laminator questions for those who can help

[autoworld graphics]

we have a Royal Sovereihn RSC-1400C, which is a 55" cold laminator-
we are having issues with wrinkles-
also Royal Sovereign never provided something to feed the laminate through, which they call a "Sled"-
had to make a piece of cardboard as the feeder, which i dont like.

Can anyone help with their experiences on how to make this an easy process ? they all say how easy it is, but it is way more difficult then it looks.

looking forward to some help or suggestions.
thanks

Dave
autoworld graphics

 

[ChiknNutz]

You can also use a roll of carrier paper in lieu of the sled, which might be what they intended for you to use.

 

[mondo]

I spend like 10 ft film before i get all the wrinkles out. What you can do is feed any backing from the vinyl you have used or if you have the release liner available already from the film, I suggest you used that. If you have longer thats better. Then I feed it to the laminator until the film straighten out. Hope this help

 

[chopper]

do you have the laminate webbed properly??
I have a seal and do not use a sled or paper on the bottom or any other crap,
what I do is close the rollers, pull the laminate from the liner and wrap it on the top roll then while holding the laminate on each side as I push the feed pedal till the laminate gets between the rolls ( try to get it loaded as straight as possible ) then I raise the top roll to 1/2" set the tension up fairly high then depress the feed pedal and adjust the tension till the wrinkles are gone then lower the rolls,and back the tension off, but don't go to far you need some tension to keep it running smooth...then run the print through...the same works for mounting also just set the rolls to the correct setting and go, you will also need to pull the laminate up from the bottom roll before you feed to much in or it will wrap up on you, (that is what they use the craft paper for) but I like the above method try it you'll like it..I haven't had wrinkles since I went with the above method you could use a sled or craft paper with this method also //chopper

 

[customsticker]

YOu need a sled made out of gator board or 1/8" foam board.

I use a daige laminator 2 and it works absolutely perfect.

NO idea why people spend $7k+ on a laminator when they are such basic technology!

 

[autoworld graphics]

thanks for everyones suggestions, i will review all.

i have read alot about the Big Squeegee, what do you all think about this as a secondary back up to the expensive laminators.

i am thinking it would be a great simple solution if it really works well.

Also, if i want to lanminate with the big squeegee, could i do a run of lets say 54 " wide x 10 feet long ???

Dave

 

[cdiesel]

The big squeegee is nice, and it's a tool that is very handy for short runs when you don't want to switch out lam. Even Dale will tell you it's not a replacement for a laminator, but like I said, it's handy as hell.
The way I like to load our machine is to leave the rollers open, and pull about 2' through straight and taut. Then lower the rollers, and it will be very straight. Might not be perfect, but close enough to where you can make minor adjustments with the brakes. Also, a lot of people put too much tension on the lam. You want to use as little brake as possible to keep everything straight.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

We have the same RS laminator and have found a sled is almost a guaranteed way to get bubbles. Take the plastic panels off of each end of the laminator, web up some cheap-o laminate or vinyl, and start laminating cheap-o paper or vinyl. On each end of the top roller (normally hidden by the plastic covers you just removed) is a screw/spring assembly; i can't remember the Allen wrench size needed for it. As you're laminating watch for bubbles to form. If they form on the right, tighten the right screw down a bit or loosen the left screw. If the left bubbles or wrinkles, tighten the left. It takes some time and you will waste a bit of material getting it set right, but welcome to the world of laminating. Once you get it dialed in, it will do a fantastic job. It took me about 15-20 minutes to get ours dialed in when we got it in January, no problems since and we regularly laminate very long prints (last week we laminated an 80' continuous print without a single wrinkle).

 

[autoworld graphics]

thanks a bunch for your help on this.
i will try this and see what happens-
i had panels that were about 20 feet long, and i didnt want to even attempt it, considering the issues i was running into.
thats pretty amazing if you were able to do an 80 foot run WOW!
Dave

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Yeah, it's actualyl a very good laminator for the price, not that I have a ton of experience with laminators... But I have learned that the majority of laminating problems are operator related or due to the laminator not being dialed in correctly... They're not plug-and-play machines, they require a bit of user intervention to do their job properly.

PS... I held my breath the entire 80' run, that was the longest we'd laminated to date... we've done a few around the 60' mark, nothing higher... i will say that the print walked side to side a little bit, at most about 1/4"-1/2" but eventually straightened itself back out on it's own or with a little tugging from us, no big deal).

 

[Vital Designs]

I have a daige and a Seal and the Seal was worth the price of admission for me. Granted I use it primarily for mounting large prints.
The daige is ok if you don't do a lot of laminating but it is poorly made. I use a piece of 3mil sintra as a sled for the daige and it works great. Crank the roller up 3 turns, stick the sled in across the lam. and pull it through. After it is through crank it back down with some backing paper and you should be set. Bubbles often stem from incorrect pressure on the rollers.