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Suggestions Picking a laminator - GFP, RS, Seal

Active Sign

Sign Guy
Time for a new laminator in the shop. Looking to go above 60in to better work with our 64in printer. We currently have a Royal Sovereign 55in that has served us well for the past 6 years. Only problem i've had with the RS is that it is a laminator at an entry level price that requires expert level operation. Here is what we are looking at: GFP363TH, Seal 65 EL, RSC1651LS. OR do I roll the dice on a Chinese machine?

Please give me some honest thoughts and reviews on these things.

Thank you.
 

DerbyCitySignGuy

New Member
Do you need heat? Kala makes some really nice laminators. The Mistral is fantastic and has heat assist. They don't take up a ton of space either.
 

BigfishDM

Merchant Member
Time for a new laminator in the shop. Looking to go above 60in to better work with our 64in printer. We currently have a Royal Sovereign 55in that has served us well for the past 6 years. Only problem i've had with the RS is that it is a laminator at an entry level price that requires expert level operation. Here is what we are looking at: GFP363TH, Seal 65 EL, RSC1651LS. OR do I roll the dice on a Chinese machine?

Please give me some honest thoughts and reviews on these things.

Thank you.

I am a dealer for the GFP and have dealt laminators for many years before selling this brand. I think they are pretty dam good machines if you need more info, let me hook you up!
 

Asuma01

New Member
We have a seal and its really nice. I like the hand crank that lets you customise the downward pressure to the substrate you are using. Forget the heat option. Its a gimmick. Silvering goes away on its own after a day or two.
 

signman315

Signmaker
I've used GFP, Seal, Ledco, and Royal Sovereign....The Seal was my favorite but I've been hearing that their support and parts aren't as accessible as they used to be, although I never had a problem...frankly only ever needed one part in over 5 years and it was a small switch, I called em up and bought the part no problem. Since then after much research I've moved to GFP and it's just as good, doesn't feel quite as solid as the Seal but that's a non issue and it performs equally to the Seal in every way. The Royal Sovereign and Ledco that I used were older models and I did NOT like them at all, poor tracking, silvering, slow, lack of features, and so on...but that may just because they are older models. Before I bought a GFP I looked at Kala and new models of Royal Sovereign....The Kala line looked exceptional and fairly reasonably priced for the class it's in...and the new RS models did look decent but for the same price you could get a GFP that's a class above RS. The only reasons I chose GFP over Kala were price ($8000ish for the GFP and $12,000ish for the comparable Kala) and the Kala has motors that self level the rollers which at first glance seems an advantage and it is in many ways, but I saw it as another potentially expensive problem to fix as the machine wears out. When it comes to laminators I go as analog and manual as possible. Hope it helps!
 

jfiscus

Rap Master
We print a lot, and I mean a lot, of vinyl and we run our laminators all day every day. We switched to GFP from Seal a few years ago and have never had an issue out of them. Everyone in the shop can use them without issue. I would recommend them to anyone.
 

MMPFred

New Member
It may not be quite what you had in mind but we've used a Bobis Multi-Applicator for about a year now and I wish I had it from day one.

It's large but in our small shop it gives us a large multi use work surface with a self-healing mat as well. One person can laminate on a 4x8 substrate in 2 minutes or less.
It's a Royal Sovereign product but there are various manufacturers.
 

MarkSnelling

Mark Snelling - Hasco Graphics
Time for a new laminator in the shop. Looking to go above 60in to better work with our 64in printer. We currently have a Royal Sovereign 55in that has served us well for the past 6 years. Only problem i've had with the RS is that it is a laminator at an entry level price that requires expert level operation. Here is what we are looking at: GFP363TH, Seal 65 EL, RSC1651LS. OR do I roll the dice on a Chinese machine?

Please give me some honest thoughts and reviews on these things.

Thank you.

Seal or Kala machines are the best. They will last for 10 or 20 years if you take care of them. They also run straight for an entire roll. Dont be short sighted...the Asian laminators rarely last more that five years and then you'll be spending another $7500.
 

DerbyCitySignGuy

New Member
Seal or Kala machines are the best. They will last for 10 or 20 years if you take care of them. They also run straight for an entire roll. Dont be short sighted...the Asian laminators rarely last more that five years and then you'll be spending another $7500.

That's one thing I loved about the Kala run it full speed for an entire 150' roll and it never walks. Pretty impressive.
 
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