New ezytaper arrived today

[Robert Lambie]

i thought they looked ok mate… 😀 keep us posted on how you get on please.

[Maurice McNicholl]

Very interested to hear more of the Ezytaper – sounds great for mounting and application tape but what about laminating – can it do that to a good standard or will proper laminating of ecosolvent prints need another machine? Love to hear how you get on with lamination when you try it.

[Ian Higgins]

I am sure they will not be anywhere near good enough for 100% top quality laminating. We do 80% of our stuff for exhibitions and usually print on matt vinyl but I plan to print onto gloss then matt laminate as it gives a more viberant finnish and I am sure it will be ok for this.
Will let you know once we try some tommorow.

Cheers
Ian

[Maurice McNicholl]

No news yet of laminating on the Ezytaper? maybe you are getting so much done you cannot keep up with the productivity – I hope so, but will be glad to hear how things are going as I would consider one of these machines myself.

Thanks

Maurice

[Ian Higgins]

Hi Maurice,

been busy with the machine.. I have done a couple of laminating jobs 1 was superb mounted onto foamboard… the second was just mounted straight onto vinyl and was not as good as I would have liked… We then did the same job again but ysed a piece of 3mm foamboard as a carrier and it was great… I think that due to there being no roller adjustment it does not create enough pressure for laminate onto vinyl…
I may be missing something but that is my opinion.. Have to say I am well pleased with it though… Flood coating an 8×4 takes less than 2 minutes including setting up..

Cheers
Ian

[Maurice McNicholl]

Thanks Ian

Still sounds good and it sounds too that you have found a solution by using a 3mm carrier!

Keep us up to date with progress, it is very interesting and sounds like a real production booster.

Thanks

Maurice

[Shane Drew]

quote Higgi29:

I have done a couple of laminating jobs 1 was superb mounted onto foamboard… the second was just mounted straight onto vinyl and was not as good as I would have liked… We then did the same job again but ysed a piece of 3mm foamboard as a carrier and it was great… I think that due to there being no roller adjustment it does not create enough pressure for laminate onto vinyl…
I may be missing something but that is my opinion.. Have to say I am well pleased with it though… Flood coating an 8×4 takes less than 2 minutes including setting up..

Cheers
Ian

I am surprised you have a problem with laminating vinyl Ian. I have laminated probably close to 200mtrs in the last few months, never had a drama, and never needed a 3mm carrier.

You are right about flood coating tho. Dad and I try and improve our times each time we do a job. Best we have done is 40 sec’s, but we forgot to dust it first. Result had grit under the job, but we still count it 😳 The best before that was 65 seconds

Of course, the rollers are self adjusting, so I was wondering what result you got that made you think it needed a carrier? Just curious..

Even with one hand out of action, I have been laminating prints onto fourex all day today, and with a bit of help, I laminated 25 mtrs of 290 over 3951 without a hitch (and no carrier)

Glad you like it tho. 😛

[Ian Higgins]

Hi Shane,

The reason we used a 3mm carrier was that the first prints looked to have 1000’s of tiny bubbles… as if there was not enough pressure. with the 3mm they were fine.
We are still on a steep learning curve.. Tried some of the double sided glue onto the back of some paper today so we could stick them on A Boards… I think we need a little more practice first!!!

Cheers
Ian

[Maurice McNicholl]

Hi Snae and ian
I am keeping a close eye on this conversation as i am interested in getting an Ezytaper instead of a laminator. It seems there is a bit of learning as with every new machine and new set of materials. Are there types of laminate that work better than others? i presume that is the only variable sine there is no heat involved and no pressure adjustment. Of course heat and pressure will be different in Australia – the pressure will be from the bottom roller up!!

Shae do you consider the Ezytaper to be "a laminator" plus other functions or a sign makers magic machine that just manages to do a little laminating?

Maurice

[Shane Drew]

Maurice, definately a laminator that has other functions, not the other way around.

Ian, I know the effect you refer too. Sort of like a sheen effect.

That is perfectly normal. I had a demo with a Daige Laminating machine before I purchased the ezytaper and it did the same thing.

I use oracal 215 on 3551 almost exclusively. It happens most of the time, depending on the weather. When it settles or ‘rests’ it disappears.

It is also more prominant if the print has not dried properly.

As with the daige, it is just because of the roller material. The material being a ‘memory type’ and not hard and unforgiving is the main reason. It is nothing to be concerned about. I laminated some material last night, but when I get to work today, it would have disappeard.

It is worse on gloss laminate than matt (which I use).

Hope that helps.

[Maurice McNicholl]

Thanks Shane.

That is a helpful and encouraging answer. I will have to have a look at oneof these machines.

Maurice

[Shane Drew]

quote Maurice McNicholl:

Thanks Shane.

That is a helpful and encouraging answer. I will have to have a look at oneof these machines.

Maurice

Happy to help Maurice. Arrange a demo if you can. Once you actually use it, you’ll see for yourself and have more questions no doubt.

The bloke that invented it here in oz has spent a lot of time on R&D. He has put a lot of thought into the design, and having a signmakers background, he knows the problems we all experience in this industry.

If you find you need answers and the UK guys are busy, I’m happy to contact the aussie guys on your behalf.

