LaminatingDEFINITION: As used here, laminating refers to the process of coating both sides of paper or card stock with a plastic film. This is normally done to improve appearance, as when used for book covers or sales presentations, and it is done to improve durability, such as for items like drivers licences, restaurant menus, trespassing signs or video club membership cards, etc.. Laminating on wood or metal for display purposes is a different process, and a market which we do not serve at this time. LAMINATING SYSTEMSPouch Laminating:
ROLL LAMINATORS :When a higher volume of work must be handled the roll laminator is normally the preferred unit. The higher initial machine cost is quickly made back by lower material costs. Modern units come with " Heat Shoes" (as opposed to heat rollers), which heat more evenly and result in a better looking product. The recent trend has been to wider machines with most purchasers now opting for the 25" machine. Both larger and smaller machines are available. It must be noted here that a larger machine is equally capable of running narrower film (film widths are available as small as 4"). Plastic in rolls is readily available in many standard weights and widths. 1.5 mil and 3 mil are the most commonly used thicknesses with recent trends favoring the thicker film. Five mil film is also available but requires a cooling fan on the machine to provide a quality product. 10 mil film is available but is tricky to run and is not recommended except in special situations. Like most commodities, plastics are generally priced by quantity and weight. Therefore 3 mil film, being twice as thick as 1.5 mil film, will cost about as twice as much per square foot of surface laminated. |
Pouch
laminators are commonly used for protecting Business Cards, Membership Cards
and other small items, although Pouch Systems are also available to handle
documents up to 15" X 18" in size. Pouch Laminators are inexpensive,
have a fast warm-up time and are very easy and nearly fool-proof to use.
Pouches come in a wide range of sizes and thicknesses with rounded corners.
They may be ordered with slots that are used to attach straps for luggage tags
or convenient name tags. There is a wide range of hardware, Badge Clips, Neck
Chains, etc. for many uses, such as ID badges at conventions or trade shows.
Pouch Laminating Machines are frequently used for over the counter sales in
copy shops where their fast turn around is a big advantage, or in offices,
bowling alleys or video clubs that issue ID badges or membership cards. Often
this process is used with the photo identification system which is included as
a separate page in this section. When considering purchasing a pouch laminator
it is wise to reflect a moment on the uses that the machine will be put to.
Many customers purchase the smallest 4" size and end up wishing they had
invested a few more dollars in a machine with a 12" throat. Most users,
once they start operating a pouch laminator, quickly discover that there are
many valuable uses for the equipment that they had not foreseen. The added
flexibility of the larger machine takes on a new value. It should be noted that
a 12" machine can handle all the duties of a 4" machine at a faster
rate (two or more ID cards processed at the same time for example).