Skewing, how to prevent it on a Royal Sovereign

[depps74]

I am new to laminating. I just got a Royal Sovereign and we've done a few jobs but nothing bigger than 5-6 foot long. I have a big job coming up in which I need to laminate 40'. I am clueless as to how to keep it from skewing. In a print this size the print is at a $$$ value and time so the pressure is really on to get it right. On my previous prints that were small I got a slight skew that was not a problem because of the short length. However if it were a longer job eventually the skew of the laminate would fall off the print.

My question is how exactly do I avoid this? What best practices are there to ensure that the material runs straight? Are there ends for cores that keep the material aligned?

My specs are I use a Royal Sovereign 54" laminator using a matte or gloss lam onto 3M Ij35c or RadGraphix adhesive vinyl.

My routine, I print from a 54" HP latex 315 onto a 60" core. I maximize the print space using all availble width. (maybe I should have more margins?) I take that roll and feed it into the RS with the guard rails kissing the edge of the print material. I feed in about 10" of blank and try to visually see that it is running straight.

 

[rjssigns]

Some time ago I wrote a lengthy post regarding this. Biggest thing to ensure straight tracking is to physically verify your lead edge is PERFECTLY perpendicular to the edge of material. If you have to trim to get it square trim it. Without verifying that seemingly insignificant thing you'll have nothing but headaches. Then you have to make sure you feed it into the nip point perfectly square and flat.

Super Secret Squirrel trick: I put two layers of 2" masking tape on my square lead edge. This does two things. One it keeps it flat at the nip point. Two it gives me a visual reference to any skew. Best part is laminate doesn't stick to masking tape so you can back out and feed again until you get it right.

Laminating is an art, not science.

 

[flyplainsdrifta]

does that laminator have a roll to roll option? 40 is alot to not core it at all post lam.

 

[JulieS]

Wider blank margins help, like at least an inch each side, because you're never going to get it perfectly square, in my opinion. But if you do your best to square it up, and leave yourself a little "margin for error," you should be ok!

 

[chrisphilipps]

Was the pressure on the rollers checked when the unit was installed? If you don't have even pressure across the laminating rollers it will not track straight.

 

[eahicks]

This is why I have wanted to start a petition to have all laminate manufacturers make laminates at LEAST 1/2" narrower than the media. Even maybe an inch....54" media = 53" laminate. That way a minimal skew isn't going to cause that dreaded overhang of laminate halfway down the print. I mean, who is REALLY printing edge to edge, or even 53" wide on vinyl? We do so much print and cut, that we never print past 50-51" wide WITH REG MARKS, so there is room for the pinch rollers on the plotter to run and read the registration marks.

 

[GB2]

Yes, all the above are correct, there are a lot of little factors that all add up to a successful laminating job....the rollers need to be properly adjusted, you need to insert the material straight and square to start with, you need some margin as it will never be absolutely perfect, you need to be sure the print is neatly and tightly rolled to start and is not tunneling to one side or the other, you even need to be meticulous about loading the laminate in the first place to insure that it also is not tunneled and that it is aligned with the liner take up reel. Also when releasing pressure on the rollers and reapplying pressure between jobs, you must be careful that the laminate doesn't go askew. It's something that just takes careful practice and then you'll get it right every time.

 

[tudouqiezi]

This is why I have wanted to start a petition to have all laminate manufacturers make laminates at LEAST 1/2" narrower than the media. Even maybe an inch....54" media = 53" laminate. That way a minimal skew isn't going to cause that dreaded overhang of laminate halfway down the print. I mean, who is REALLY printing edge to edge, or even 53" wide on vinyl? We do so much print and cut, that we never print past 50-51" wide WITH REG MARKS, so there is room for the pinch rollers on the plotter to run and read the registration marks.

You took the words right out of my mouth

 

[player]

This is why I have wanted to start a petition to have all laminate manufacturers make laminates at LEAST 1/2" narrower than the media. Even maybe an inch....54" media = 53" laminate. That way a minimal skew isn't going to cause that dreaded overhang of laminate halfway down the print. I mean, who is REALLY printing edge to edge, or even 53" wide on vinyl? We do so much print and cut, that we never print past 50-51" wide WITH REG MARKS, so there is room for the pinch rollers on the plotter to run and read the registration marks.

Absolutely not. If I want to make a full size decal including the extra, I want it to be .5" larger than the media. Extra lam also protects against skewing off the regular size. I have run very long pieces and they start skewing and I need every bit of overhang I can get.

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

This is why I have wanted to start a petition to have all laminate manufacturers make laminates at LEAST 1/2" narrower than the media. Even maybe an inch....54" media = 53" laminate. That way a minimal skew isn't going to cause that dreaded overhang of laminate halfway down the print. I mean, who is REALLY printing edge to edge, or even 53" wide on vinyl? We do so much print and cut, that we never print past 50-51" wide WITH REG MARKS, so there is room for the pinch rollers on the plotter to run and read the registration marks.

Can you not ask your supplier to cut an inch off the edge of the roll?
All of ours include it as a free service, but we're lucky enough to only get skew on rare occasions so have only used it on two rolls in ~8 years.

 

[iPrintStuff]

Our laminator doesn’t have a roll to roll option. But I tend to just tape the output to a core and sit it on the back rollers and put a heavy pole in there. Works perfect.

that being said, We do get out supplier to cut 1” off the laminate to avoid any extra laminate etc from skewing. Just pop the entire roll onto the summa after it’s been laminated and let that crack on.

we never really have any issues with skewing though, it’s either how it’s been loaded, or how well your take up on your printer winds it evenly

 

[depps74]

Some time ago I wrote a lengthy post regarding this. Biggest thing to ensure straight tracking is to physically verify your lead edge is PERFECTLY perpendicular to the edge of material. If you have to trim to get it square trim it. Without verifying that seemingly insignificant thing you'll have nothing but headaches. Then you have to make sure you feed it into the nip point perfectly square and flat.

Super Secret Squirrel trick: I put two layers of 2" masking tape on my square lead edge. This does two things. One it keeps it flat at the nip point. Two it gives me a visual reference to any skew. Best part is laminate doesn't stick to masking tape so you can back out and feed again until you get it right.

Laminating is an art, not science.

This is helpful. Can you provide a pic or video of this? I'm not visualizing the entirety of what your saying.