Roll Laminator
Questions

Which Roll Laminator is Best for Me?

The Educator, EasyLam II, EasyLam III, or MiniKote laminator would be a good choice. You can use 1.5 mil and 3.0 mil laminates on these laminators with ease. They are cost effective and easy to maintain. The Educator is a 25" laminator, wide enough for posters. The EasyLam products and the MiniKote are 27" laminators.

The Ledco Premier 4 is an excellent, cost-effective commercial laminator. It will laminate products up to 25" wide on laminates up to 10 mils in thickness. If you need a 27" laminator, the Banner American MightyLam is a good choice.

The Ledco Workhorse HD25 laminator may be your best choice for a 25" product. Also, consider the Ledco HS 30" Thoroughbred. When the Thoroughbred is combined with an automatic sheet feeder and cutter, it works as a total print finishing system.

There are several laminators available to choose from, depending upon the width of your product. The D&K Laminex SuperKote will laminate up to 41" wide. The Banner American Finisher 4300 and Ledco Digital 42, D&K EXP 42 Plus, and Ledco Digital Hot Roll 44 will laminate up to 42" wide. The Ledco Digital 60 will laminate up to 60" wide.

If economy is uppermost in your mind, look at the Ledco 27" Professor, which can be used for both mounting and laminating. The Ledco XL27 and XL44 pouch machines are also a possibility for low volume usage. But if you need an industrial machine, take a look at the Ledco Signmaster 44", the Banner American Entry 4500, or the Econocraft 44" and 60" models. The Ledco Digital Hot Roll 44 and the D&K EXP 42 Plus can also be used for mounting.

Don't do anything until you've seen the Foliant Gemini 400.

How Does a Roll Laminator Work?

What is the Difference: Heat Shoe vs Heated Roller?

With a heated roller laminator, the silicon rollers are internally heated and provide both the heat and pressure to laminate simultaneously.

Benefits of a Heat Shoe Laminator

• Generally less expensive than heated roller laminators
• Hold heat slightly better than heated roller laminators
• Heat up faster than heated roller laminators

Benefits of Heated Roller Laminator

• Rollers are heated uniformly, allowing the user to warm up the laminator without leaving the rollers turning. This also reduces waste.
• Provides a clear lamination if the rollers are kept clean
• Allows the use of Oriented PolyPropylene (OPP) film, as the tension on the laminating film is less than that of a heat shoe laminator
• The laminator can be run at a lower temperature than a heat shoe laminator, because the laminating film is heated at the same time that pressure is applied.

What are the Benefits: Variable vs Fixed Speed?

Variable speed means that the speed of the laminating rollers can be adjusted faster or slower.

A laminator with fixed speed is normally less expensive than a laminator with variable speed. Fixed speed laminators are simple to operate; however, the speed of the laminating rollers cannot be slowed down to laminate thicker laminating films (such as 5 or 10 mil films) or heavier items such as construction paper or several pieces of paper glued together.

A laminator with variable speed can be more complex to operate than a fixed speed laminator; however, because the speed can be slowed down, it allows the use of thicker laminating films. A variable speed laminator also makes it easier to laminate heavy paper such as construction paper or items with heavy ink coverage. The laminator can be slowed down, allowing the item being laminated to remain in contact with the heated film longer and resulting in better adhesion. Some laminators have a 5 mil switch, which lowers the fixed speed of the laminating rollers to allow thicker 5 mil film to be laminated. Essentially this is a fixed speed laminator that has one fast speed and one slower speed.

Which Laminating Film is Right for a Thermal Laminator?

Laminating films have numerous characteristics to consider in determining which film is the right choice. Film construction, size, gauge, finish, and core size all need to be considered with a specific laminator and application in mind. For example, if you are planning to laminate laser-printed copy paper for sheet protection, and you have a 27" school laminator, then you would use a clear polyester-based 1.5 mil film 27" x 500' on 1" core.

Film construction will always have two components: the plastic and the adhesive. The most commonly used film base is polyester, which produces a high quality, clear laminate with the highest rigidity. Polypropylene is a clear, softer base, and is mainly used for one-side lamination (book covers, for example). The adhesive component of film may be a low density resin which melts at a high temperature and generally produces the most economical product. Also available are premium grade co-polymers, which require a lower temperature for bonding, and blended co-polymer adhesives, which have the lowest melt temperature. Lower melt films are important for documents that are more sensitive to high temperatures, and for the best adhesion to inks with a high moisture content.

Film size (width and length) will be determined by the type of laminator you are using and by the dimensions of the product you are laminating. In general, you can use film narrower than the size of your laminator but no wider. (For example, you can use 25" film on a 27" laminator, but nothing wider than 27".) The length of a roll is constrained by the diameter of the roll, which must not be too big to fit on your laminator. Film gauge and type of laminator are the primary determinants of roll length.

Film gauge is the thickness of the film, measured in mils (1/1000th of an inch). Film gauge is commonly expressed as the ratio of polyester to adhesive. For example, 3/2 film has 3 mils of polyester and 2 mils of adhesive and a total thickness of 5 mils. The higher the ratio of polyester, the more rigid the laminated product will be. If you laminate two identical pieces of a product using 3/2 film on one piece and 2/3 film on the other, both laminated products will be 5 mils thick. However, the product laminated with 3/2 film will be more rigid.

Film finish is one of the most important laminate attributes for commercial applications. While the widest application is for an economical clear (glossy) finish, films are also available with matte, satin, and crystal or textured finishes. Factors such as glare reduction, scratch resistance, and visual appeal are all important in print finishing, signmaking, and diplay production.

Roll core size is the last variable in film selection. This is determined by your laminator's mandrel size, which can be found in the laminator's specifications. In general, most school and light commercial laminators use film with a 1" core. Older models and a few of the mid-size laminators may use 2-1/4" core. Most of the industrial laminators use film with a 3" core.

Laminating Film Temperatures

Roll Diameters

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