Graphic finishing laminator problems

[Bill Knippenberg]

I purchased a new graphic finishing laminator and it is getting a buckle in the middle about 3 feet in. I have only ran 8 foot of vinyl through it so far and ruined everything. Any suggestions for a newbie here. It is 54 inches and it is a cold laminator

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

You have the roll down pressure too high...the edges are pressing causing the center to cup

 

[GraphicsSource]

Try taping it to a piece of rigid material or roll the print onto a core and laminate roll to roll so it has some tension on it.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[ejmoan]

I call that the boat wake effect. When you roll your roll down where the laminate touches it should barely touch the roll of vinyl. You would want to roll it down touch and go back and forth with the crank handle until you feel only slight pressure. You will want to tighted the brakes on the laminate roll evenly on each end until you feel resistance as well. You also want to make sure your print roll is not binding. The roll of printed material needs to spin freely.

 

[Bill Knippenberg]

You have the roll down pressure too high...the edges are pressing causing the center to cup

Thanks

 

[ejmoan]

On the material feed roll I leave an 8th inch gap so the cardboard roll can spin freely but not be floppy. I also do no tighten brake on the print feed roll.

 

[Bill Knippenberg]

Do I have to have a table behind or can the finished product go down to the basket at the bottom

 

[ejmoan]

What type of laminator is it? We have a gfp 455th it has a roll that spins on the back side that we tape the edge of our material to and let it roll up on it as it feeds. Alternative could be a table that is the same height I use both.

 

[Bill Knippenberg]

What type of laminator is it? We have a gfp 455th it has a roll that spins on the back side that we tape the edge of our material to and let it roll up on it as it feeds. Alternative could be a table that is the same height I use both.

It’s a gfp 255c no take up roll. I was wondering why the table? Is it to just keep it clean?

 

[ejmoan]

Once it is laminated it can go in the basket if that works for you. One issue is you may have an over hanging edge of sticky laminate that may stick to your print. If it is a short run I would feed to a table or hold on to as it feeds. Ideally you need to be on the feed side to keep eye as it feeds but may need to man both sides as it feeds. You want to watch for binding or wrinkling on feed side. Make sure your backing is rolling and not feeding downward into the pinch. Also make sure your print never touches the ground and is free of lint dirt or hair. If you have two guys you could work together to watch both sides.

 

[ejmoan]

When I was new and by myself my wife was very helpful.

 

[Bill Knippenberg]

Thanks everyone it all helped

 

[eahicks]

I call that the boat wake effect. When you roll your roll down where the laminate touches it should barely touch the roll of vinyl. You would want to roll it down touch and go back and forth with the crank handle until you feel only slight pressure. You will want to tighted the brakes on the laminate roll evenly on each end until you feel resistance as well. You also want to make sure your print roll is not binding. The roll of printed material needs to spin freely.

This is all contrary to every video the company has that tells you to "roll till you feel it touching, then give it another quarter turn" or whatever BS they say. Clearly they don't use it enough to know that doesn't work. Yes, we have to roll it down till you just start to feel it touch, then a very slight extra nudge sets it. Any more than that, and it's too tight and buckles in the center.

 

[AKwrapguy]

Do I have to have a table behind or can the finished product go down to the basket at the bottom

You don't need the table, it can just make the whole process easier. From rolling it back up, rimming off excess lam, kinks, etc... pretty much as long as it's laminated you should be good to go into the basket, just make sure to keep the area clean as static will attract dirt onto the material which can cause problems later on.