote Derek Heron:

hi myles

would miss both of them
but can do more with the ezy taper

derek

Would you say you could confidently laminate vinyl & mount to 8×4’s with relative ease?

[Pane Talev]

quote Myles Brewer:

quote Pane Talev:

As a person who tried to save on cold laminator for years I strongly advise you to get a proper laminator and save yourself lots of time and nerves.
If you get this, in few months you will want proper laminator. I’ve been there for years. I now have Royal Sovereign cold laminator and laminating was transformed from frustration and stress to pleasure.
My opinion.

I have a feeling your right Pane. Sometimes even the simplest of tools can make a huge difference. I worked for years applying application tape by hand with outstretched arms laying it carefully down over the cut vinyl, then bought one of the end of bench application tape rollers & life was suddenly transformed!! :smiles:

Do you ever wish that you had gone with a heated laminator though?

The one I have is heated. Cannot comment on the heated side of things as I haven’t used it.
It’s a recent purchase.

[Derek Heron]

hi myles
yes i can mount and laminate on the ezy but haveing the dedicated laminator tend to just mount on the ezy
i have the laminator set up with matt lam which covers us for most jobs if i need to gloss lam i will use the ezy taper rather than change rolls just for 1 job
our laminator has hot facility but we found the enviroment has to be spot on and tension as well if just a bit too much tension on the roll and heat it would apply ok but you could see the laminate trying to curl the print if you know what i mean
the silvering disapears after a short while when laminating cold so we are happy with that

Derek

[Myles Brewer]

quote Derek Heron:

hi myles
yes i can mount and laminate on the ezy but haveing the dedicated laminator tend to just mount on the ezy
i have the laminator set up with matt lam which covers us for most jobs if i need to gloss lam i will use the ezy taper rather than change rolls just for 1 job
our laminator has hot facility but we found the enviroment has to be spot on and tension as well if just a bit too much tension on the roll and heat it would apply ok but you could see the laminate trying to curl the print if you know what i mean
the silvering disapears after a short while when laminating cold so we are happy with that

Derek

Yes, I’m getting the impression generally that cold is quite sufficient for most people. I seem to be getting drawn to either the Easymount Sign 1600 Cold or alternatively the Kala Starter 160. I can’t tell from what I’ve seen if the Kala can do roll to roll or not.

Anyone out there used the Kala? From all the info it seems to be very user friendly. Very little difference in price or weight between the two either.

[Robert Lambie]

Just my opinion but i think you need to focus more on what you will realistically use the machine for.
If you are going to be laminating mostly and runs of 2 metres plus+ in length then you should be leaning towards a laminator. If more mounting of prints and occasional lamination of up to a 3 metre sheet, then lean to the mounter option.

Mounting machines are just that, for mounting media to rigid substrates. Yes flexible material can be mounted too but they can be troublesome. This is why the likes of flatbed mounting tables have become so popular. they are quick and easy to use. But not a laminator as such, even though they can do the job.

Laminators take a bit of time to learn and setting up can be slow dependant on the one you purchase, but once setup correct they will run well and do the job great. You can mount to rigid substrates but they are not mounters as such.

if you are looking for an entry level cross between both, you are going to have a bit of a learning curve ahead and minus a few hairs from your head in the process. But as said, it is doable.

[Myles Brewer]

quote Robert Lambie:

Just my opinion but i think you need to focus more on what you will realistically use the machine for.
If you are going to be laminating mostly and runs of 2 metres plus+ in length then you should be leaning towards a laminator. If more mounting of prints and occasional lamination of up to a 3 metre sheet, then lean to the mounter option.

Mounting machines are just that, for mounting media to rigid substrates. Yes flexible material can be mounted too but they can be troublesome. This is why the likes of flatbed mounting tables have become so popular. they are quick and easy to use. But not a laminator as such, even though they can do the job.

Laminators take a bit of time to learn and setting up can be slow dependant on the one you purchase, but once setup correct they will run well and do the job great. You can mount to rigid substrates but they are not mounters as such.

if you are looking for an entry level cross between both, you are going to have a bit of a learning curve ahead and minus a few hairs from your head in the process. But as said, it is doable.

Hi Rob, thanks for the input. I’ll start with the hair…. really not an issue there as you can see from the profile picky, not much there to loose 😉 .

I suppose I probably am trying to find the impossible by looking for an all round machine for a budget price, but I think it probably does need to do both jobs & also be easyish to use in order that I can get the good lady to give a hand :praiseyou:

To give an idea of what sort of stuff I do, here’s a quick run down of roughly what I outsourced last year (the reason also why I made the decision to get the printer)
140sqm vinyl mounted to corri ( approx 46 8×4’s)
280sqm laminated vinyl
20sqm paper prints (A0’s A1’s A2’s etc.)
16sqm Backlit lightbox film
40sqm pvc banner

A reasonable proportion of the vinyl would have been hand mounted onto smaller corri like 8×2’s 4×4’s etc & also composite. The rest for windows, walls, vehicles, gallery wraps on MDF panels (hand mounted) & stickers.
On top of that would be a small quantity of pull ups & then in house would be all the cut vinyl work, flood coating composite & corri panels etc.

I doubt I would use the machine for laying down application tape to cut vinyl, & mounting if needs be, can be done by hand on 8×4’s, particularly if I used an air release vinyl to make life easier. But hand laminating anything that wide would be hmmmm… challenging!!! So taking all that into account, I guess I should be aiming more for a laminator which can mount if push comes to shove.

The flatbeds do look fantastic & sooo easy to use. I’d dearly love one but that’s pure dreams for now.

I am perfectly happy to take time to learn a new skill, in fact I love a challenge & the process of tweaking work methods to get the best results, BUT! I really cannot continue to do everything on my own & realistically have to delegate to "the boss" (she whom doth wear the trousers!! :bigsmile: ) who does not possess the same passion, patience & stupidity as myself. So therefore it has to be simple to use, which by the look of it, the Kala Starter is or maybe the Easymount??

What’s your view on heated lams too out of interest Rob?

[Graeme Dingwall]

Anybody got any views on this machine? http://www.printcutandfinish.co.uk/wide … 5%e2%80%b3

[Myles Brewer]

Anybody out there have or used a Kala Starter?

[Myles Brewer]

OK, in the end decided to go with Emblem Easylam Expert 140C.
Supplier talked me into it on German build quality v Chinese. It does Seem to be fairly well built for the price bracket to be honest & fairly straight forward to use. Done a few 8x4s vinyl mounted (certainly beats doing them by hand :thumbsup: ) & only did a small (about 1m) test of laminating & that went ok. Really not sure about how much pressure/brake to set on it & will be very nervous doing longer runs till I get used to it I suppose. Hate wastage but I guess I’ll probably have to accept there will be some mishaps along the way.