Cheers

[Stephen Morriss]

You’ll get the silvering effect on most laminators Ian, like Shane said it disappears after a while.
I have an electric laminator with heaters but I use it cold most of the time. Just done a 60m print and laminate job and with leaving the laminate setup in the machine I would take off the pressure to just hold the laminate until the next run but sometimes I forgot to wind it back up again so there was very little pressure and the result was a little more silvering but it looked just the same as the rest after a few hours and by the next day it had all gone on all the prints.

Steve

[Maurice McNicholl]

Thanks Steve
This is good to hear your story agreeing with Shane’s.

It is not the message I was getting from laminator sales people at UKSIGNs who seemed to say buy our machine – it does not give you silvering because ….?

It seems silvering has to be expected but is not a problem as it settles with time – Is that right? Could help save a lot of money on a laminator!

Maurice

[Shane Drew]

quote Maurice McNicholl:

Thanks Steve
This is good to hear your story agreeing with Shane’s.

It is not the message I was getting from laminator sales people at UKSIGNs who seemed to say buy our machine – it does not give you silvering because ….?

It seems silvering has to be expected but is not a problem as it settles with time – Is that right? Could help save a lot of money on a laminator!

Maurice

yes Maurice. Silvering is not uncommon on a lot of laminators. Don’t let them baffle you with science. It depends on the roller type usually.

The ones like the ezytaper are soft enough not to get damaged if a hard object gets fed thru in error ie pen or knife. It will let them thru, but will not mark the roller. Some of the harder rollers will mark or dent if you do the same thing. A dent in a roller will introduce a bubble in the surface of the laminated material..

[Ian Higgins]

Just a Quick update…

After doing quite a few jobs with the eazy taper I was having a problem with air bubbles in the middle of large sheets and prints.. As I said earlier I ended up using a 3mm carrier which sorted it for a while then over the weekend had problems with this too!!!
Contacted Peter who supplied the machine and explained the problem, He Explained that 8 new macines have all developed this problem and they have have traced it back to the supplier of the steel core for the roller using the wrong spec steel!!!!

Have to give them credit though, a new machine will be delivered on Tuesday…. not just a relacement roller… a full machine!
No excuses etc… just glad to have found the 8th machine… full of appolagies so have to say I am looking forward to the arrival of the new machine because the Faulty one was not bad so the new one should be great…
So well done Ezytaper excellent after sales service..
Cheers
Ian

[Shane Drew]

quote Higgi29:

Just a Quick update…

After doing quite a few jobs with the eazy taper I was having a problem with air bubbles in the middle of large sheets and prints.. As I said earlier I ended up using a 3mm carrier which sorted it for a while then over the weekend had problems with this too!!!
Contacted Peter who supplied the machine and explained the problem, He Explained that 8 new macines have all developed this problem and they have have traced it back to the supplier of the steel core for the roller using the wrong spec steel!!!!

Have to give them credit though, a new machine will be delivered on Tuesday…. not just a relacement roller… a full machine!
No excuses etc… just glad to have found the 8th machine… full of appolagies so have to say I am looking forward to the arrival of the new machine because the Faulty one was not bad so the new one should be great…
So well done Ezytaper excellent after sales service..
Cheers
Ian

good onya mate. I have a very good relationship with the ezytaper inventor here, and I think the ezytaper group here are fantastic too. Always willing to help. I am pleased that Peter seems to be of the same mould.

Thanks for the update 😉

[Dave Bruce]

So what happens to your old/faulty machine Higgy?

Maybe I could get it as a demo 😀

Dave

[Phil Halling]

Higgi, you too?

Looks like the delivery man is going to be busy next week eh?

[Ian Higgins]

Guess so!!
cant fault the service though…No quibbles.

Cheers
Ian

[Phil Halling]

I’ll second that 10/10 for customer service

[Paul Franklin]

Are you all using the EZY TAPER that takes upto 12mm or 30mm substrates?

Are there any obvious advantages to going for one that can take upto 30mm in material thickness?

[Ian Higgins]

Hi,
Ours is the 12mm one. I am told that you can do slimline signtrays on the wider one but that is the only possible advantage I can see.

Cheers
Ian

[Shane Drew]

Paul, I am upgrading to the 30mm one soon.

One reason for the modification is that it has been designed so street signs for councils and large fabrication etc can go thru pre assembled, or even A Frame faces etc.

I don’t actually have a use for it yet, but I can see that I’ll be able to change the way I do things when I do actually get it.

Do you guys have access to the digi roll holders that they put out too? Got mine the other day, made my room here much more tidy….

[Ian Higgins]

Hi Shane,

Yes we got a free roll jolder when buying the machine… They told us it will be a few weeks before it arrives though..

Cheers
Ian

[Ian Higgins]

Hi folks,

Replacement machine arrived today. Only done 2 small jobs with it but seems ok.

Will do e few larger ones in the week so fingers crossed.
Cheers
Ian

[Phil Halling]

Same here

[Maurice McNicholl]

Hi Ian, Phil

All quiet after the arrival of your new ezytapers?

How are they performing? Keen to hear of your experience.

Maurice

[Ian Higgins]

Hi,

Not used it much past couple of weeks but no roblems so far.. big differance compared with the first one.

Cheers
Ian