best practices for laminating

[MikeD]

What are the most important aspects of laminating vinyl prints?

I have printed an entire roll of 30" vinyl (150' long,) that I would like to laminate with my SEAL EP42.
My first problem is that my print was wound onto a take-up (JV33) and it is not wound concentrically, and it is fairly loose. Should I adjust the torque limiter on the printer take-up to be a little tighter?

How can you tell if the tension on the laminate feed is set correctly? What's it look like if it's too tight? Too loose?

How do you control tension on your roll of prints?

Does anyone not use the sacrificial paper on the bottom?
I'm using cold laminate, and it is available in a width shorter than my vinyl.

Any advice is appreciated...thanks for reading this!

 

[MikePro]

I started out using a sled, 5 years ago, but now am able to web my laminator with only scrapping <1foot of material. I just pull it through, tack it to the back of my laminator, and use masking tape to hold my print square while I crank down my rollers to the desired pressure.

+1 to never have used the waste paper.

 

[MikeD]

I started out using a sled, 5 years ago, but now am able to web my laminator with only scrapping <1foot of material. I just pull it through, tack it to the back of my laminator, and use masking tape to hold my print square while I crank down my rollers to the desired pressure.

+1 to never have used the waste paper.

That's what I did, but about halfway through the roll, it began to wrinkle on 1 side. I looked at the feed-side of the machine, and my print was buckled on the opposite side of the fold. I put tension on the roll and it began to feed a little more smoothly.
I do not have a lower mandrel installed; my roll of prints is sitting on some free-spinning bearings...probably not the best practice!
Also, my pressure settings are more of a material thickness setting...I dont think I can adjust them...

How do you control the roll of vinyl you are feeding into the machine?

thanks for sharing your experience. It really helps me to read what you guys have done when I am trying to think my way through this

 

[MikeD]

sled?

Couple of things....

If your prints are loose off the printer take up reel...tighten them and make sure the whole roll is lined up properly. I usually throw it on a roll holder on the floor and screw around accordingly until it is tight and straight throughout.

Wrinkles will be the tell-all indicator that your tension is incorrect. Webbing the laminator properly at the beginning will eliminate any concerns for wrinkles/stretching. As for using craft paper....I never have. We ordered a roll with our laminator when we got it, and used 98% of it for packing paper.

I use a sled (if you do a search you'll find info on my methods and others') and have never had an issue. Basically, you web up your roll of lam, shove a chunk of coroplast through there, and when the coro is almost through the rollers you shove your vinyl in there.

Crude description, yes, but I've gone into detail about this somewhere so I'm not doing it again, lol.

Hope that helps, let me know if you have any questions.

Hi Pat,
I am back to a laminating project again. I am not totally understanding the "sled" part. (I did do a search, and it yielded this old conversation we had)

Is the sled just something to push the lam through the machine without sticking it to the rollers? then you feed in your print?
That means that instead of using sacrificial paper, I would have a "sacrificial" sled to get things webbed, and when my print is done, feed the sled back in as to avoid getting laminate on the rollers?

Thanks for your help, Pat!

 

[SightLine]

I understand Pats method perfect but thats exactly how we roll too. Generally I watch when it's about to the end and run my knife across the web and cut the laminate off while it's still moving. Can pretty much nail it within a half inch of the run.

 

[MikeD]

Thank you guys so much for the help! I have a good understanding of the process now.
Thanks again; especially the pics!

 

[gabagoo]

See pics...hopefully they are in order and make sense.

Hey Pat, I know it was an example but I was wondering if you would use that process for laminating such a small piece, or is it mainly used when it is something significantly longer like 7 or 8' plus.

 

[MikePro]

small pieces I cut my laminate to size, with a little extra for good measure, and set a tape hinge. Having a little bit of extra material above the hinge is nice to have, so that you can set your laminating pressure and have your material ready to pull through the laminator.

at that point, i'm essentially using my laminator as a giant squeegee. peel the backing as it feeds through.

 

[MikeD]

for this particular project that I am working on, I am laminating 150' rolls; one after the other.

 

[gabagoo]

I was doing it more just as an example with the small piece.... I usually just cut off a hunk of laminate and hinge it when it's under 8' long...otherwise I'll web up the laminator and use the method as shown. Not webbing up the laminator saves a couple of minutes and maybe 2 linear feet of lam....but it adds up if you're doing it a couple of times a day.

yes thats what I do, but started wondering if this was a better way...OK

 

[MikePro]

my only alternative to hinging short runs, is that I usually leave my laminator webbed after my long runs and run it as needed.

saved me lots of time, fairly often, when I've been able to just (assume the first few inches are contaminated, from sitting out exposed to air/debris) run whatever else you want through it and use some scrap backing from your laminate as carrier paper to keep the excess laminate from sticking to the rollers.

 

[crewchief97]

I have a question , on vinyl prints that are narrower than the laminate is kraft paper used on the bottom to keep the laminate from sticking to the rollers? Thanks for the replies I'm continuing to learn very valuable info from all you Sign 101 pros.

 

[SightLine]

Depends on your skills and exactly how much laminate is running though exposed. If it's only a few inches we run it but you have to make sure you are pulling it a little on the output end so the exposed lam does not try to adhere to the rollers. We ran some kraft paper when we first started but really have not used it in years now. Generally one person can run it but if there is a lot of exposed lam you might need 2 people to keep pulling it from the output end and trimming the excess as they go.

Now we also have a smaller 42" GBC Catena hot lam - that is a different story. You do not want melted adhesive getting on the rollers so you need a backer on that.

I have a question , on vinyl prints that are narrower than the laminate is kraft paper used on the bottom to keep the laminate from sticking to the rollers? Thanks for the replies I'm continuing to learn very valuable info from all you Sign 101 pros.

 

[crewchief97]

kraft paper

Thanks for the info guys, just bought a used Seal 44 ultra and learing how to use it. I like my Big squeegees tho!!!!!