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Pole Banner Finishing

Greg Kelm

www.cheetaprint.com
Anybody heat welding pockets for their pole banners? I'm using 18oz blockout banner for a job and wondering if a heat weld will be as good as a stitch. Please advise.
 

WYLDGFI

Merchant Member
Been doing this a long time....I still stitch. We havent/don't lose any with wind or storms that way. Always nice to have a client call us and say they had zero issues during a storm with our banners for their clients!
 

WYLDGFI

Merchant Member
We use HH66 to lay everything out and add a stitch on the pole pocket seams.
HH66 is a bit sloppy unless you have a great method to keep the glue where its supposed to be. We will usually DF tape before sewing. Our boulevard banners if we do them "bulletproof" get heat sealed hems and then doubled over. Street banners are similar but true 4/4 printing on those with the webbing sewn in.
 
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GAC05

Quit buggin' me
HH66 is a bit sloppy unless you have a great method to keep the glue where its supposed to be. We will usually DF tape before sewing. Our boulevard banners if we do them "bulletproof" get heat sealed hems and then doubled over. Street banners are similar but true 4/4 printing on those.
With some practice and a sharp edged putty knife (think setting bondo or drywall putty) you can lay down a smooth even layer of 66 were you want it. We use a wood glue dripless squeeze bottle to drop the glue for spreading. Have not had much luck with tape in this heat and wind but it could be crappy tape. On the other hand the glue joint seems to get stronger the longer it is out in the weather.
 

WYLDGFI

Merchant Member
Got it...sounds like you have that worked out well. The tape helps keep things aligned before and during sewing. Had too many issues where a banner comes out of the sewing machine cockeyed and not straight.
 

Angie Boyd

Applications Engineer
Hi there Greg,
I work from Leister Technologies and we sell banner welders that will weld a pole pocket or add hem or piping and the welds are as strong as sewing. I have many customers that use welding on all thicknesses of banner material and the welders take very little skill unlike sewing.
 

signman315

Signmaker
Upstate NY here, and we weld pole pockets on 18oz blockout. Never had a failure. I saw a video of a 4' x 20' over the street banner we made, welded 18oz blockout, and in the video the wind was blowing so hard the banner was in a full on "U" shape and whipping every which way and no failure whatsoever. Weldable webbing on the top/bottom, welded hems full perimeter, grommets every 2' along top/bottom and D-rings in the corners, wire threaded through the grommets and wrapped around D-rings. Also had cut outs for air relief :)
 

medavez

New Member
My understanding of using sewing over welding on pole banners is that sewing allows the joint to "stretch" and flex in response to stress that pole banners endure. Whereas a welded joint is more rigid and prone to failure.
Any further insights are welcome.
 

Brandon708

New Member
I don't think you can heat weld double sided 18oz material.

Anyway we use double sided tape then sew and grommet the ends.
 

WYLDGFI

Merchant Member
The ink interferes with the weld....latex or solvent not as much as UV. Heat does not get thru the UV inks and provides minimal adhesion. For security sake we always stitch our pockets. I dont trust the welding for a pole banner. My client doesn't need a banner coming down on someones windshield and causing a problem.
 
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