Industrial Laminators VS Regular Laminators

[player]

I just bought a used Seal Image 600 (60") laminator and I notice it will take a lot more material to web it up than my cheap offshore laminator (63"). I think the Seal is a great unit and is built like a tank but it seems to be made to run full rolls, where losing 2-4' of material at the start is not so bad.

Anyone experienced with this? Any tips and tricks?

Should I sell the Seal and get a more "compact" unit? If so, which one?

 

[eahicks]

I usually only lose about 12" length on ours to get it loaded....I just get the liner taped up on the take up (I slip an old material core on the take up so I can just pull that whole thing off and toss it). Then pull out enough laminate to stick to the back platform, pull the print up under the roller, drop it down and let it rip.

 

[player]

I usually only lose about 12" length on ours to get it loaded....I just get the liner taped up on the take up (I slip an old material core on the take up so I can just pull that whole thing off and toss it). Then pull out enough laminate to stick to the back platform, pull the print up under the roller, drop it down and let it rip.

I see... I only have to go from the take-up reel to the roller, not from the roll to the roller. What about the print to the take-up reel? Do you use some scrap to bridge the gap or do you quickly tape it to the reel when it gets there?

 

[eahicks]

What about the print to the take-up reel? Do you use some scrap to bridge the gap or do you quickly tape it to the reel when it gets there?

Not understanding your question..print to the take-up reel?

 

[player]

Not understanding your question..print to the take-up reel?

This laminator has a reel that takes up the print as well as a reel that takes up the liner.

 

[eahicks]

Oh...I don't have a print take up on ours....600-S. This is our usual setup.

 

[cmwpmm]

We don't use a take up reel either (though I wish we could). We just have an 8' table behind the laminator that we lay the prints out on, and we cut panels about every 8' as they laminate.

 

[player]

The guy I bought it from said the 2nd take up was an option they paid more for.

 

[greysquirrel]

GFP webbed up in inches...

That Seal is a little long in the tooth...still good for mounting and laminating mounted boards..

 

[crystalcoastgraphics]

We just stop the laminator, then tape up to the take up reel, then start the laminator again.

 

[PrintItBig]

We have exactly that model, with the take up, but still use a table instead of the take up. Just find it easier. In fact we have a table in front and behind and place the roll of prints on a device on the front table and let the rollers pull them through. We find there's just more chance to react to problems before they occur if we do it like this.

The only wastage we get when we load the machine is the distance from the rollers to the grey metal bar thing on the backside of the laminator (less than a foot).

Those machines are built like tanks. We've had ours for almost 20 years with virtually zero maintenance. We moved premises recently and had to tip the laminator onto it's end, slide it into a lift (elevator), slide it out again and tip it back onto it's feet before it got loaded into the truck. Switched it on at the other end and you wouldn't even know we'd moved it.

 

[player]

GFP webbed up in inches...

That Seal is a little long in the tooth...still good for mounting and laminating mounted boards..

I was reading a thread about laminators here and how people were saying the new models they were buying did not compare in quality and durability to the older ones they had.