Laminating Film

Jason

CGF, Certified Grumble Framer
Joined
Dec 3, 2004
Posts
198
Loc
Iowa
I was working on a project this weekend that involved laminating a 16.5" x 25" piece of matboard. I am using the type of film that does not have the perforation holes, so I hand applied them with a Seal Perforator. This worked fine, but in a couple of places on the finished item, I can still see the little holes. My drymount press was set at the recommended 225 degrees and I left it in for the recomended 4 minutes. Any ideas? Thanks!
 
Check to make sure nothing was affecting the seal on your hotpress (foam overhang, etc). You may want to try putting it in for another 2-3 minutes at a slightly lower temp. to see if that works; it usually does for me.
 
Describe what you mean by foam overhang. The foam I used was slighly larger than what I was laminating. Would that cause an issue? I tried an additional 2-3 minutes and that did not get rid of all of the perf holes.
 
Overhang is if the foam itself hangs outside the hotpress or over the rubber seal; this may cause a problem with the vaccuum process.
 
I see. I am using a Seal 500T-X press. Failed to mention that in my original post.
 
Jason,
Put the mat board and laminate back into the press for 5-10 minutes. A vacuum press takes 40 seconds to draw a vacuum so this time is not included in the mounting time, which needs to be at least 5-7 minutes. A mechanical press could be 5-10 minutes without the vacuum draw too if there is moisture in the board or the materials are cool due to air conditioning.

If you are mounting onto plain mat board no amount of time or temperature in the press will damage it, so it could be in there 30 minutes and still be fine.
C
 
Again, thank you Chris! Please join in more often.
 
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