Mounting Laminating
Mounting Laminating Questions to Ask When Choosing a Pouch Laminator If you are looking to purchase a pouch laminator I am sure that you have discovered that there are a plethora of options available...
Mounting Laminating
Questions to Ask When Choosing a Pouch Laminator
If you are looking to purchase a pouch laminator I am sure that you have discovered that there are a plethora of options available on the laminating pouches market. In order to sort out the options and decide what laminator is right for your application there are a few decisions that you will need to make. Here are some questions that you should ask yourself when choosing pouch laminators:
What size of documents do you need to laminate? - Pouch laminators are available with throats as small as 4" and as large as 24". Depending on the size of the documents that you intend to laminate, your options for laminating pouches will be narrowed. If you plan on using letter sized laminating pouches you will need at least a 9" throat. If you plan on using Menu Size or Double Letter Sized Laminating Pouches you will need a 12 - 13" throat. Poster sized laminating pouches would of course require a laminator with a larger throat.
What thickness of laminating pouches do you intend to use? Laminating supplies are available in a variety of thicknesses including 3mil, 5mil, 7mil and 10mil laminating pouches. Many lower end laminators will only run 3mil and 5mil laminating pouches. If you expect that you might need to run heavier laminating pouches in the future you should consider choosing a laminator that is capable of laminating 7mil and 10mil laminating pouches.
What type of materials do you plan on laminating? - Most of the lower end laminators on the market are designed to do an excellent job in laminating standard paper thin cardstock. However, if you plan on using your pouch laminator to mount documents, to laminate thicker materials or to laminate photographs you might consider a higher end laminator. Some of the better laminators include both heated rollers and heated plates to provide even heat distribution for thicker substrates. These laminators and other laminators with multiple sets of rollers are the best choices for photo lamination.
What other features does the laminator have? - Several other popular features that you might want to look for on your laminator could include: A reverse function which comes in handy in case a laminating pouch gets jammed in the laminator machine. Variable speed and temperature controls can be helpful in making small adjustments for variations in laminating pouches and differences in substrate thicknesses. Some laminators also come equipped with silicone rollers to prevent laminating pouches from getting stuck to the rollers when running through the machine without a carrier.
These questions are simply meant as a starting place when evaluating various pouch laminators. Ultimately, factors such as brand, machine construction and warranty will most likely also play into your decision concerning what pouch laminator you will ultimately choose. However, if you know the right questions to ask, you will have a much greater chance of choosing the right laminator for your needs.
About the Author
Jeff McRitchie is the designer and Director of Marketing for MyBinding.com. He has written several articles on pouch laminators, laminating pouches, roll laminate film and more.
Gbc Ultima 65 27" School Laminator Product Review
The GBC Ultima 65 is a 27" roll laminator that is primarily used by schools, quick printers, daycares, churches and pre-schools. In fact, it is the most popular roll laminator used in the United States. Chances are, if you go into a school and ask them what type of laminator that they have they will tell you that it is an Ultima65. However, just because a lot of people use it doesn't mean that it will be a good fit for you. This review will look at the features, limitations and construction of the GBC Ultima 65 roll laminator.
Features:
One of the best features of the Ulitma 65 is that it is capable of handling laminating rolls up to 27 inches in width. Film is loaded onto the machine in pairs of matched rolls of laminate. The Ultima65 is incredibly versatile and includes the ability to accept rolls as narrow as 9" in width and as wide a 27 inches. Most users choose a 25" wide roll for this laminator. However, special projects may warrant a different width of laminate.
This machine is capable of accepting 1.2mil, 1.5mil, 1.7mil and 3mil laminating films. However, most users choose either a 1.5mil or a 3mil film for their machine. The most common film for this machine is a 25" x 500' roll of 1.5mil film (GBC Part number 3000004). This is worth noting since this particular size of roll is usually more cost effective to run since it is more popular and produced in greater quantities. However, if you are looking for a more premium look and feel for your laminated documents you might consider moving up to a 3mil film.
The Ultima 65 also includes a reverse feature to help with potential film jams. It also includes a convenient trimmer on the back of the machine to help you quickly and easily cut your laminated materials away from the machine (you will still need to trim the laminated materials with a pair of scissors or zippy knife after they are removed from the laminator).
Even though these are great features it is important to note that most schools and companies don't buy the machine because it is incredibly feature rich. Instead it is the most popular machine on the market because it one of the simplest to operate. It has an easy to use intuitive keypad without a lot of confusing buttons and knobs. Many other laminators require you to adjust the heat and speed and to get the setting just right. However, the Ultima65 is designed for teachers and parent volunteers who rarely use a laminator and don't have a lot of training.
Limitations:
The Ultima is designed for laminating banners, signs, visual aids and documents. It does all of these things very well. However, there are some things that it does not do. It will not accept laminating films that are thicker than 3mil. If you think that you might need to use a 5mil or 10mil film then this machine won't be a good fit for you. It is also limited to a one inch core size. This means that the cardboard core that the film is wrapped around has to be 1" in diameter. This limitation essentially eliminates the ability to run specialty laminating films since they are usually only available on 2.25" and 3" cores.
The Ultima65 is also not equipped for doing mounting (the rollers cannot be gapped) and is not a good solution for doing cold process lamination. If you need to do any of these things then you will most likely need to move up to the next level of laminator available on the market (probably the GBC Catena 65). This isn't to say that the Ultima is a bad machine; on the contrary, it does exactly what it is supposed to do. It just isn't designed for professional and specialty applications.
There were two other things that I noticed when I was testing this machine. First, it has a very long warm up time. In fact it can take 10-15 minutes to warm up. If you are standing by the laminator waiting to laminate something this can be very painful. Thus, it is a good idea to turn the machine on well before you are ready to start. Second, I found switching the laminating film to be somewhat difficult on this machine. Every time I go to switch the film I end up having to pull out the instructions and look at the diagrams. However, if you end up loading the film backwards you can end up with a huge mess. This just means that you are going to want to make sure that you are very careful when loading the machine.
Construction:
The Ultima 65 is built well and is designed for daily use in a school environment. The sides are plastic, the frame and the feed tray are metal. However, the most common problems with this machine usually are caused by users and not design issues. Items that are textured, contain glitter or are sharp should never be loaded into the laminator as they can damage the rollers. Additionally, the film should never be run backwards or with only one roll on the machine this will cause the film to stick to the rollers. Sharp objects should never be used to clean the rollers (using a 3M scotch bright scouring pad is the recommended method for cleaning the rollers). Other than that, the machine is highly durable and if it does have problems, parts are readily available.
Recommendation:
For a school, pre-school or church I would highly recommend the Ultima 65. It is incredibly simple to use, doesn't require a lot of maintenance and is a cost effective solution. However, for users who need a laminator for specialty applications this is probably not the right fit.
About the Author
For more information or to purchase the GBC Ultima 65 27" School Laminator visit MyBinding.com,
Jeff McRitchie is the director of marketing for MyBinding.com. He writes extensively on topics related to Roll Laminators, Binding Covers, Bookbinding Supplies, Binding Machines, Binders, Index Tabs, Laminators, Laminating Pouches and more.