Easier way to adhear printed vinyl (Orajet) to foamcore or gatorboard?

[VicoDrive]

We print a lot onto a vinyl material called Orajet, then stick it onto foamcore, gatorboard or plastic corrugated board. The corrugated is usually not a problem because we spray it down with a water and alcohol mixture. This makes it easier to put the image on straight because we can pull it back up and move it as needed. For gator or foamcore, we cant use the mixture so once the orajet sticks, its stuck for good! We generally start at one end and slowly squeegee from one end to the other to get it to stick down flat. This has caused a ton of problems with trying to get everything on straight without creating any bubbles or veins. A lot of it is probably a learning curve but an expensive one! Of course once something like that happens, we are screwed and have to print everything out all over again.

So does anyone know of an easier way to put vinyl on foamcore or gator? Possibly a spray of some kind that will work with those materials?

 

[SightLine]

Use your laminator to mount prints. No kind of spray is going to work on a paper based board. That or step up to a plastic faced board if you are incapable of dry applying it.

 

[pjfmeister]

Big Squeegee works great for all size prints on foamcore...make sure the ink is 100% dry/off gassed especially if there is a lot of dark colors or full coverage ink.
We train the newbies on foamcore with the big squeegee as it is the easiest substrate to learn and practice on....

 

[rjssigns]

We use our Big Squeegee to apply prints to foam core. No liquid whatsoever. Works without fail every time. Just takes starting off correctly and you're home free.

 

[VicoDrive]

Seems "big squeegee" is the answer How big are we talking though? One that is about as wide as the material we are putting down? We have 2 sizes on hand now, I think they are about 6" and 12". When putting it down, i find using a "scooping" motion toward me one line at a time works best. My coworker seems to think doing little bits at a time by pushing the edge of the squeegee up with a straight edge works best (hard to describe!). Both are just a pain though. We may have to try it through the laminator though

 

[Baz]

Big squeegee works ... Laminator is what's best.

 

[VicoDrive]

If you have a laminator....why screw around with a tool that is meant as a low-cost alternative to a laminator...!?

The sole purpose of a laminator is to mount or laminate.

Make yourself a sled using a material that is the same thickness as the boards you are using. Put a strip of something low tack along the bottom edge (sticky side up), leaving half of it exposed. Now stick your foamcore up against the sled, onto that exposed strip of tape. Now center your print (I'm assuming/hoping you have a bleed on your prints) and hinge it on your sled, with a piece of 1" painter's tape. Shove the sled into the laminator, flip the graphic over it (laminator), peel back liner and feed through. Pull sled off, trim edges, and voila....A straight, square, bubble free sign.

Hope that all makes sense.

We are not fully able to picture what you are describing but if its really that much easier than with a squeegee, we are ready to give it a try . I hate to ask you to explain it better but im not sure I fully understand. It also sounds like i would stick the foamcore to the sled (which would be the same size or bigger than what im putting the graphic on), then push both through it. If so, im not seeing the point of the sled. Also does the graphic go on a roll and installed just like laminate would be. I usually have excess area around the graphic but im guessing that I would need a ton more if using the laminator, correct? Sorry, just cant understand your method just yet :-(

 

[VicoDrive]

No problem....I'm more of a visual person myself I'm not sure I'd understand that description either if I was reading it lol.

Basically the sled allows you to hinge your graphic without having to cut the backing paper. Without the hinge you would have to remove a strip of the backing paper which creates bubbles on vinyl without air release.

Yes, you would stick the foam core to the sled (with the strip of tape or premask underneath - with foamcoare I would imagine you would want something low tack as to no ruin the finish) and feed the whole lot through the laminator.

The graphic doesn't go on a roll....just tape the leading edge with a hinge (I use 1" painter's tape) then flip the graphic up, peel liner and feed through.

As for bleed, you actually don't need that much using this method, since both the board and graphic are fastened and guided by the sled.

Hope that all makes more sense now....I'll try to post to pictures to explain.

