Synth-DIY Yahoo! Groups Archives

Thread

Laminator

2004-08-01 by millerdl

I'm considering getting an H200 laminator and have a couple of questions
for those of you who have one:

* If the mod is done to allow it to handle the thicker boards, will
still work as a standard laminator after the mod? In other words, can
it still handle doing normal lamination of thin paper items (hot or cold
lamination) after modification?

* When doing two sided boards are there any particular techniques that
work better than others to get the two sides registered with this unit?

Thanks,
Dennis

Laminator

2004-11-17 by mikezcnc

As you know I am very happy with a GBC H200 laminator but I decided
to try a laser printer fuser. OK, it heats up, I turned it on thru a
dimmer and demonstrated that it will heat up indeed. Then of course
it needs to be mounted and a belt drive needs to be installed.
Overall it's quite a bit of work to roll the forst TT PCBs.

Then I happened to come accross a GBC laminator, one of those larger
units, probably commercial, from 20 years ago- it uses rolls of
plastic for laminating. I tried a quick lamination and it runs really
nicely, requires no modification and the temp can be adjusted by
changing the pot setting on the sensots touching the rollers.

If you see a larger laminator that can be a nice PCB laminating
unit. Mike

PS Steve, you're right. I better keep that fabulous Nuarc 26k uv
exposure unit.

Re: Laminator

2004-11-17 by Steve

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "mikezcnc" <eemikez@c...> wrote:
...
> Then I happened to come accross a GBC laminator, one of those larger
> units, probably commercial, from 20 years ago- it uses rolls of
> plastic for laminating. I tried a quick lamination and it runs really
> nicely, requires no modification and the temp can be adjusted by
> changing the pot setting on the sensots touching the rollers.

How wide? Those things are expensive! You got a great find.

> PS Steve, you're right. I better keep that fabulous Nuarc 26k uv
> exposure unit.

;')

Steve

Re: Laminator

2004-11-17 by mikezcnc

It's 8.5" I paid $10 for it because nobody knew what it was. It has
two red rubebr rollers which are heated, the laminated item fits
between them. Those two rollers are not motorized (!). There is knob
on the side which is turned by hand. The PCB fits betwenn the
rollers, gets fed between them approx 1" by turning the know on the
right side and then a larger black rubber roller (non heated) pickes
up the PCB and pulls it between the previously described heated
rollers...

What that means that the PCB is pulled by hand and that means it may
not get evenly heated, however our trick is to feed back again, maybe
from different angles.

The machine robustness is stunning and it runs really hot.

I own a big thank you to this group for mentioning the laminators so
many times.

Mike

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <alienrelics@y...>
wrote:

>
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "mikezcnc" <eemikez@c...>

wrote:

> ...
> > Then I happened to come accross a GBC laminator, one of those

larger

> > units, probably commercial, from 20 years ago- it uses rolls of
> > plastic for laminating. I tried a quick lamination and it runs

really

> > nicely, requires no modification and the temp can be adjusted by
> > changing the pot setting on the sensots touching the rollers.
>
> How wide? Those things are expensive! You got a great find.
>
> > PS Steve, you're right. I better keep that fabulous Nuarc 26k uv
> > exposure unit.
>
> ;')
>
> Steve

Re: Laminator

2004-11-17 by Phil

Motorize it to create even smooth feed. you could pretty easily build
a speed controller and using a gearhead motor you'd get enough torque
at a slow feed. fuse in one pass. of course, you can also buy speed
controllers pretty cheap. I think you do want reverse (in case of jams).

Add a thermostat and a temp indicator. You'd have a pretty good fuser

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "mikezcnc" <eemikez@c...> wrote:
>
> It's 8.5" I paid $10 for it because nobody knew what it was. It has
> two red rubebr rollers which are heated, the laminated item fits
> between them. Those two rollers are not motorized (!). There is knob
> on the side which is turned by hand. The PCB fits betwenn the
> rollers, gets fed between them approx 1" by turning the know on the
> right side and then a larger black rubber roller (non heated) pickes
> up the PCB and pulls it between the previously described heated
> rollers...
>
> What that means that the PCB is pulled by hand and that means it may
> not get evenly heated, however our trick is to feed back again, maybe
> from different angles.
>
> The machine robustness is stunning and it runs really hot.
>
> I own a big thank you to this group for mentioning the laminators so
> many times.
>
> Mike
>
>
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <alienrelics@y...>
> wrote:
> >
> > --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "mikezcnc" <eemikez@c...>
> wrote:
> > ...
> > > Then I happened to come accross a GBC laminator, one of those
> larger
> > > units, probably commercial, from 20 years ago- it uses rolls of
> > > plastic for laminating. I tried a quick lamination and it runs
> really
> > > nicely, requires no modification and the temp can be adjusted by
> > > changing the pot setting on the sensots touching the rollers.
> >
> > How wide? Those things are expensive! You got a great find.
> >
> > > PS Steve, you're right. I better keep that fabulous Nuarc 26k uv
> > > exposure unit.
> >
> > ;')
> >
> > Steve

Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: Laminator

2004-11-18 by Stefan Trethan

On Wed, 17 Nov 2004 22:13:13 -0000, Phil <phil1960us@...> wrote:

>
> Motorize it to create even smooth feed. you could pretty easily build
> a speed controller and using a gearhead motor you'd get enough torque
> at a slow feed. fuse in one pass. of course, you can also buy speed
> controllers pretty cheap. I think you do want reverse (in case of jams).
> Add a thermostat and a temp indicator. You'd have a pretty good fuser

chicken. grill. motor. is all i say.
nicely geared and right speed for 1 pass.
and cheap too.

