Laying a sign and Laminating prints

[altereddezignz]

This is a 2 part question.
1. Lets say your going to lay a 4x8 full print on a 4x8 hard metal sign and you have to do it by yourself but laminator is loaded and cant be used. How do you lay the full sign by yourself?

2. How often does anyone who has a print cut machine actually use the print cut feature? Basically how often do you print then cut without lamination.
It feels and seems to me that non laminated prints are very flimsy and would cause errors in the long run for the client. We use Oracal 3165RA and oracal 210 for stickers and all flat surface items.

Thanks in advance. If it helps lets as well say you have at least a 4x8 table to lay your sub-strait.

 

[CanuckSigns]

In our shop we would mount with the rolls roller, but I've heard good things about the big squeegee, and its about $20,000 less.

 

[Snydo]

I would 'unload' the laminator before laying by hand, most especially if the print is un-laminated. It takes maybe a minute to re-web the lam and probably at least 5 minutes to lay the sucker by hand.

If I had to lay it by hand I would lay substrate on table, position the print perfectly then lay enough weight on the left half of the sign to make sure the print cannot move and then peel somewhere around 1/3 of the print, cut the backer with sharp scissors and lay to the right edge. Then move some of the weights to the right side for stabilities sake and then lift the left side of the print and peel back 4 or 5 inches at a time laying as you go. This process is much easier if you have someone hold the vinyl just off the board as your laying just be careful not to stretch.

As for question 2, I'm of the opinion that you are way better off with 2 machines.. a printer that prints while your cutter is cutting.

Un-laminated vinyl is an inferior product, down in your neck of the woods unlammed prints wont last long at all(maybe 2 years before serious fading?). The 210 lam you use should essentially double life expectancy of any decal.

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

I'd use the big squeeze and be done in a couple of minutes.

 

[fresh]

99% of the time, we laminate and then put it back in to print.

 

[Gino]

Before we had a laminator OR a Big Squeegee [which I highly recommend]...... if one person hadda put down a 4' x 8', it took about 15 to 20 minutes. Then we got a laminator and it took a while to change out rolls, waste material and whatnot, so we got a few Big Squeegees. One of the best moves we made in price and comfort. A single person can do a 4' x 8' in less than 5 minutes. It's more about prep time than the actual laying it down. Just be sure it is laying completely flat and no belly in the substrate or you will have some problems.

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

Big Squeegee here. 2 minute job, tops. Heck, we mask cut vinyl and laminate prints with the big squeegee. Yeah, it's that versatile, but there is a slight learning curve.

 

[T_K]

At my first sign shop, we started out with a really crappy cheapo laminator that was horrible at it's job. The two sides of the roller adjusted separately, so it was almost impossible to get even pressure across. And the rollers were not quite right either. At some point, the boss decided he had enough money to upgrade us to a real laminator, which was so much better.

The old laminator got stuck on the end of the production table, so we could run substrate through it. It worked much better laying down large prints than it did at laminating.

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

The old laminator got stuck on the end of the production table, so we could run substrate through it. It worked much better laying down large prints than it did at laminating.

Was it a Daige, by chance?