Laminating tricks to avoid accidents?

[kcorcoran]

Finally got my old Ledco Econocraft 60 loaded up and I think it's running ok. I amd gettign occasional small 'bubbles.. maybe 1mm in size but more like no contact than a bubble. If I rub a little it disappears.

I'm pretty sure my roller pressure is out of whack considering the age and care of the machine before I got it. I plan on trying to make the adjustment on it but Ledco documentation doesn't seem to show the number of screw turns for the Econocraft.

I want to add a feed roller attachment to this so I can take the printed roll from my take up reel and put it on the machine. no problem fabricating something for that to bolt onto the machine... but coming out the back side on this laminator, there's no take up reel so i guess I just have to let it accumulate on the floor... or rig something up to manually crank while it's running. (whihc is better than letting it collect on the floor.)) - I'm working with what I have and can afford right now.

The issue I have is I don't always have full width rolls to laminate.. so I assume i need some kind of sacrifice paper to put under my piece to keep the laminate from sticking to the roller and anything else on the machine it likes to stick to which then jams up the machine.

What if economical that I can use? Come cheap roll bond paper? is there such a thing for 54" rolls?

What about taping wax paper or similar down to the machine in the back as sort of a release paper that will let any exposed laminate slide across it. Doesn't solve the sticking to the roller problem but one thing at a time.

Lastly I'm running Oraguard 290 at about 20 speed on the dial as I heard dwell time is important. am I running too slow? I mean, I'm not in a rush.
oh, and Oraguard 290 is pretty expensive, seems like high quality material which might be overkill for what I'm doing (laminating latex prints for long term indoor use). Is there any recommendaitons for matte/gloss/semigloss laminate at maybe half the price?


Thanks.

 

[Saturn]

You can buy something like this on eBay. I suggest a two motor one, especially for 54".

I just use a 2-4 inch scrap of whatever material I'm printing on, whatever width I'm laminating. If I don't have another sheet to immediately follow-up with, I lay it down about an inch before the end of the sheet I'm laminating and feed it until it's right under the roller, poking out the front and the back. Then reach in with a small pocket knife and trim that sheet off from the backside. Since it's poking out the front it easy to feed the next sheet underneath it into the nip without getting stuck on the adhesive. (If that makes sense.) Every laminator is going to have slightly different mechanics for monkeying with.

290 is cast. Read up on the difference between it and calendered stuff. That'll be the main difference, and affect the price accordingly.

Lots of opinions on the internet, but nothing beats a little trial and error!

 

[MarkSnelling]

unless you are going to be stretching your graphics, using cast is like putting premium gas in a Pinto. Go to an "intermediate" laminate (polymeric calendared) if you want 5 years or an economy laminate for 3 year performance.

You can buy large rolls of brown kraft paper to put on the bottom supply shaft and just throw it away. Most distributors have it. If you can't find it, let me know and I'll send you some pricing.

As for your equipment, you are playing with fire. Why risk ruining prints (ink, media, labor) at the last step? This is where the average distributor sales rep lets people down. They just care about the flashy printer sale and then turn around and sell the cheapest freaking laminator they can find and call it a package. They don't know the importance of laminating and how the right one will last longer than just about anything else in the shop.

Ledco laminators were never built for wide format work. They made high speed thermal laminators.

I know budgets are budgets and that everyone can't afford $15K laminators, but there are plenty of old Seal laminators out there you can get for a few thousand bucks. Add up what you are wasting now and it makes sense. I can't imagine spending the time and energy to make awesome prints only to have them spit out and be dragged all over the floor. I've got an old customer with a BEAUTIFUL Seal 600D laminator - zero cuts in the rollers and very clean...and he's looking for $4,000. Buy that thing. I can put you in touch with the guy.

 

[jimbug72]

Edited for duplicate posts

 

[jimbug72]

Edited for duplicate posts

 

[jimbug72]

Oraguard 210 is an intermediate laminate that will save you some money, but you need to make sure you're also using an intermediate vinyl. You can put a cast laminate on intermediate vinyl without much issue but if you put an intermediate laminate on a cast vinyl, you may have issues down the road. There are also cheaper options. Your supplier likely carries a "house" brand intermediate laminate that may be sufficient for your needs for less $ than the 210.

 

[kcorcoran]

Thanks Jim.
Right now I am very much a home based, disabled veteran owned small business with practically zero customers and have gotten to the point I am in about 6 months with an absolute shoestring budget.
My plan was to build a very modest capability first and then take on some small potato customers. Much of the material I'm starting with right now what purchased on marketplace, offerup when I could find a deal. 150' roll of canvas, $100. 2 rolls of Oraguard 290 gloss and matte, $80 each, etc etc. Right now I'm printing full size arcade artwork for friends ad just above retail cost to replenish consumables until i'm comfortable production-wise.

Example
HP 310 Lates - $700
New carriage belt installed myself - $200
HP 360 parts machine - $200 (salvaged scan axis motor, take up reel assembly (with a little ingenuity and a hacksaw and sold off some parts for extra $)
All new ink and printheads - $2200
2 Ledco Econocraft 60 laminators $1400 (they both needed some cleaning and tightening up and replaced the speed pot on one of them)
Laserpoint 2 cutter - $50

My goal is to turn any profits back into the business and purchase a better laminator and a 54" graftec cutter that will do perf cutting.

Right now this is what I have so I'm sure that there is better equipment but this stuff certainly worked for someone at one time.
The arcade sideart prints are vertical application, no stretch, and indoors. Honeslty they probably don't need to be laminated.

I do want to do some custom printed vehicle wrap as I have experience wrapping vehicles so maybe I save the oraguard lam for that stuff and pick up a cheaper roll of calendared for the arcade stuff.

As for a supplier or sales rep... currently I dont have one because I feel like I'm more of a hobbyist right now I guess even though I'm doing all this under my LLC and will turn a profit at least on the design side of the business I do. I've just been going locally to Montroy or ordering from Grimco.

Definitely appreciate the input and advice and when the time comes I'll have to reach out to you on some quality used equipment.

 

[kcorcoran]

The server error duplication bug got me too. haha
Edited to delete duplicate.