Daige Quickmount 38"

[jbennett]

I just bought a Mutoh 1204, a Vinyl Express Q100, and a 38" Daige laminator. I am doing well with the printer and cutter now (after a bit of tweaking cutter settings and learning the new cutter). I am not doing so well with the laminator. I went to Daige website and watched the videos. I guess getting the lam under the roller very smooth from the beginning is what I am having probs with. I suppose practice makes perfect, but am wondering does anyone have any tips on how they learned to use their laminator that they think will shorten my learning curve. I am pretty nervous about sticking a 12-13' print in it til i am reasonably sure I know what I am doing :Big Laugh Everything came with manuals and paperwork except the laminator.

Thanks,
jbennett

 

[kbcgraphix]

What I do is have the pressure set to where they are barely touching, then take about 8 in. of laminate off the backing, tape the backing to the top roll, keeping it tight and inline with the roll of laminate.

Then you take the 8 in of laminate and fold it over on itself, so there is a 4 in strip. Feed that through the rolls, so it sticks out the other side, but still has the folded over laminate between the rollers.

Loosen the knobs two turns, and have someone pull on the laminate that has come out the other side tight against the top roller, making sure it is coming straight of the roll and not at an angle. Tighten the knobs about 2 and a half turns, and your done!

I myself struggled with it to begin with, but now, using this method, it is a piece of cake.

Craig

 

[hoppers]

Big squeegee is the answer! I tried a daige and it is tough, but heard once ya master them - they arent as bad as people say.

But I see a lot of "barely used" Daiges for sale and that is what scares me. I will stick with my Big squeegee for now....

 

[zigns62]

you can use a sheet of sentra under your print, lam and feed about 4 to 6" of the sentra with-out the print. When you start keep the roll of lam taught, hit the peddel and let it roll. Make sure the your lam roll is taught, you can use your hand to help keep pressure on it. The paper backing needs to be attached to the take up roll an d a way you go.
Hope this helps

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

I would use it as a door jam and go out and buy a real laminator.

 

[spectracolor]

I have Daige 54 inch version and it works really good.
Like you said, once you get the hang of it, it works like a charm.
There are few different methods that works great but it's really hard to describe it.
Don't give up on it. Hang in there and find what method works for you.

Now that I use my Daige daily, I begin to wonder why other laminators are sooooooooo expensive.

 

[jbennett]

Thanks to all that provided "good" input without the sarcasm :Big Laugh

I have a big squeegee and I do love it. If I can't master this then I may go back to it as my prime form of laminating. From what I read in this thread, it appears that it is at least "masterable" with some effort. That is good to know since I don't have any money left right now to go buy a "real" laminator.

jbennett

 

[Finishline Signs]

Do you have it set up with the belt twisted? This is not the way they originaly showed me how to load the materail but I saw it on there website about 6 months ago. It made a hugh differance how well the laminate worked. If your not already doing it this way you need to try it.

 

[jbennett]

I did notice the belt twisted in the video and did wonder about that. Will definitely give it a try.

jbennett

 

[spectracolor]

Do you have it set up with the belt twisted? This is not the way they originaly showed me how to load the materail but I saw it on there website about 6 months ago. It made a hugh differance how well the laminate worked. If your not already doing it this way you need to try it.

My belt is also twisted, but as stated on the instruction manual, it is only for Oracal Reversed Wound type laminates.
I had to request for a new belt from DAIGE(free of charge) when I had to use regular wound laminates. (because twisting it made the belt to stretch)

I doubt twisting belt would work on the regular type because it would make the bar roll the opposite directions

 

[d fleming]

I keep a wide scrap of pvc about 6" wide and 54" long to stick the lam to and then feed under the rollers while they are about and inch apart. My help on the other side applies a little tension by pulling back on the pvc until the lam is smooth across the top roller. Then I lower the rollers to proper tension and run the machine. No problems. Machine does a fine job if you have a little patience to become accustomed to it. It's not the cadillac but it will get you there. It is an excellent machine for mounting psa prints to boards of various types and thicknesses.

 

[spectracolor]

I keep a wide scrap of pvc about 6" wide and 54" long to stick the lam to and then feed under the rollers while they are about and inch apart. My help on the other side applies a little tension by pulling back on the pvc until the lam is smooth across the top roller. Then I lower the rollers to proper tension and run the machine. No problems. Machine does a fine job if you have a little patience to become accustomed to it. It's not the cadillac but it will get you there. It is an excellent machine for mounting psa prints to boards of various types and thicknesses.

a great tip. If you don't have pvc, instead, you could also use the box the media came in and cut to the right size.

 

[spectracolor]

I always thought that it would be a much better machine if they had a better instructions. Maybe us "Daige Owners" could post some kind of video instructions...just a thought

 

[B Snyder]

I always thought that it would be a much better machine if they had a better instructions. Maybe us "Daige Owners" could post some kind of video instructions...just a thought

Watch and learn.

Your turn.

 

[GregT]

We use ours almost more that we do the Dry-tac. The learning curve is big, but worth it.

 

[jbennett]

I am actually loving this thing now. The whole key to learning it for me was to buy a foot pedal. I picked one up off of Ebay for a lil over $20. It helps you use both hands to start the material and gives you so much better control over everything. I have been laminating 13 foot sides with no problems at all. Thanks to all who responded and for all of the tips and help.

jbennett