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School / Light Commercial: You're with a school or small business or professional office or governmental agency, and you primarily want to protect your documents and posters with a laminate. Most of the papers that you laminate will be printed by a laser or small ink-jet printer.
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.
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Commercial: You're in the printing business or a small business owner who makes a product that needs to be protected with a heavy laminate. Your products are no wider than 25" and are printed on an off-set press, laser printer, or small ink-jet printer.
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.
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Industrial laminators:
You're in the printing, or marketing, or mass media distribution business, and you need a high-speed laminator to finish printed products no wider than 30".
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.
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Wide Format Digital Imaging Laminators:
You're in the graphic arts, or print finishing, or map-making business, and you need to protect your wide-format digital images with a laminate.
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.
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Mounting Laminators: You're in the display, or sign-making, or graphic arts business, and you need a laminator to mount your products for display.
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.
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Single-Side Laminators: You're in the publishing or printing business and need a single-side laminator to finish book covers, brochures, magazine covers, etc.
Don't do anything until you've seen the Foliant Gemini 400.
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The most widely used roll laminators are thermal laminators that utilize two rolls of laminating film (clear plastic base with adhesive on one side) to encapsulate a document. The laminator is heated to a temperature that will melt the adhesive; then the rollers are turned on. The rolls of laminating film (adhesive side out) pass over heated elements called heat shoes and come together at a point called the nip, where documents are fed into the laminator. A second set of rollers pulls the laminated product out the back of the laminator.
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Although this is the most widely known process for laminating, there are others. Some laminators have a set of heated rollers instead of heat shoes. Heated roller laminators are well suited for "hot mounting."
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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.
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LAMINATING FILM TEMPERATURE CHART
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FILM ADHESIVE TYPE
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FILM THICKNESS
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1.5 TO 1.8 MIL
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3 MIL
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5 TO 10 MIL
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High-temperature Polyethylene (PE)
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310 - 320°F
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280 - 290°F
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270 - 280°F
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Low-temperature PE Co-polymers(PE)
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290 - 310°F
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220 - 270°F
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220 - 260°F
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Ultra Low-temperature Special PE Co-polymers
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230 - 280°F
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180 - 260°F
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180 - 250°F
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The simplest form of cold lamination is our versatile little Xyron laminator, which is very popular with craft enthusiasts, scrapbookers, and school teachers. The same laminator can use changeable cartridges to apply one or two-side laminates, adhesives, and even magnets.
In commercial applications, pressure-sensitive laminates are used for overlaminating and mounting. The roll of laminate has a release liner, to keep the tacky film from adhering to itself, and the laminator must have a release liner takeup to peel the liner away. The laminating process is usually done with no heat or at very low temperature. Pressure-sensitive films can be used on surfaces like foam board, gator board, plexiglass, transparencies, and even wood.
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Order online, send us email, or call 1-800-869-2827. 
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© 1999-2006 Netc.Netc.
Last Updated 09-Nov-06
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