Ding, Seal, Royal, Diage ....... 60+" Laminator Hell!

[Highball]

I am currently working with the two owners of the sign shop I work at to finally get a laminator (Step one to technological bliss). I have seen alot of information here on many of the laminators that everyone uses and I wondered if folks could share the pro's and con's of the laminator they use. I want the the good news and the bad news so please be blunt!

We are currently look at all 4 models in the subject line and will use it for cold laminating only so we will only have a 110 connection, but if you have an opinion on another please do tell!

THANKS

[Adam Bennett]

we have a five year old 54" seal and I personally hate it. We can't get the release paper take up to work correctly and the rollers are far from straight. No good IMO

[eforer]

We have a GBC Orca 55" and I love it. It does everything and is built like a tank. Everything is pneumatic making it very easy to produce consistent results. Awesome machine.

[Left Coast]

im running a royal rsc-1400c and although i tend to babysit it... i get very nice results from it.

cheers

[Baz]

RSC-1400C user also ... Had it for a month now and love it!

[high impact]

Daige works but you get what you pay for in a Daige...you have to babysit it.

[ChicagoGraphics]

I have a GBC Artic Titan 65" I love it, it took alittle getting use to, but works great.
I'd stay clear of the Daige...

[rcboats1]

My Royal RSC1650C is a tank, set it and forget it.

[Scott Hyon]

Got a Seal Base 62 w/ heat assist. Consistant results if you babysit it.

[JERHEMI]

I've got a Seal 54 Base with heat assist but never use the heat assist and when I first got it if it wasn't 600 pound I would have thrown the thing through the window!! It along with all laminators I think have a big learning curve and you ruin alot of stuff before you get the hang of how to use it. I know how to use it now so I love it! haha

[seattle]

Im in the same situation. I am looking for a laminator.


Maybe someone here can explain what you would need the heated one for. Is it only for laminating both sides or what?

Wouldn't a cold one laminate (if you had the right kind) sintra and plex and any substrate? and also laminate digital prints?

Sorry to be a :thread

[DARLAK]

I have a GBC Artic Titan 65" I love it, it took alittle getting use to, but works great.


i have the same machine, and i'd have to say the same about it!

chicago - you also have a cj ? correct?

[cartoad]

We have a GBC Titan, and really like it, short learning curve. Do a search here and you will find Island Sign posted a lot of very good info on it, helped us a lot. Also have a Diage we use to mount with, great for that, royal PITA for laminating inho.

[flyinhawaiian968]

What the hell? Am I the only idiot--errr, sign shop, who owns a DingBat?

Well, guess I'll give some feedback on it then...

Initially bought the top-o-the-line DingTec with all the fancy-dancy takeup reels, it couldn't laminate plywood if its life depended on it!

Dumped it for the cheapo model and haven't had any machine issues at all! Aside for operator error, it lams 30 feet straight in one shot, no issues at all!

Pic is the first p.o.s. machine after about 10 feet of vinyl, needless to say, it was a bad day since this was the second run, the first one was much worse!!!

Chris

[luggnut]

i've got the same DingTec in the pic (Enduralam) . works great for me and priced nice. i haven't run more than 15 - 20 ft a a time thru it though. can you use it to mount stuff to substrate? like the daige

[flyinhawaiian968]

Not sure if you can, I assume so though. As for ours, I believe the rollers were warped or pressing down much more than it should have been, as the new machine will do the same thing as the old one if I cranked down the tensioners. We could never get it to ride up enough to let the lam and vinyl flow through without it getting kinked up in the middle, it was either way too tight or no weight at all.

Somehow, I believe it was a combination of all these, and also one of the rubber rollers may have been cocked sideways. All I know is that even my local dealer and his techs came down to the shop to try to get it to work and none of them could get it to run right. Bad part about DingTec is that they don't have any contact info at all, so replacement parts will be a nightmare for us when the time comes!!!
Chris

[gators2001]

royal 1400 love it.

[customcreations]

I have the cheap DingCrap and hate it. It hardly ever goes straight. You need a machine that has a single adjustment knob for the roller pressure. --Phillip