Thicker decal material for edge 2

You aren't going to get that lifespan out of un-laminated Edge prints.

 

It's probably been 10 years since we've used Quantum but you could always check out Avery 750 or Oracal 651, both are priced well.

Regarding your question(s), if you're looking for a thicker finished product (remember, thicker isn't always better) you can always get rolls of laminate slit down to 13-14" and laminate your edge prints. Something like Avery DOL 2080 / 2060 would be a good match with your 3mil calendered vinyl.

That being said, and assuming you do have digital/solvent printing capabilities, you'll find that the Edge is better left for certain specific projects. We still love ours but print most of our decals on our Roland printers.

 

It certainly has its advantages, I would look at investing in a better laminator as your next step and then think about changing to Gerber vinyls. We have a couple Edge printers here and routinely run full rolls through our laminator.

 

Incorrect. Edge prints don't need to be laminated. That's the joy of foil over ink. I'm attaching a photo of a sign we just took down in the last week or so because the pharmacy went out of business. The sign was made in 2007 and the marble effect is black Edge print on grey vinyl. 12 years outside in the weather and sun and it's not even peeling up. Given the time it was made, I can say we probably used 220 with a Spot Black print with UV abrasion guard.

I have a client with a van that we wrapped the panel area with a full color seamed Edge print. That job was done without the abrasion guard, and we may have had FrogSkin at the time (I can't be positive, it was a long time ago). Same thing. The stucco background is still perfectly clear. Some fading, obviously, but not completely washed out like I see with ink prints that are laminated.

I would put Edge graphics leaps and bounds about any type of inkjet print out there. I just wish it wasn't limited to an 11.8" height.