Thanks, pictures would be more helpful I think everyone in this business are more visual anyway, which is why we are in this business

It seems to make more sense to me now. The only thing Im not seeing is sticking it down. It sounds like I tape the graphic down onto the sled which has the sign bluetaped on top of the sled. So the graphic pretty much just lays on top of both. From here, do I remove all of the backing before putting it in the machine? Im guessing I would need one person on the back to catch the sled as it comes out and someone on the front holding the graphic up with backing removed as it is pulled into it. Sounds right?

 

[Tony McD]

Not sure I understand....your graphics are only 6" or 12" , and you're trying to mount them on that size of foam core?

Can you print several on a sheet like 24 x 36 and use 24 x 36 foam core or slightly larger, then cut them out?
Flip the 24 x 36 graphic over, fold back about an inch of the backing paper, line it up on your foam board and stick that inch down.
Feed that inch into the laminator and pull the backing off as it feeds through. No sled needed. Then trim out your 6" and 12" graphics.

 

[VicoDrive]

Not sure I understand....your graphics are only 6" or 12" , and you're trying to mount them on that size of foam core?

Can you print several on a sheet like 24 x 36 and use 24 x 36 foam core or slightly larger, then cut them out?
Flip the 24 x 36 graphic over, fold back about an inch of the backing paper, line it up on your foam board and stick that inch down.
Feed that inch into the laminator and pull the backing off as it feeds through. No sled needed. Then trim out your 6" and 12" graphics.

lol, I was referring to the two sizes of squeegees we have on hand

 

[John Butto]

attached

You can use Pat White's method with this by using the first sled piece as the part you adhere to.

 

[XtremeXccessories]

This is the Big Squeegee. He's* a merchant member here.

Edit: * Not the person in the video, the manufacturer of Big Squeegee.

 

[d fleming]

Just finished mounting 4x8 sheet coro two sided print. Use my old daige 54 for this. No sled required, the media is the sled. Did it dry took about 5 minutes including throwing it on the fletcher Terry and chopping into yard signs.

 

[VicoDrive]

This is the Big Squeegee. He's* a merchant member here.

Edit: * Not the person in the video, the manufacturer of Big Squeegee.

WOW that was fast! That could be exactly what we need! Will look into getting one of those big squeegees definitely!

 

[VicoDrive]

You can use Pat White's method with this by using the first sled piece as the part you adhere to.

Thanx! This will definitely help too! Im glad I found this site

 

[VicoDrive]

WOW that was fast! That could be exactly what we need! Will look into getting one of those big squeegees definitely!

I just realized that was for laminating but I guess the method would be the same when putting vinyl art onto a board. Im exciting to try this out!

 

[rjssigns]

We only have one laminator. By the time I would get the laminate out of the way and set up the print to run through the laminator I can be done with a BS. Gotta factor in the wasted laminate and time re-webbing the laminator too. This falls into the NVA category which we try hard to eliminate.

 

[SIGNTIME]

when mounting with the laminator all you have to do is put your substrate and vinyl about half way through, square your substrate to the laminator, then square the print to the substrate, close the jaw to appropriate setting, double check that the print is where you want it, flip the print over the top of the laminator, peel backing, run through, then put it back through the other way... im sure you can find a video on youtube.

 

[VicoDrive]

We only have one laminator. By the time I would get the laminate out of the way and set up the print to run through the laminator I can be done with a BS. Gotta factor in the wasted laminate and time re-webbing the laminator too. This falls into the NVA category which we try hard to eliminate.

Yeah, one thing we have learned is that its a PAIN to set up the laminator machine! You really need to plan out 30 min or so to get it working right. Im thinking the squeegee method might even be better and faster for laminating as well instead of using the machine. We are going to have to run a couple tests

 

[VicoDrive]

WOW that was fast! That could be exactly what we need! Will look into getting one of those big squeegees definitely!

I looked up his profile and see where he has the squeegees for sale. Also looked around online, they seem to be pretty up there in price. Know anywhere else that may sell them a little cheaper?

 

[d fleming]

It doesn't get cheaper than a big squeegee. How much is too much for a tool that is going to save you so much time and effort this year? Can you mount your prints in seconds now?

 

[VicoDrive]

It doesn't get cheaper than a big squeegee. How much is too much for a tool that is going to save you so much time and effort this year? Can you mount your prints in seconds now?

I can understand that, its just that Im not the one that pays the bills ;-)