Can a laminator apply vinyl cut lettering?

[gabagoo]

Can a laminator apply vinyl cut lettering?
or am I asking for certain failure. Just wondering how it could be done or if it is even worth the time to try.

 

[Tony McD]

Yes, and it does a nice job.
Just be careful of the substrate you are using....materials like alumalite often
have a burr on the edge, and might do bad things to the rollers.

 

[gabagoo]

Yup! Just premask like you normally would, then hinge w/ tape, and shove it through!

Okay well it's not THAT easy....but you get the picture.

Just make sure your pressure is correct and it goes down like a charm.

so basically the same way you would apply a small piece of laminate?

I guess you have to make sure that the graphic releases properly or you gonna have a mess...maybe best to lift it first to make sure everything comes off nicely then lay it back down?

 

[MikePro]

i use my laminator as a giant squeegee all the time... mainly for 4'x8' gaterfoam boards but yeah, just treat it like a short-run lamination with a tape hinge.

 

[gabagoo]

thanks guys

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Works amazing on coroplast too!

 

[Sticky Signs]

Interesting. I'll have to give that a try.
While we're at it, does anyone use there laminator to apply premask to cut vinyl? I always end up with wrinkles in the release liner so I don't even bother trying anymore. Am I missing something?

 

[The Equipment Guy]

Hey Barry...glad to see you are spending time getting to know the ins and outs...Harolds away this week, so make sure to not stray too far from your comfort zone! (kidding)

Talk to you soon!

Craig

 

[Bigdawg]

We actually just started doing this with cut vinyl - what a smooth laydown. We'd been doing prints on coro for a while, but had a face that really needed to be totally bubble free and the laminator did a great job.

Our original concern was that the air bubbles or slight wrinkles in only the transfer tape would translate to bubbles when the vinyl layed down but it didn't.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Interesting. I'll have to give that a try.
While we're at it, does anyone use there laminator to apply premask to cut vinyl? I always end up with wrinkles in the release liner so I don't even bother trying anymore. Am I missing something?

We premask cut vinyl through our laminator sometimes when the job warrants webbing it up, usually we just do it by hand because we do such little cut vinyl anymore, but we've never had a problem running it through, it's all in the pressure though, if you're pressure is too high it'll cause the release liner to wrinkle and buckle.

 

[MikePro]

i've premasked with the laminator when the job calls for LOTS of masking long runs of cut letters.... web the mask and go with it at the lowest pressure setting possible. The crown of the laminator throws wrinkles when it runs at normal pressure.

 

[gabagoo]

Hey Barry...glad to see you are spending time getting to know the ins and outs...Harolds away this week, so make sure to not stray too far from your comfort zone! (kidding)

Talk to you soon!

Craig

Thanks Craig,

I feel very comfortable with the unit now and fully understand the initial setup. For the type of work I do I can see using the mounting feature