That is exactly the problem - "it won't be cheap". I could buy a 55" Daige cold laminator and the material for less than what people have been quoting me. If I have to do that, I will, but it seems silly. I don't know whatever happened to the spirit of "we can't do this, but here's the name of somebody who can" in NYC in the typesetting / printing world in the 80's (and into the 90's and beyond, when cold type died as a separate industry).
After posting the above, I sent out inquiries to 12 additional companies that listed both laminating and large-format print services on their web sites. I received 2 "we can't handle that size", 1 more quote for $1250 (the lowest quote I received) and a request for a sample print if I wanted to proceed to make sure they could do it. I received no response from the other 10, even after follow-ups.
Marabu sent me a sample quart of their ClearShield Classic Gloss which I rolled onto a 12" x 24" test print using their suggested (via email - their web site lacks details) roller brand and application method. I wasn't too happy with the result (severe orange peel), but laminated the smallest full-size print, 44" x 50", to see how it looked. It also had the same orange peel effect. Marabu suggested using more product to achieve self-leveling, but having used nearly half a quart between the 2 test prints, I didn't want to buy a quart or two more to do further testing with, not to mention the extended drying time a thicker coat would require.
I was communicating with Marabu about using Classic Lite Semi-Gloss in a HVLP spay application, but they stopped responding after an email saying they were evacuating due to the hurricane. That was the last I heard from them - I hope their people are all OK.
I decided to purchase a gallon of the Classic Lite Semi-Gloss and go right into spraying, since the deadline for this job was coming up and the prints have been hanging around here for over a month and a half at this point. I was quite pleased with the results from spraying the 44" x 50" print (the smallest of the batch) in my impromptu garage-based spray booth. The Semi-Gloss produces a surface texture very similar to the look of Epson Premium Lustre 260 when sprayed with my equipment. All of the prints including the largest 44" x 122" one have been sprayed and are curing. Over the next few days after they've each had a week to fully set, I'll add the reinforcing tape, tabs and grommets and send them to my customer. The customer has already approved the high-res photographs I took of the coated material from various angles.
Thanks for the pointer to the Marabu coatings!
Note: Marabu gives a shelf life of one year from the date of manufacture for unopened properly stored coating containers (this seems to be standard, based on some other brands I looked at). There is
seriously out-of-date material in the distribution channel - one distributor listed on the Marabu web site (no need to name names) sent me material which had been expired for 17 months, meaning it was manufactured 29 months ago. When I called them about this, they said they had a hard time understanding this as they "move an awful lot of that product". I sent them photographs of the dust-covered jug. Apparently they don't perform stock rotation and the stuff on the back of the shelf just sits there and ages out. Marabu date codes are BBBMDDYY, where BBB is a batch number, M is the month from A-L, and DDYY is self-explanatory.
