Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?
New Member
Well, we've now been in business just over six years. What started as a hobby cutting vinyl decals and printing t-shirts has become not only our business, but a thriving one. We started with an imported vinyl cutter and a used Lawson screen printing press for apparel. Since then, we've grown from a 500 sq.ft.facility to a well over 3000 sq. ft. facility and we've continued to upgrade our equipment since the inception of the business. We now have two M&R screen printing presses, one manual and one automatic and a large M&R dryer to handle output from both. We upgraded our vinyl cutter to a Roland and last year around June we picked up a Mimaki CJV150-130 printer cutter. Now for the more interesting part...
Since we bought our printer, we just didn't have the finances available yet to afford a laminator. So for the last 12 months I've been getting by laminating prints with a Big Squeegee. If you're a small business that's in the same position we were in, the BS is a good tool that can manage to get you by.....sorta. I mean foremost our tables aren't too flat. Couple that factor with the fact that it's nearly impossible to get enough pressure on the ends of the squeegee to laminate anything over 30-36" wide, at least not with Orafol products. Those products have a thinner carrier sheet that makes laminating stuff with the BS a pretty daunting task to say the least.
So to bring the story to a close. We went to the NBM show in Indy and ran into the guys at Midwest Sign and Screen Printing Supply who had a RollsRoller on display. Since we were ready to now get into the market for a laminator, the timing was pretty good. After being impressed with the machine, we took the plunge.....again.....and our entry level RollsRoller will be arriving sometime this week AAAND we got a great deal on the demo model at $3000 off. I really like the fact that I'll be able to laminate prints up to 54" wide with ease and mount prints to boards with precision and crazy speed. This is a huge game changer for us as we are doing more and more rigid signs every day and being able to laminate prints, and tape and apply cut vinyl is even sweeter. These things used to be pretty large when they were introduced and they cost a small fortune, but now that they have a smaller size for those of us who run smaller shops, the price is pretty easy to justify, especially if you are in the market for a laminator anyway.
Sorry for the longwinded post. I'm just really excited to get this application table and wanted to share some of our experiences that led us to this point. I'm interested to hear stories from anyone else who might use a laminator table or is thinking of buying one. The good, the bad, the whatever. I would appreciate any feedback.
I think the RollsRoller was a good choice for our business. We have been and still are pretty much a two man shop and as our business becomes more fast paced, so does our machinery, giving us the ability to continue as a two man shop and still offer a wide variety of products.
Since we bought our printer, we just didn't have the finances available yet to afford a laminator. So for the last 12 months I've been getting by laminating prints with a Big Squeegee. If you're a small business that's in the same position we were in, the BS is a good tool that can manage to get you by.....sorta. I mean foremost our tables aren't too flat. Couple that factor with the fact that it's nearly impossible to get enough pressure on the ends of the squeegee to laminate anything over 30-36" wide, at least not with Orafol products. Those products have a thinner carrier sheet that makes laminating stuff with the BS a pretty daunting task to say the least.
So to bring the story to a close. We went to the NBM show in Indy and ran into the guys at Midwest Sign and Screen Printing Supply who had a RollsRoller on display. Since we were ready to now get into the market for a laminator, the timing was pretty good. After being impressed with the machine, we took the plunge.....again.....and our entry level RollsRoller will be arriving sometime this week AAAND we got a great deal on the demo model at $3000 off. I really like the fact that I'll be able to laminate prints up to 54" wide with ease and mount prints to boards with precision and crazy speed. This is a huge game changer for us as we are doing more and more rigid signs every day and being able to laminate prints, and tape and apply cut vinyl is even sweeter. These things used to be pretty large when they were introduced and they cost a small fortune, but now that they have a smaller size for those of us who run smaller shops, the price is pretty easy to justify, especially if you are in the market for a laminator anyway.
Sorry for the longwinded post. I'm just really excited to get this application table and wanted to share some of our experiences that led us to this point. I'm interested to hear stories from anyone else who might use a laminator table or is thinking of buying one. The good, the bad, the whatever. I would appreciate any feedback.
I think the RollsRoller was a good choice for our business. We have been and still are pretty much a two man shop and as our business becomes more fast paced, so does our machinery, giving us the ability to continue as a two man shop and still offer a wide variety of products.
