Epson 9880 and coating..

[Desertups]

Hi folks,

Been poking around a bit and found some information pretty handy, so thanks for that, but I'm not finding much as far as laminates go for water-based printing such as I have.

I have a local guy who only does laminating and mounting which is good for the larger stuff. However, smaller signs, posters, banners, etc, I could do in my store (own a UPS Store) with the right stuff. I've read horror stories about Frog Juice so I'm thinking of staying away from that. However, in my searching around the net I found this stuff - Aqua Jetcoat II which is supposed to be a good roll on/spray on laminate for solvent and water-based inks. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Does anyone use stuff that is specifically designed for water based printers?

Thanks!

 

[Matt Cuellar]

I'm not sure how small you need, but Royal Sovereign makes a really nice 27" tabletop cold laminator and offers some smaller films as well. Would probably work well for what you're wanting to do, not terribly expensive to get into. Email me or call if you're interested. Good luck!

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

You can use Spray Clear Sheild, It's one of the best for water based pigment inks.

 

[Hwy]

I agree with ChicagoGraphics, clear shield goes on all my Epson 4800 prints.

 

[oc63rag]

Make sure you use a coating that is compatible with your specific inks. I've heard horror stories about people using the wrong coating with Epson printers and it ruined the prints. Your supplier should be able to tell you what to use with your current inks.

 

[noregrets]

I have used Aqua JetCoat II with my Epson and found it to work really well, also Breathing Color have a laminate which is quite good. I used an HVLP gun to spray apply it. If you use a gun, make sure you wear a mask, and be prepared for the stuff to go everywhere

 

[Desertups]

Thanks for the info

Thanks for the info guys. I'm looking at the clear shield and aqua coatings (getting samples of both). Now as far as putting it on, do you just roll this stuff on or paint on with a paint brush? I can't spray this stuff in the store and don't really want to get it all over my garage. Spraying outside would be difficult at best with wind, dust (live in a desert here), etc.

I'm looking at the ez glide applicator which would fit my situation well if it works as advertised. Anyone have any experience with this? Here's a link to the item.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[Rooster]

The clearstar is the best by far and I have tried out everything mentioned here.

You can roll it on fairly well. Find the best foam roller you can get. The less porous the foam (smaller holes) the better. Spraying it can be a nightmare if you don't have a proper booth for it, but at least it doesn't stink (that bad) when you spray it unlike some of other coatings out there.

One thing to watch out for is that I found quiet a few coatings that was screwing up the colors. The bad ones were creating a green cast in the neutrals. The clearshield was definitely the best at eliminating this, but just to be safe I profiled all my medias that I typically coated with and without the coating applied.