%age of lamination %$#$% ups?

[gabagoo]

I have always found laminating to be a problem in our shop. I just am curious as to what %age of laminating jobs end up having to be reprinted.

 

[Velocity]

depends on how bad your laminator is set up. It took us a year and a half to get ours working right and even now and then we choke a few prints.

 

[synergy_jim]

estimate

I would say that for ever 100' we laminate, we screw up around 5' of print.

Not counting the occasional stray hair that wonders under the print due to static problems in our shop...

 

[chopper]

once I got the hang of my machine (first 5 prints or so) never lost one since
so I guess it would be 0% loss...
I know this is gonna jinx it but hey you asked
also I am using a seal image ultra 62//chopper

 

[cartoad]

In the last year since we got the GBC and figured it out, we have only destroyed two prints, and have had several near misses. With the Diage, it was about 50%, part us, part machine. We now use the Diage as a mounting tool and works great for that.

 

[Left Coast]

if i had to guess.. less than 5% of prints get messed up. usually my fault though... too much too quick.

cheers

 

[SignosaurusRex]

Afraid to post % for fear of jinx.

 

[Gino]

Afraid to post % for fear of jinx.

Got that right..........

 

[oc63rag]

The only problems we have these days is trying to laminate a long (8 ft.+) piece with the lam roll mounted to the machine. It gets a side to side skew in it. We end up trimming off a piece of lam, tacking the first inch to the print and then running it through the laminator.
I know there's a learning curve but it seems like we never have enough time to go through everything from start to finish.

 

[sharon b]

we lost alot at first. then i printed a thin, black grid on clear vinyl & applied it to the feed table. if we take the time to line it up right from the start, we might get a slight skew over long runs. if mister 'just-stuff-it-in-there! hurry up!' runs the machine, total loss! i don't know why the manufacturers don't put lines there to start with.
also, i found once it starts drawing material in, hold your vinyl roll down lower than the feed table & pull back a tiny bit to put some tension on it. less wrinkles. good luck!

 

[ProWraps]

zero. we laminate everything (obvoiusly since we are a wrap shop) and we never lose a print. we did in the beginning figuring out the laminator, but once that was done, its no problem now.

the only time we lose a print is from the printer (head strike, wrong color, etc.).

 

[R08]

Just got a 54" laminator (ebay) and after about a month I find we aren't losing very much at and the ones I have, have been operator error. I would say about a 30% loss the first week but now running about 2-3% Running very smoothlyl almost enjoyable. Using it to mount as well with rarely a problem.

 

[Jon Aston]

Have you ever met Brian something-or-other - head techie in Canada for Seal Laminators? Nice, simple guy. He once looked me straight in the eye and said "Jon, I'll be real honest with you. Laminating is a black art."

 

[Jet Fast Printing]

Once you get over the learning curve, you should be down to 0-5%. I won't post ours since I, like SignosaurusRex will not jinx myself ;-)

Make sure you keep it slow till you are comfortable with it, then speed it up.

 

[Sticky Signs]

Have you ever met Brian something-or-other - head techie in Canada for Seal Laminators? Nice, simple guy. He once looked me straight in the eye and said "Jon, I'll be real honest with you. Laminating is a black art."

It's Brian Gibson. Great guy and he really knows his stuff. He used to hold my hand many years ago when I was learning how to laminate. Laminating is a bit of an art but you have to make sure the laminator is set up properly. Equal tension across the rollers. Once the laminator is set up, it's pretty straight forward however every material is different so that's something to look out for. Next time you lame something, make sure the lam and vinyl are in the center of the machine. Make sure you push the vinyl through straight and square to the rollers. If that doesn't work, I'd say you need to make some adjustment to the machine.
good luck.

 

[firesignz]

After watching teachers do AWFUL things to and with the laminator in the faculty room of my Full Time job - I have come to a great understanding of what NOT TO DO. That being said, I am using a VERY OLD Laminex (how it is still running I will never know) P.O.S. to do my laminating and without completely jinxing myself, I would say VERY LITTLE loss. The real key is setting up your prints PERFECTLY straight (read PERPENDICULAR) to the rollers. Permanent guidelines (if not present - add them) will be your best friend.

 

[smdgrfx]

Way less than 1%

I think once you understand how it works, you don't make many mistakes. I have been to many shops that eat up 20% or more of their prints just because they (the operators) don't know how to properly setup their laminator and understand what is actually happening. Why the prints are getting destroyed. I went into someones shop the other day and after watching them ruin about 40-50ft of printed vinyl, I adjusted the machine and laminated 100+ feet without so much a wrinkle and maybe 1/8" of walking. They couldn't believe it...they promptly tried another 8 foot piece and waded it up. They did not pay any attention to what I was telling them about how to align the print and starting it off. Oh well, some people just can't learn...