Luminous Landscape Forum
Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks => Topic started by: larkis on February 26, 2024, 11:13:12 am
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Does anyone here mount their own prints and use a cold roll laminator for the task? It seems like a lot of the bigger print places around town do this but charge quite a lot per image for the mount (usually close to 200 dollars for a 40x30). Does anyone have any suggestions in terms of machines? My typical prints are between 15x20 and 40x30.
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I use the DryTac (see https://www.imageprointernational.com/products/ml25-manual-hand-crank-pressure-sensitive-cold-mount-roll-laminator?variant=32270890205283) with Scotch 568 "Positionable Mounting Adhesive" and acid free foam core. I had used a hot press with heat sensitive tissue for years, but I had problems with bubbles forming in the middle of the print, perhaps because the press was just too old.
In any case, the DryTac rollers come is various sizes. The 25 inch model allows me to make 24 x 36" prints and mount them at home. When I print larger than that (with an Epson 9800, Red River satin paper, and my own black and white inkset [https://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/7800-9800-Glossy-Carbon-Variable-Tone.pdf]) I take the print to a service bureau for mounting (Color Services in Santa Barbara, CA).
I sell through Gallery Los Olivos (California) and have never had any returns or problems with the system/approach.
Paul
www.PaulRoark.com
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Been running a Drytac JM44 for over a decade, using mediatac and face mount film, as well as drytac satin matt UV laminate, onto Kapa Mount, Dibond and aluminium. Also some cheaper laminates for banner and exterior poster. Having a take up reel really helps to open up other markets for print production.
Takes a good few hours to get to know how the process works, but once you get it dialed in, it is very straight forward.
I had used a hot press with heat sensitive tissue for years, but I had problems with bubbles forming in the middle of the print, perhaps because the press was just too old.
I sell through Gallery Los Olivos (California) and have never had any returns or problems with the system/approach.
Paul
www.PaulRoark.com
I had a 60" vacuum press, but the only way to apply prints to impermeable substrates without bubbles, was to start cold each time. Got the laminator, and sold the HotPress.
Over on the sign boards, I'm hearing good things about cheap manual laminators.
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2 Seal laminators here, 44" Ultra a hot lam machine and a 62" Base a cold laminator with heat assist. We also use our Knight 32x42 heat press to apply the air release laminate. It does a wonderful job.
We don't laminate many paper prints but when we do we use Seals Print Shield a cold lam or Seals Print Guard luster a hot laminate.
The hot Lam does a better job in my opinion. We have recently started laminating our canvas with DryTac's Art Shield Satinex or Matte, both hot lam products (AR) with air release.
It really lays down nice. I ran some tests last week with the Hot Lam product on Canson Etching Rag and Hahnemuhle's Fine Art Baryta. Both look amazing.
Since we send all customers that want glass or mats to another framer we hope to get some of those here for framing now that we can give them a professional lam job.
Drytac makes some very nice table models. Keep your eyes open for a good used machine. Seems to always be a few on the market.
If you want to get into face mounting on acrylic it is another way to get a return on your investment.
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I use the DryTac (see https://www.imageprointernational.com/products/ml25-manual-hand-crank-pressure-sensitive-cold-mount-roll-laminator?variant=32270890205283) with Scotch 568 "Positionable Mounting Adhesive" and acid free foam core. ...
I might add that I always display/sell these prints framed (no glazing, but sprayed with Print Shield). The frame stops any edge issues that the mounting system I use may be more susceptible to than some others.
Paul
www.PaulRoark.com
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Hey Dan,
Are you using the Knight or the Seal hot with the laminate on prints? We'd occasionally do portfolio prints for clients on photorag, with a satin matt laminate front and back, using our old heated vacuum press. Did look good.
As and when we upgrade to a 60" printer, if you're using the Seal on paper, then I'll look into a heat assist laminator.
2 Seal laminators here, 44" Ultra a hot lam machine and a 62" Base a cold laminator with heat assist. We also use our Knight 32x42 heat press to apply the air release laminate. It does a wonderful job.
