If you re in the market for a pouch laminator, perhaps you re wondering what to look for when making your purchase. In order to purchase the best machine for both your budgetary and laminating needs, you ll need to consider several key things, from the size of the items you ll be laminating to the machine s warranty. Here are four things to consider when buying a pouch laminator.
1. What you ll be laminating? Pouch laminators can be used to laminate everything from bookmarks to photographs to important legal documents. Accordingly, there are different types of laminators available. Small personal sized machines are ideal for occasional laminating and can handle paper thin cardstock well, so if you want to preserve your child s artwork or your high school diploma, a smaller machine could be the best choice. However, if you ll be mounting documents or laminating photographs or other thicker materials (such as posters), investing in a higher end laminator would be a wise decision. Some of the better laminators on the market are the GBC H600 and H700 and the Akiles ProLam 330 Plus. These machines feature heated rollers and plates, providing even heat distribution for thicker materials. These machines, as well as laminators with multiple sets of rollers (like the Lamitek 13 Photo Laminator) are the best choices when laminating photographs.
2. The size of your documents. Pouch laminators run the gamut in sizes. Some have throats as small as 4 and as large as 24 . To laminate a standard 8.5 x 11 document, you d need a laminator with at least a 9 throat, and if you re looking to use larger laminating pouches (such as a menu size or double letter size pouch), you ll need a machine capable of handling larger documents. In that case you should consider a machine with a 12 or 13 throat.
3. The thickness of the laminating pouches you ll use. Laminating pouches are available in a variety of thicknesses from 3mil and 5mil to 10mil. The thinner the pouch, the less rigid the finished laminated product will be. For example, a 3mil pouch is a good choice if you re looking for basic sheet protection, say, for your marriage certificate. But if you re laminating an ID card or a sign, a 10mil pouch would be better because the end product would be sturdier. Keep in mind that lower end laminators will only run smaller sized pouches such as 3mil and 5 mil, so if you anticipate needing to use larger pouches in the future, you should choose a laminator that can handle 7mil and 10 mil pouches.
4. Additional features: warranties, temperature controls, and more. One of the other features you may want in a pouch laminator could be a reverse function. This comes in handy if a pouch ever gets jammed in the machine. (This will probably happen at some point.) Variable speed and temperature controls can be helpful if you re dealing with different laminating pouches and variations in substrate thickness. Also, some laminators are equipped with silicone rollers, which prevent the pouches from sticking to the rollers when run through the machine without a carrier, thus preventing a sticky mess. You ll also want to consider the quality of the machine s construction and what kind of warranty is included.
These items will provide you with a starting point when shopping for a pouch laminator. If you keep the above things in mind while shopping, you ll be much better informed of your options, enabling you to compare different machines so that you can purchase the pouch laminator that will best suit your needs.
Author Resource:
Jeff McRitchie is the designer and Director of Marketing for http://www.mybinding.com .He has written over 500 articles on binding machines,binding covers,binders,laminators,binding supplies,laminating supplies,paper handling equipments,index tabs, and shredders.
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