spray laminate

[John Simpson]

Hi Becky
Before i can answer your question, what type of ink are you using?
L J

[Lynn Normington]

becky, for small stuff I wouldnt bother, unless you are doing them by the thousand Most small stickers are short term anyway
lynn

[Kevin.Beck]

i`m using the cadet and solvent ink.

some decals are for the sides of vehicles, so really need to be lammed even though they are small..

[John Simpson]

I use Eco solvent plus inks, so not much help to you but from what i have picked up from other cadet users some say they always laminate others say they don’t bother, so not much help sorry.
L J

[Peter Normington]

Becky,
If the are one offs, and small, use your gerber, far more cost effective.
otherwise just contour cut some clear vinyl to lam with.
Peter

[MARTY]

Try Mer car polish…..Not sure how long it lasts but it makes prints almost
indestructable. Just a light coat, Don’t press hard as it will remove the print.

[Gordon Forbes]

Why not just lam with the hexis clear vinyl thats what I do.
If you do it on glass (the laminating reduces the sivering effect greatly)

Goop

[Robert Lambie]

we are same becky, large laminator but for small things it can be a pain… what we do is print the small images with reg marks as normal. then remove from machine. then just cut a small bit of clear by hand and cover the print applying with felt squeegee… doesn’t have to be perfect etc because when you put back in machine the cutter contour cuts it anyway. if they are small like you say it should be easy enough mate.

peter, i had thermal machine for many years mate and still always laminated our prints. thermal are brilliant for your no mess/fuss prints and durability is really good. however on a vehicle the prints break down just like the rest. give a print a month on the road, then go up with a dry fingertip and give it a rub. you’ll be surprised just how much the grime and chemicals break down a prints barriers.

Becky, not sure if this will help mate but….
we have a auto paint shop in our industrial estate. they supply the car trade with paints etc,. they also colour match touch-up paints and also colour match in aerosol cans. basically they have all the kit (like most shops like them these days) to create an aerosol color matched paint can in minutes. with this in mind, i had a few jobs to do on banners using sericol ink. i basically mixed the ink with thinners like i would normally.
i put it in an aerosol can LID. and walked down to the auto paint shop.
said to them, i don’t want any paint, but can you stick what i have here in some aerosol cans for me. i think they may have charged me a couple of pound but not much. surprising thing was, from the small lid full of ink i gave them i got about 5 aerosols. just shows you how much you get in one of these cans. 😕
anyway…. story is, i only needed the ink for small bits here and there on a banner and didn’t want the hassle of setting up compressor/spray room. chose this route and it worked a treat. down side, i Had too much bloody ink mixed up. think i still have the cans in a cupboard some place. :lol1:

[Shane Drew]

Becky, I usually just laminate the small pieces by hand. Either with laminate material or clear tape. Just premask it like you do with computer cut, and lay it over the decals. Beats messing with sprays etc. I used to use a two pack laminate that could be brushed or rolled. Brushing was hopeless leaving brush masks, but the rolling gave a better result.

Hope that helps

Shane

[Rod Gray]

i`m with shane regards using a small roller.

The results we can get with rollers is sometimes as good as spray-paint.

Use sponge rollers, not the nylon synethic ones that are supposed to look like wool.

Make sure you put plenty of laminating fluid into the sponge before applying on the vinyl otherwise you`ll get lots of little bubbles. Use the trays that come with the rollers and really work the fluid intop the sponge so most of the air at the surface is removed.

Practice on some old vinyl.

You`ll be pleasantly surprised by the quality of finish you can achieve using a sponge roller.

[Paul Goodwin]

Rod

how long does it take to dry and can it be put back in teh cutter after to conour cut??

[Nicola McIntosh]

quote McRod:

The results we can get with rollers is sometimes as good as spray-paint.
Use sponge rollers
Make sure you put plenty of laminating fluid into the sponge before applying on the vinyl otherwise you`ll get lots of little bubbles. Use the trays that come with the rollers and really work the fluid intop the sponge so most of the air at the surface is removed.
You`ll be pleasantly surprised by the quality of finish you can achieve using a sponge roller.

thought i would buy some liquid laminate..been at it know since 6.30..and it’s driving me daft 😮 done everything mentioned above, but the bubbles are horrendous, i have gave up. i usually buy frog juice, but thought i’d try something different 🙄

Nik

[Mike Grant]

I use frog juice for most of my prints. I keep a jar with screw top and about an inch of frog juice inside. In this I permanently keep a sponge brush about 2″ wide, just big enough to get in the neck of the jar. The handle has been cut down so that I can keep it in the jar all the time without the need to clean it at all. I have had the same brush for over 2 years now and it shows no sign of deteriorating. this is just perfect for those small jobs and doesn’t leave any brush strokes or air bubbles unless you are a complete klutz!