We don't laminate many paper prints but when we do we use Seals Print Shield a cold lam or Seals Print Guard luster a hot laminate.
The hot Lam does a better job in my opinion. We have recently started laminating our canvas with DryTac's Art Shield Satinex or Matte, both hot lam products (AR) with air release.
It really lays down nice. I ran some tests last week with the Hot Lam product on Canson Etching Rag and Hahnemuhle's Fine Art Baryta. Both look amazing.
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We use the Knight heat press mostly for canvas. The hot laminator works great for both. Wanted to clear up the terminology. A true hot laminator is required to get the required 195 degrees F.
The heat assist laminator will not work when laminating a hot lam product. A heat assist like on my Base 62 just helps in the cold laminating process it is not a hot laminator.
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Thanks Dan, I should have read through more carefully - I guess I was enjoying the idea of a really fine finish without a heat press.
Still, I'll bear the heat assist in mind, just to reduce the time silvering can take to disappear on colder days (though it does add a noticeable penalty in machine cost).
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Does anyone here mount their own prints and use a cold roll laminator for the task? It seems like a lot of the bigger print places around town do this but charge quite a lot per image for the mount (usually close to 200 dollars for a 40x30). Does anyone have any suggestions in terms of machines? My typical prints are between 15x20 and 40x30.
See:
https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=97552.0
Check the videos of Zenith lamination materials, equipment and methods on Youtube, I learned something there. My version of the methods described there follows here, you could skip this part.
Since the thread in 2015 I changed the spindle the adhesive roll is supported on and winds off when the film is applied. Pro Laminators usually have a metal tube where with air pressure the roll is clamped on so the roll stays straight over its length. I made something similar but the roll is clamped by adding a wide elastic strip in between that is stretched when the roll is put over the spindle and loosened when in the right position so the strip becomes thick again, giving enough friction to fix the roll. That spindle + roll turns on an thick walled alu axle with several plastic bearings along its length. Total ridged enough that the roll's core will not bend.
I always check first that the 2mm thick HIPS sheet is just touched by the orange upper roller and travels straight over the table, adjust one of the two bearing's heights (so pressure) of the upper roller so that path becomes straight. That done there remains the issue how parallel the film core is to the orange rollers, I added an adjustment part to one side of the top axle. Over time I hardly have to adjust that, some side way shift is possible for the roll + core on that axle, so no side way stress gets into the film before it reaches the HIPS sheet. Getting the first part of the adhesive film evenly stretched over its width and parallel to the rollers is the tricky part, I use painter's tape to fix the film to the upper roller and check whether the split from the roll is parallel to the roll itself. Then insert a 8" long but 50" wide sheet first to take up the first edge of the adhesive film and check how even the film applies, after that the longer sheets. Cutting them loose one after the other at the other side of the laminator. That gives me adhesive HIPS sheets with a backing paper for any time I need to laminate a print.
Applying the printed paper on the HIPS sheet later on is easy. HIPS sheet cut to a size 1" wider on the dimensions than the finished print will be. Back paper folded say 1.5" backwards, print edge flattened on that adhesive strip with 1/4" still adhesive at the edge of the HIPS sheet, silk paper added to the 1/4" strip so the laminated print also will have a thin protective paper on top while laminated and in further cutting steps. Edge inserted between the orange rollers, silk paper and print laid over the top axle or upper orange roller, laminate with little pressure. Qimage Ultimate printed corner marks are still visible through the silk paper, with a board cutter the roughly 0.5" edge strips are cut off just within the marks, silk paper comes free after the last cut. With two extra sheets of thick soft paper and the laminated print in between the bond can be increased running that sandwich through the rollers.
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst
www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
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Have always wanted a roller application table but the price of admission has been too high.
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Thank you everyone for the information so far. I'm still doing a bunch of research as this has been quite the rabbit hole. There is a cutter product in this video that also looks interesting, does anyone know where this can be obtained? https://youtu.be/jsrOTyfyr9o?si=-fGhD9r3WRdGWB2q&t=512