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55" Laminators

ams

ams

New Member
I am about to get a Roland Versacamm 540i 54" printer. I need to get a 54" or 55" laminator also. However I need something under $4,000 new.

I heard Seal is the best, but out of my price range. Can you tell me a very good cold laminator in 55" size that would be great to start with? I know I won't get the best, but I don't want crap.
 
ams

ams

New Member
Yeah I watched a video on that for self laminating. But I've read that if you have different pressures it will mess it all up. So I think I'd trust having a machine do equal pressure.
 
njsigns

njsigns

New Member
I've had great success with my Daige, I've been using mine for nearly 5 years now - it always works. I also have the Big Squeegee but use it more for mounting.

Gene
 
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Salmoneye

New Member
People will talk all kinds of crap about them but I am loving my 60" master laminator for a little over half of your budget. Many rolls of laminate thru and I have yet to have one single problem on one single print. Also notice that the folks with negative feedback about them don't own one. I have used other brand name laminators but can't find any advantages to them for the type of work that we do. One day I might upgrade to a powered 2nd take up to make roll to roll stuff easier.
 
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Salmoneye

New Member
I'ts great that you have success with your Daige but that is the one brand that I have seen sitting unused in shops and or being given away. Seems some have good results with them but they take some finesse.
 
Fred Weiss

Fred Weiss

Merchant Member
Curious as to why you rule out the used equipment market. This one, for example, is located a reasonable drive from you, is under your budget, and would probably meet your needs for many years.
 
rushworks graphics

rushworks graphics

New Member
we have the roland vp540i and got a diage(recommended by the sales rep) and regretted getting that from day one. never had so many problems, wasted material, wasted time etc! in the end i bought the new seal el 55" laminator....and have never been happier!

trust me from experience, do not get a cheap laminator, it will cost you more in the long run! find the extra $ and get a decent laminator, you won't regret it for a second!
 
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tylercrum

New Member
We picked up a barely "used" Drytac JetMouter 54 inch cold laminator from a guy on craigslist for $2500 about a year ago and it works great! Brand new they're not very expensive either. The only other laminator we've ever owned or used was the Daige and honestly, it's more of a mounter than a laminator....it was also quite a nightmare to figure out. Once you get it figured it out it wasn't SO bad, but I love my JM54 now! The ONLY negative thing I can say about it is that there is not takeup for the media you are actually laminating....but you could probably pretty easily set one up on the edge of a table with an old takeup system from a mimaki or something...haven't found it necessary to macgyver that up yet so I'm just theorizing of course. :)
 
Terremoto

Terremoto

New Member
We have a Royal Sovereign where I work and it's a Royal PITA!

First off the media handling requires feeding a big long heavy awkward rod through the laminate or masking tape core. Big negative score on that "feature" alone.

There's a big gap between the primary rollers and the secondary rollers. Difficult and dangerous place where your crumpled up laminating job has a 50/50 chance of ending up.

Something that should be a one man job takes two people on high alert to avoid any disasters. I could go on and on about this hunk of junk.

Standing joke around here is the boss saying, "There's a job we need to laminate."

Me, "OK, I'll warm up the printer."

As far as I'm concerned this is a poorly designed piece of equipment with moderately adequate construction.

This is what I'm trying to talk the boss into buying:

http://www.corbingraphics.com/laminator_ezytaper.htm

I've seen it demonstrated and this thing is awesome!

Check out the videos in the link above. This thing (The Ezy Taper) is well designed, well engineered, robust and versatile.

Definitely do your research before coughing up your hard earned cash on a laminator.

Dan
 
ams

ams

New Member
Fred Weiss said:
Curious as to why you rule out the used equipment market. This one, for example, is located a reasonable drive from you, is under your budget, and would probably meet your needs for many years.
Click to expand...

Because I've read that many used laminators have cuts, bumps, rough edges, etc from people messing them up, cutting the rollers. Meaning is a piece of junk.

I'd buy a used cutter, and maybe a good used printer, but never a laminator.
 
MikePro

MikePro

New Member
americanmade said:
Because I've read that many used laminators have cuts, bumps, rough edges, etc from people messing them up, cutting the rollers. Meaning is a piece of junk.

I'd buy a used cutter, and maybe a good used printer, but never a laminator.
Click to expand...
notable concern, however a laminator is really just a pair of rollers (more or less) and if you're able to see it before your purchase, and there's no cuts on it, i'd say go for it!
 
KARYN BUSH

KARYN BUSH

New Member
get a seal...cough up more and not regret it in the long run. Nothing worse than seeing controltac with laminate in the garage because of a shit laminator. In my opinion its equally as important as a printer. ying and yang.
 
Sticky Signs

Sticky Signs

New Member
Yup, Seal is the best. No doubt about it. I've used lots of them in the past and they are great. I really wanted to get a Seal when it was my time to buy a laminator but had a hard time justifying the cost.
Than, someone introduced me to the Royal Sovereign 55" cold laminator (about 5g's Canadian at the time). Not sure what the model number is. I tried one out at the dealer and was sold. This thing does anything and everything the Seal can do for about half the price. Most people that complain about laminators either don't know how to use them OR don't know how to service them. Of course there are some lemons out there but.... Unless you are a very, very, I mean very busy shop, there is no need to spend the extra money on an Seal.

On a side note, RiteMedia sells a laminator too. About 3 or 4 G's Canadian so I'm sure it's cheaper in the states. I've never used one but upon inspection, it looks just like the Royal Sovereign only with a few cheaper parts here and there. I'd spend the extra few bucks on the RS and lam away.
 
Custom_Grafx

Custom_Grafx

New Member
+1 on royal sovereign. Have a 1650 here with heat assist, and with feeder and rear media take up. Have laminated 60" width around 20 metres non stop, with only around 10mm drift. Doing around 5-10 metres is no longer a pain (it used to be and I have screwed up a few jobs in the learning process).

I'd like to know why so many screw ups on your model Terremoto. Does it start off ok then starts to buckle? or is it bad from the start?

To be fair, it took a little while learning the tricks, but a laminator is a lot more about technique than features. I think you could also have difficulty with a Seal if you didn't know how to use it properly/till you got used to it.

If you go for the RS though, if you do any jobs longer than a couple of metres long, then I highly recommend the feeder and rear take up - or else you'll go crazy.
 
ams

ams

New Member
Ok I guess I will do a self laminate for now with the big squeegee. Also my dealer said I should start with Frog Juice until I can get a laminator. Have you guys used that?
 
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tampaprinting

Tampa Printing
We just recently purchased out vs-540 Roland printer, and also purchased a new Drytac 55". Paid around $5000 for the cold laminator. Takes some getting used to, but we've laminated 70 linear feet of 3m controltac in one pass, with just a little tracking of the laminate (pretty good if you ask me) We make sure not to keep anything that might drop onto the rollers! Any divets in the rubber rollers will transfer onto the laminate and print and will look like a bubble or crease. I would buy new, and pay the extra bit, not worth buying used if you can't see if the tension is ok or if there's any other issues. I hope this helps.
 
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