[Kevin.Beck]

thanks mike, that sounds like a great idea.

[Shane Drew]

quote niknaxpc:

quote McRod:

The results we can get with rollers is sometimes as good as spray-paint.
Use sponge rollers
Make sure you put plenty of laminating fluid into the sponge before applying on the vinyl otherwise you`ll get lots of little bubbles. Use the trays that come with the rollers and really work the fluid intop the sponge so most of the air at the surface is removed.
You`ll be pleasantly surprised by the quality of finish you can achieve using a sponge roller.

thought i would buy some liquid laminate..been at it know since 6.30..and it’s driving me daft 😮 done everything mentioned above, but the bubbles are horrendous, i have gave up. i usually buy frog juice, but thought i’d try something different 🙄

Nik

Nik how warm is your room?

Only reason I can see is that your room heat is causing the laminate to dry to fast. A cool room will let the bubbles come out before it drys

Shane

[Nicola McIntosh]

quote Mike Grant:

leave any brush strokes or air bubbles unless you are a complete klutz!

guess what my new name is? 😛

nik

[Nicola McIntosh]

shane thanks for reply…did not think about room temps. will try again tomorrow 😀

Nik

[Rod Gray]

Nik,

We use this method for painting areas on agricultural equipment and chassis that we can`t reach properly we a spray gun.

Maybe i should have been clearer that i haven`t actually tried liquid laminate using this method.

We have used many different paints and many different lacquers and get some great results. So much so that we are reluctant to use brushes as they leave marks. I`m assuming that spray laminate is a derivative of lacquer/varnish.

This spray laminate, is it very thin in viscosity or are you able to thin it using some kind of thinners?.

The reason i`m asking is that, along with Shane`s suggestion about temperature, – If the liquid laminate is too thin, you will get more problems with bubbles.

The thicker it is out the tin, the better.

Rod

[Nicola McIntosh]

your maybe right rod, tried again today and noticed the liquid was very runny, tried it in a cooler workshop…still the same 🙄
so ed contacted the supplier, who said they have a newer one coming out, so i’ll wait and see, cause i like the liquid stuff as it dries rock solid. anyway got a couple of froggies in replacement to the liquid 😀 thumbs up to grafitype 😉

Nik

[Paul Goodwin]

Nick

this maybee a stoopid question, but after teh frogjuice has gone off can the prints be run though the cutter to cut??

ie: print now cut later option

slap me if i am being stoopid

[Nicola McIntosh]

(bully) (could’nt find a slapper) 😀

mort i cannot help i’m afraid..i only use the frog stuff for customers who ask for it to laminate signs

Nik

[Marekdlux]

Mort, I know it is recommended to cut it first, then spray it, then weed it, then tape it.
-Marek

[John Simpson]

Sorry to contradict Marek in my experience with frog juice i find it best & easiest to print, dry, spray, dry then cut & weed tape up.
I used to do it your way but found it more difficult to weed after spraying. it seems to hold it together more whereas cut it after spraying seems to cure the problem.
L J

hopefully after next Tuesday i shouldn’t have that problem when my new laminator should be up & running.

[Marekdlux]

No problem LJ, I was just passing on what I have heard. Apparently I have heard from the wrong person. 😀 I have only used it a couple of times, I will have to try it that way.
-Marek

[Mike Grant]

With frog juice I print and cut the design first BUT DONT WEED IT!. Then only frog juice it about an hour or two before you actually need to stick it down. Weed the stickers about 1/2 hour after frog juicing when touch dry but before it glues up your weeding cuts. If you leave your prints for too long before applying you will get a small but annoying edge curl which can be a booger to keep down so best to fix to substrate asap after juicing.

As with everything just try a small sample and see what happens, then judge your timing to suit.

Also after spreading with the foam brush if any air bubbles pop up just flatten them with another very light brush stroke just enough to burst them.

Jobs a good’n! 😀

[David McDonald]

Try this website to make your own Frog Juice !!

http://home.comcast.net/~fiab/frogbender.html

Macky D[/url]

[Nicola McIntosh]

quote Mike Grant:

Also after spreading with the foam brush if any air bubbles pop up just flatten them with another very light brush stroke just enough to burst them.
Jobs a good’n! 😀

thanks mike ….i did try that also..no luck, the finish was awful…must be me!! 😕

nik

[Simon Kay]

I used frog juice only once. It was the aerosol kind.

Main reason was that the banner I’d put it on was brought back almost black – it had been yellow – with road grime stuck to it. The frog juice had just acted like glue.

After a couple of hours cleaning it off with isopropol and citrus I gave up and made them a new one.

I could never work out what frog juice was for after that so it’s sat on the shelf ever since 😕

Just had a thought 😮 . The ambient temperature was about 45 degrees, I wonder if that’s what did it?