cold-mount laminator

[printMan]

Hello. I've been reading around here for a while and was happy when I was finally able to register.    I work for a small photo studio and we're trying to start doing our own printing (long story) so I have a surplus of questions (many already answered from reading the forum.) My biggest concern right now is mounting.

(1) We are now trying to see how we are going to mount the big pictures and this [cold-mount] machine was suggested to us. Does anyone have any experience with coda laminators or suggestions of any other cold-mount machine (better, cheaper, etc)?

(2) Someone also asked previously about paper trimmers and most here suggested Rotatrim (some Dahle) so we got an M15 for the smaller pictures but we also need something for the bigger prints. We could get one of the big rotatrim's but they are rather pricey and it's not going to see as much volume as the smaller trimmer anyways. Does anybody have any experience with the big Dahle's? Is their professional series good or is the premium series the way to go? any suggestions?

Thanks!! I'm glad I've found this place; lots of knowledge and experience flying around here.  

[framah]

Not trying to be flippant here... how about a straight edge and an exacto knife. It always works for me.

[Richowens]

Not trying to be flippant here... how about a straight edge and an exacto knife. It always works for me.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=209563\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Plus.......much easier to store and transport.

[bill t.]

I have a set of Alvin stainless steel cutting rulers ranging from 24" up to 72", these are 2" wide straight edges with a miniscule bit of "tooth" on one the edges designed to securely hold your print in place while cutting with an Xacto knife.  Highly recommended.  It's also worthwhile having one of the self-healing cutting mats.

For what that roller costs, I would very strongly suggest your spend the money instead on a used Seal Masterpiece 500T-X drymount press.  You should be able to pick one up used for about $500.  Best investment I ever made.  I can easily mount 32" by any length prints with it (in sections, actual platen size is 24" x 34").  

Before that I was mounting prints with various peel-off adhesives first by hand and then with a better machine than that roller.  Those are not my fondest memories.  I'll never go back!

PS for RC papers make sure you get a "-X" model which has much tighter heat regulation than the older models.

[petermarrek]

Have an 25 year+old SallmetalCold Roller machine left over from a colour lab. Mounted 1000s of prints and backlits, never a problem and much faster and more versatile than any heat system. I would bet that most naysayers never learned to properly use this system. As far as trimmers go, Rotatrim has been tops for me, after 25 years of heavy use, no problems. As far as knives, Olfa is the brand to use, Maped in France has great Aluminum straight edges with rubber strips on the bottom and a stainless edge on one side.Be carefull one of my fingers is noticeably narrower from slicing off thin pieces with those great Olfa blades. BTW, always get a trimmer bigger tha your current needs, it will work the same as the smaller one and when you get the next (larger) printer, your'e all set. ( Some limitations may apply)

[printMan]

@framah and Richowens: sounds like a great idea. we actually talked about this before but disregarded it as maybe too easy (and cheap) to be true but now that I see the pro's are doing it, we have decided to go that route also.  

@bill t.: are these the alvin rules you use? I also found these that are a little cheaper and even this one..

I looked for a used Seal Masterpiece 500T-X around my area and $1800 is the cheapest I could find it for. Also, we kinda wanted to go with cold mount since it's probably going to be easier to have around and we have had experience with it (not doing it ourselves but having the pictures mounted that way) and we are also worried that it's not gonna play nice with the inkjet prints. But yeah, that machine for $500 sounds really enticing; I would have gotten it if I had found it for that price too.

@petermarrek: glad to hear about your experience with cold mounting and rotatrims. I couldnt find the roller you mentioned, do they still make them? I also already bought a couple of x-acto #2 knifes and blades so I'm gonna see how that works out. Hopefully I'll still have some fingertips left by the time I'm done with this.    About the trimmer, we already got a rotatrim 15in since we are going to be nesting the small prints (4"x5" or 5"x5" back to back) into larger rolls (10") we wanted something small so it would be more comfortable to handle and for the bigger prints I'm gonna follow the suggestions above.
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I addressed each individually but it's really directed towards everyone else also. Thank you all very very much for the suggestions and keep'em coming!! you even already saved me some money!! Also, could anybody recommend a cutting mat or are they all the same? Feel a lot better about trimming the large prints now but still dont know which mounting machine to get. thanks again  

[bill t.]

The Alvin rulers I like are the model 1109-60 (for 60") or 1109-42 for 42", etc.  They are 3/32" x 2" stainless steel and completely flat.  You can't accidentally cut into them with an Xacto as you can with aluminum rulers.  They pretty much stay put with no tendency to woogah around during the cut.  IMHO these are the best straight edges for cutting by a long shot.

Actually, dry mounting works great with inkjet papers, especially with modern tissues that work at 180 degrees or so.  Even RC papers like Premium Luster mount very well if you first pre-heat the print for about a minute to take out all the wrinkles & ripple.  Use Colormount tissue for all RC papers, costs a little more but is well worth it.  I routinely dry mount very large RC prints in sections with close to 100% success.  The only no-no is drymounting super gloss RC papers because of slight surface dulling...but then if you adhesive mount those same papers you get the texture of the underlying adhesive.

[framah]

So far I've never had a problem heat mounting Epson prints. The ones that have a problem are the ones printed using heat to expel the ink onto the paper. Not sure but I think that is HP. As the printing process is heat based, then heat isn't a good idea.

[karrphoto]

For hand laminators... I've found this to be the absolute cheapest place.  I've used the motorized Coda's at a lab.. and while nice, they are a small fortune.  I love the hand laminator from http://www.lbalbumframe.com/HandLaminators/14.htm

and it's dirt cheap.  They also offer  a motorized version http://www.lbalbumframe.com/Motorized/15.htm which I may eventually upgrade to once my production increases capacity.

[printMan]

Thanks for your replies. I am going to take a look at the Alvin rulers. They seem like a good choice but I'm scared to slice one of my fingers. I couldn't find a dry mount machine for a good price, so I'm going to consider the cold mount for now. Any advice on the cutting mat?

Regarding ibalbumframe.com, have you had a good experience with these people and how does their checkout process work? They don't have one on their website and I'm hesitant to send $500 or more to a stranger.

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge.  

[bill t.]

Thanks for your replies. I am going to take a look at the Alvin rulers. They seem like a good choice but I'm scared to slice one of my fingers.[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=210543\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

The Xacto knife will probably never slice your fingers, just keep it where you can see it at all times, and put a squashed-down wad of tape or one of those triangular thingies high up on the handle so it can't roll off the table onto your feet.

Howsomever...what WILL cut you is the beveled edge of paper mattes, I hate 'em!  Right, framah?