Do you leave your laminator webbed up all the time?

[max]

Hello all, i was wondering if anyone would share their laminating habits with a new laminator (meaning never ever used a lminator before).
just wondering if anyone just leaves their laminator loaded with laminate that is plenty wide enough to handle any print you may make, with some craft paper carrier loaded as well.
or do you think this way produces too much waste. so instead you just use laminate that is cut to fit onto the vinyl that you print so therefor you dont need kraft paper carrier.
not sure if i am explaining this correctly.....

thanks for any advice

 

[mudmedia]

I normally keep 60" always in unless diong window perf or a large run of a smaller size I usually only run 60" and stuff for 36" ... I use craft paper so if I wanted to run 60" all the time I could but i hate the waste. If you have the ability of having 2 guys for laminating stuff you can run without craft.

 

[ColoPrinthead]

I leave mine webbed if I don't use the entire roll at once. I will put the rollers up/ apart from each other when I do.

 

[max]

thanks guys, so you say i need to seperate the rollers when not in use?

 

[max]

one other question... my printer is 48" wide. so what would be the widest width of laminate that i should try to use on the 47" wide prints. i guess i am worrying that on a long laminating job that the laminate would wonder off of the vinyl and and start to stick to the rollers. i assume that could easily happen right?

 

[Baz]

I don't use kraft paper .. I use a coroplast lead board to force the laminate in the rollers and attach my print to the lead board to be carried into the rollers.

Once done i cut the laminate off but leave the backing paper attached to the take up reel.

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

Yes alway's raise your rollers when your laminator is not in use, if you don't you can develope flat spots on your rollers. I alway's keep mine webed

 

[anotherdog]

I use a 54 inch lam on 54 inch adhesive most of the time.
I usually leave the last laminate on the machine until I need to reuse or change to another and I always gap the rollers to stop a flat spot developing.
The bottom feed roller is a convenient place to keep the roll of kraft paper, though I hardly ever need it for laminating. If I just have the odd thing to laminate then I'll cut a small length to size and just use that rather than the roll.

Oh and every couple of months I put my back out taking the monster roll of backing paper off the take-up roll.

 

[max]

I don't use kraft paper .. I use a coroplast lead board to force the laminate in the rollers and attach my print to the lead board to be carried into the rollers.

so you would mean that the roll of laminate that you keep weebed up is not quite as wide as the printed vinyl width that you put through it?
thanks

 

[anotherdog]

I don't use kraft paper .. I use a coroplast lead board to force the laminate in the rollers and attach my print to the lead board to be carried into the rollers.

so you would mean that the roll of laminate that you keep weebed up is not quite as wide as the printed vinyl width that you put through it?
thanks

Backing paper for when you are laminating something that is smaller than the roll of lam. So it doesn't stick to the rollers and bed.

I mostly use Kraft to wrap finshed signage going out though.

Oh and I don't use a leader board. Most of my lam is oracal with a nice stiff backing paper. Feeds through with no problem provided I have the lam flat on the roller.

 

[GB2]

I keep my 54" laminator webbed up with 54" gloss calendared laminate that I use to laminate 54" media. 98% of the time I am laminating rolls of material but for the occassional small single piece, I will use the backer paper that I saved from the last roll of laminate. If I need a different type of laminate then I have no choice but to change the laminate but I try to plan those times carefully since it is a wasteful, time consuming, unpleasant task.

 

[max]

so with my 48" printer i could use 48" laminate without using kraft paper and not worry about getting adhesive on the rolllers?
sorry so many questions, just need to figure out what size rolls of laminate i need to buy to run on the laminator.
thanks for all your advice

 

[Baz]

I didn't specify enough .. I use 54" vinyl and laminate .. 95% of the time i laminate the full 54" width but when i do smaller pieces i might just cut a matching piece of laminate and use the hinge method. Meaning i will stick down the first 3" or so of laminate onto the vinyl by hand then feed both through the rollers. I guess it depends on your volume. If you did allot then i guess the quickest easyest would be to use the paper when feeding smaller pieces through. You don't want the adhesive of the lam touching your rollers.

I also forgot to think about what ChicagoGraphics said ... Don't keep your rollers down when your laminator is not in use. You might develop a flat spot on your rollers.

 

[anotherdog]

so with my 48" printer i could use 48" laminate without using kraft paper and not worry about getting adhesive on the rolllers?
sorry so many questions, just need to figure out what size rolls of laminate i need to buy to run on the laminator.
thanks for all your advice

Yup. If it runs over one side of the other a quarter inch all it does is squeek a little, but there is too little to bind or catch. Most of the time I'll have it dead on.

Thats why adhesive and lam are in the same standard sizes.

How wide is your printer?

 

[max]

my printer is 48" wide. gonna be kinda hard to find 48" rolls of laminate though....

 

[ProWraps]

Yes alway's raise your rollers when your laminator is not in use, if you don't you can develope flat spots on your rollers. I alway's keep mine webed

have never done this not even once. its a myth.

have laminators over 4 years old. NEVER raise the rollers except to put new/different lam in. never a problem. ever.

 

[Jeff South Florida]

It is not 100% myth. I bought a signwarehouse anchor as part of a used set. It sat in a warehouse for 9 months. When I raised the roller there was a definite flat spot at the contact point.

 

[2B]

we leave ours webbed at all times and always raise the rolls when not in use

 

[mnapuran]

we leave ours webbed at all times and always raise the rolls when not in use

Same here..

 

[4R Graphics]

DSD yah after sitting in a warehouse for 9 months in Florida I assume it was not tempature controled it probably would be damaged or even if it was temp controled 9 months never moving.

Also you have to remember that pro wraps has his stuff in temp controled enviroment and the laminator probably gets used at least every other day but probably everyday so it might only sit in one spot for a holiday weekend or something like that.

I dont usually lift my roller either like Pro wraps but I also run the laminator at least every other day except weekends. i dont have any flat spots.

Myth? If your using it regularlly I would say yes myth but if your storing it then no its probably not a myth.