Mounting vinyl with laminator?

[Illuminated]

Question I am printing some 18x24 photos to cal vinyl and was having a hard time mounting them to an 040 styrine ...it seams the ink it too fresh and softens the vinyl making it hard to mount...
My question is how long should i wait before attempting to mount the print???
I think my problems are due to me tring to rush the job and mount too soon.. any insight ....I have ran a laminator before but dont remember it being this difficult! I thought I would put this up before I chuck another print in the trash....

 

[Bobby H]

What kind of printer (and inks) are you using? Certain ink and material combinations require longer wait/cure/dry times than others. You might be waiting as little as an hour for one kind of print and waiting over a day for another.

 

[Illuminated]

Roland sp 300 eco max

 

[cfbeagle]

Maybe it is just me but I have no luck mounting unlaminated vinyl with a laminator, If I laminate the vinyl first then mounting it to the substrate is a breeze.

 

[Stan B]

we mount unlaminated vinyl with laminator very often. Sometimes even right after printing with very heavy ink deposits. The trick is to be very careful and slow then removing 1/2" of the liner and not to stretch the vinyl. We put vinyl up-side-down and put the substrate over, not touching the adhesive, position it precisely and then press the substrate to the adhesive part and put it to mount. Works well 99% of the times

 

[Illuminated]

sorry maybe im misunderstanding you.. are you saying that when you run it through the laminator the sub is on top???

 

[MobileImpact]

we mask the first 6 inches or so of the print to make it rigid. This helps us get the laminator going. Other then doing that, all you can do is wait a day or so for the print to solid back up a bit.

Kevin

 

[Stan B]

no, we feed regular way,
but snap a substrate over a strip of adhesive vinyl to attach it together

sorry maybe im misunderstanding you.. are you saying that when you run it through the laminator the sub is on top???

 

[Carl Crabtree]

Are you using a cold laminator? We print with a mutoh value jet and can mount the prints within minutes after printing. Are your heat settings high enough on your printer?

 

[Illuminated]

Stan b gotcha... carl... cold mount but I have heat its just not on... The ink is dry to touch but vinyl is to soft to mount...I think moble impact said it best, it needs to "solid back up" I printed 2 last night and came in and mounted them they went down perfect then the fresh prints wouldnt mount "f"ed up 4 in a row ...

 

[petepaz]

we do this all the time and about 98% ok
we use a hinge to get it started and then pull the release liner as it goes through the laminator
i am sure there are some threads of this some where on this site

 

[Illuminated]

Yeah I got the hindge straight and my mounting technique is good but how long do you typically wait from when the print comes off the printer to mounting it with the laminator? I assumed I could do it directly but I think I need to wait a while

 

[WB]

If I'm in a ruch I'll pre mask the whole thing just to make %100 nothings going to shift or wrinkle.. if it's been out for 24hrs no pre-mask needed. All depends on the ink load really..

 

[Illuminated]

does anyone apply application tape with a laminator??? on larger runs..

 

[Bogie]

The easy fast way is to lam the vinyl with your squeege, then squeege it onto the substrate. 3-4 minutes setup at the max. If you just want vinyl on the substrate, wait a few hours or maybe you need to drop your ink and raise your temps a little.

 

[petepaz]

i would say i probably wait about a half hour approx.

 

[javila]

The trick to mounting unlaminated prints is to not pull alot of the backing off. Maybe one or two inches while it sits on the roller, anymore and it's stretch city.

 

[petepaz]

The trick to mounting unlaminated prints is to not pull alot of the backing off. Maybe one or two inches while it sits on the roller, anymore and it's stretch city.

very good point
and don't rush go slow and smooth
but also try not to stop in the middle
and be carefull at the end sometimes the tail end
can wrinkle or fold over as it comes off the roller
i usually get my finger nail on it to hold it to the
roller as it finishes

 

[Illuminated]

Thanks for all your time and imput on this one! But I Let em sit and had a fan on them and came back and ran all 26 prints without a problem so I guess I just need to give em some time!

it sucks when you start your day off and your destroying stuff and filling up your garbage$$...

 

[TheMattMan]

I keep rolls of 4" transfer paper around and just tape the lead edge and apply it like you normally would.. works 100% of the time.