Need a New Laminator

[grafixemporium]

I just had DMT out to replace my rollers with remanufactured rollers on my Seal 54 Base. After 2 trips down and hours of adjusting, it still isn't tracking right at all. The cost of the rollers and installation was quite a bit. With our workload, I cannot afford to fight every print right now. So, I opted to buy a Seal 65EL to replace it. Man... it's not even half the laminator the 54 Base is. I'm not happy at all. Waiting for my GSG rep to get back to me with options. Do you guys have any recommendations for a 64"?

 

[tomence]

You can't go wrong with AGL

 

[domj87]

We've got some Guardian Laminators we're selling. 65" with crowned rollers for accurate tracking and drop in upper mandrel.

 

[Drip Dry]

I love my GFP . It's worked without a hiccup for about a year.

It came with on site setup and training for a day. The service guy said
I would never see him again because the machine is so solid... he was right.

It can do things I could never do with my Ledco.
It's easy to web. We can laminate and mount to 1" thick boards. You set the roller to the paticular height, it doesn't use spring tension.
We've been mounting 4 x 8 prints to foamboard on a regular basis. We used to put them down wet.

Cost was about 7200 delivered. We paid 500. extra for a take up, but we never use it.

 

[grafixemporium]

What model GFP do you have?

Anyone have the Royal Sovereign 65?

 

[SightLine]

We have a GBC Arctic Titan 165 (have been using it for 8 years or so). Been hearing real good things about the Kala "Mistral" laminators and have been starting to look into those. Graphics One and a couple of other dealers are carrying them here in the US now. I have however not heard anything really about their more basic models though.

 

[NextDoorGraphics]

We've had a Royal Sovereign RSC-1650LSH w/ heat assist for
close to 6 years, it has been reliable and never needed anything repaired.
I think for the price this laminator can't be beat!

 

[airborneassault]

How about the kala mistral laminators? Relatively new I think but they look extremely handy. If I had to buy another it'd be that guy or an AGL even though I love my seal.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

How about the kala mistral laminators? Relatively new I think but they look extremely handy. If I had to buy another it'd be that guy or an AGL even though I love my seal.

I've not seen one in person but on paper the Kala laminators look like the best thing since sliced bread in that price range. If money's no object I'd say go AGL as well, but in the $12k range if the Kala is as good as it sounds I'd go that route. That will be our next laminator, just waiting/hoping our Seal bites the dust sooner rather than later, man I hate this laminator.

 

[rjssigns]

What model GFP do you have?

Anyone have the Royal Sovereign 65?

We have the 65" RS. Been real happy with it. With my Rube Goldberg infeed we've done 60' with 1/4" drift. When I got my laminator the rep said: "It is an art, not science". How true. It took me a long time to learn the tricks and I'm still learning.

Some folks here are very happy with their 65" US TECH and other Chinese knock offs. For less than $3K I would try one my self, and can't see spending 10 or 12 grand for a laminator anyway.
There comes a point when you have to ask yourself if the name brand is truly worth 3 to 4+ times what a US TECH costs.

The other part is some don't want to take the time or expend the effort to learn each machines quirks and correct set-up.

I used to build and qualify precision plate making equipment. Even though every machine looked identical they all had their own personality. Every one of them had to be tweaked to get repeatable output.

 

[jfiscus]

I love my GFP . It's worked without a hiccup for about a year.

It came with on site setup and training for a day. The service guy said
I would never see him again because the machine is so solid... he was right.

It can do things I could never do with my Ledco.
It's easy to web. We can laminate and mount to 1" thick boards. You set the roller to the paticular height, it doesn't use spring tension.
We've been mounting 4 x 8 prints to foamboard on a regular basis. We used to put them down wet.

Cost was about 7200 delivered. We paid 500. extra for a take up, but we never use it.

X2 on everything said above, I wouldn't buy anything other than a GFP after using one.

 

[Drip Dry]

What model GFP do you have?

It's a GFP 463TH ( means top heat assist) Something we never use.
When I was shopping, Avantage had the best pricing, but I was able to buy it local and saved the shipping.

http://www.advantagesignsupply.com/Gfp-Top-heat-Laminator-63

Some folks here are very happy with their 65" US TECH and other Chinese knock offs. For less than $3K I would try one my self, and can't see spending 10 or 12 grand for a laminator anyway.
There comes a point when you have to ask yourself if the name brand is truly worth 3 to 4+ times what a US TECH costs.

US Tech was a popular choice for some members here when I was shopping. Now that I see the problems they all are having, I'm so glad I didn't buy one based on the price

 

[rjssigns]

It's a GFP 463TH ( means top heat assist) Something we never use.
When I was shopping, Avantage had the best pricing, but I was able to buy it local and saved the shipping.

http://www.advantagesignsupply.com/Gfp-Top-heat-Laminator-63




US Tech was a popular choice for some members here when I was shopping. Now that I see the problems they all are having, I'm so glad I didn't buy one based on the price

I'm still of the mind it boils down to correct set-up and operation. "Buying a Steinway piano does not turn you into a virtuoso overnight"

 

[jmcnicoll]

I'm a big AGL fan too, spendy, but most likely the last laminator you buy!

 

[FatCat]

[/B]


I'm still of the mind it boils down to correct set-up and operation. "Buying a Steinway piano does not turn you into a virtuoso overnight"

Agreed.

I am one of many who love and admire the price and simplicity of the US Tech laminators. Now, they might not be the best fit for a large shop, but for a small to mid sized shop I doubt anyone can do better in terms of price or value. The darn things just work. I can run an entire roll of print/laminate or I can web it up to do a small 3x4 print and not waste a print either way. I have figured out this machine and can basically make it do what I want, when I want it to.

I will admit, in the first few months there was a learning curve, but I will say if you've never laminated before that would be true with any machine. In the end, I think it's a price thing. If you're a smaller shop doing less than $25,000/month it will take a long time to get paid back on a $15,000 laminator vs. buying a $3000 US Tech. If you're a big shop laminating all day, every day, then by all means buy what you want.

 

[TDFcustomSL]

I recently purchased a US Tech 65 inch AK series laminator. Never used a laminator before but in all honesty I haven't had one issue with this thing yet. At least not with the machine itself. I have lost one print because I didn't have the kraft paper even across the bottom roller. The longest print ive laminated with it is only 6 feet but im more than happy with the machine for less than 3k delivered.

 

[401Graphics]

25,000 a month? Id be lucky to get that in a year. and right now my business is as slow as winter time.

 

[chafro]

We are really happy with our new Seal 62pro. We had one for 10 years and needed to upgrade to faster one.

we do alot of face mounting on plexi and laminating and it's working perfect.

we just did 55 rolls of 48" cold laminate in one week not one print was damaged!

 

[drosslord]

1600zjx

Has anyone heard anything about the 60" 1600ZJX? Tubelite sells them but I cannot find any info on them other than the specs sheets sent by Tubelite. If not, can anyone here recommend a good cold laminator for less than 5k?

 

[TDFcustomSL]

US Tech was well worth the money in my opinion. Under 5 grand, actually it was under 3 grand delivered. Just a quick search on the 1600zjx it appears to be identical to the us tech which is a very good possibility. The signwarehouse enduralam machines are us tech just rebranded. Us tech is actually "Master" brand from my understanding. A lot of companies sell them as their house brand.

Has anyone heard anything about the 60" 1600ZJX? Tubelite sells them but I cannot find any info on them other than the specs sheets sent by Tubelite. If not, can anyone here recommend a good cold laminator for less than 5k?