Laminating Decals

[lrsbranding]

When laminating does the laminate have to be matched to the vinyl? For instance could I use a high quality cast laminate on cheaper calendered vinyl? I am asking because it would be nice to use just one laminate. I purchased a roll of vinyl form my local supplier and it really doesn't like to be contour cut without curling. Even if I wait days before cutting. Yet I printed on some Oracle 751 and cut immediatly and never curled and shrinkage was small. So can I use a high quality cast vinyl for contour cut decals and use the calendered for others with the same laminate?

 

[thewvsignguy]

What printer are you using? Different printers require a specific type of material (vinyl) to work correctly depending on the ink used. The Oracal 751 is for cut vinyl.

Yes you can us a cast laminate on a calendered vinyl but not the other way around. A roll of say Oarcal 210 lam is a little as $110 for a 30"X150' roll, way less expensive then laminating everything with a cat lam.

 

[lrsbranding]

I am using a Roland SP 540V with Eco-Sol. I am not doing wraps but do need to produce high quality contour cut vehicle graphics and decals along with small signage. I read that Eco-Sol has approx. 3 yr exterior life. And depending on who you talk to some say always laminate, others say no need to, etc. After I purchased the roll of printable vinyl and failed to be able to contour cut I just used some Oracal 751 I had as an experiment. Worked great even though that is not what it is designed for. So if I use a high quality vinyl for the autos and the lower for the signage it would be nice if I could use just one laminate when needed. Are you using a calandered vinyl with contour cutting without curl? I don't really need the lifespan of cast vinyl but would rather spend the money than have edge curl.

 

[synergy_jim]

As a rule of thumb, you can use cast laminate over cal. vinyl, but not cal. lam over cast vinyl.

obviously cast / cast and cal / cal are fine....

 

[Edna]

I started using laminmate last week. I use orajet210

 

[Matt-Tastic]

Rule of thumb is that when you mix styles od media & lam, they will take the qualities of the lesser material. If you print on cal and lam with cast, it will act as cal. If you print on cast and lam with cal, it will act as cal.

And if you are printing on cut vinyl only stock, you're gonna get issues at some point in the life of the decal, because its not meant to be printed on. (all Oracal medias for printing start with a '3' and have 4 digits. i.e. - 751 is cut vinyl, 3751 is a print vinyl)

 

[lrsbranding]

Thanks for the replies. What everyone said makes sense but I can't imagine stocking 10-15 different laminates.

 

[401Graphics]

umm you only need 2 laminates really. 210, and 290 (or 290G if your laminating perf too)