ST

Laminator

2009-05-14 by Richard

I bought one of these laminators and replaced the snap switch temperature control with my own. Between 260 and 280 degrees it makes very repeatable toner transfers. At $25 including shipping its a realy good deal.

http://cgi.ebay.com/GBC-HeatSeal-9-Creative-Laminator-1701987_W0QQitemZ350192764057QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item51891d8499&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A2%7C294%3A30

RD

Re: Laminator - more detail please..

2009-05-14 by mikeh_dhr

Looks nice for the price. Do you run the boards through once, twice, ??? Do you do single sided or double sided? What board thickness have you done? Do you have more details on the mod you did? what did that do for you?

Thanks in advance for helping us understand what works well.

Mike Henry

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Richard" <rdheiliger@...> wrote:
>
> I bought one of these laminators and replaced the snap switch temperature control with my own. Between 260 and 280 degrees it makes very repeatable toner transfers. At $25 including shipping its a realy good deal.
>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/GBC-HeatSeal-9-Creative-Laminator-1701987_W0QQitemZ350192764057QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item51891d8499&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A2%7C294%3A30
>
> RD
>

Re: Laminator

2009-05-15 by sailingto

Is that 260 to 280 degrees F? If so, then I doubt it will work for my Brother 2140 laser printer due to the high temp toner it uses. The Brother 2140 has a warning label inside saying "Caution - 415F"

I sure wish I could use that laminator for $25 - I'd order today.

73 de Ken H>

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Richard" <rdheiliger@...> wrote:
>
> I bought one of these laminators and replaced the snap switch temperature control with my own. Between 260 and 280 degrees it makes very repeatable toner transfers. At $25 including shipping its a realy good deal.
>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/GBC-HeatSeal-9-Creative-Laminator-1701987_W0QQitemZ350192764057QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item51891d8499&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A2%7C294%3A30
>
> RD
>

Re: Laminator

2009-05-15 by Richard

Some thoughts on temperature. Most plastics will melt below 300 *F. I don't know which plastics they use in toner but would think they have a melt well below 400 *F. Time/Temperature is likely the reason some laser printers run such a high temperature. The faster the paper feed rate the higher the temperature needed. Would also assume that the mechanism they use to transfer the heat plays into it as well.

I use a old Minolta printer and generic toner refills. The paper feed rate even during high resolution is considerably faster than the laminator. Perhaps that is a reason a lower temperature can be used. The temperature I use is 270 *F.

I made my own temp control using a PIC12F683 and an LM34 temp sensor. The case on the sensor is only good to 300*F and I haven't melted it yet. I use a DPM to read the temperature from the LM34 but you could use a voltmeter. I have a couple buttons to increase/decrease the set point and a relay output. I get about 15*F overshoot because of the lag between heating element and sensor thru the aluminum plate, but the variance doesn't seem to change the result. Does not appear that PID is necessary. The LM34 puts out 10mV/*F, very simple translation. An even simpler control could be done with a comparator and a pot.

RD

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "sailingto" <sailingto@...> wrote:
>
> Is that 260 to 280 degrees F? If so, then I doubt it will work for my Brother 2140 laser printer due to the high temp toner it uses. The Brother 2140 has a warning label inside saying "Caution - 415F"
>
> I sure wish I could use that laminator for $25 - I'd order today.
>
> 73 de Ken H>
>
>
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Richard" <rdheiliger@> wrote:
> >
> > I bought one of these laminators and replaced the snap switch temperature control with my own. Between 260 and 280 degrees it makes very repeatable toner transfers. At $25 including shipping its a realy good deal.
> >
> > http://cgi.ebay.com/GBC-HeatSeal-9-Creative-Laminator-1701987_W0QQitemZ350192764057QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item51891d8499&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A2%7C294%3A30
> >
> > RD
> >
>

Re: Laminator

2009-05-16 by sailingto

Makes sense to me - 400F sure seems VERY hot, but that is what the label inside the printer says. I do know that during toner transfer I set the toaster oven to 450F for about 15 minutes to get a good transfer. Not sure what temperature the toner actually get so as the PCB is clamped between two alumuinum plates that are 1/4" thick each and those have to be heated during that 15 minute time.

I'm new at this and just trying to learn more - Yea, I know I purchased the wrong printer, but it was cheap and I didn't know the temperature requirements at the time.

73 de Ken H> K9FV

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Richard" <rdheiliger@...> wrote:
>
> Some thoughts on temperature. Most plastics will melt below 300 *F. I don't know which plastics they use in toner but would think they have a melt well below 400 *F. Time/Temperature is likely the reason some laser printers run such a high temperature. The faster the paper feed rate the higher the temperature needed. Would also assume that the mechanism they use to transfer the heat plays into it as well.
>
> I use a old Minolta printer and generic toner refills. The paper feed rate even during high resolution is considerably faster than the laminator. Perhaps that is a reason a lower temperature can be used. The temperature I use is 270 *F.
>
> I made my own temp control using a PIC12F683 and an LM34 temp sensor. The case on the sensor is only good to 300*F and I haven't melted it yet. I use a DPM to read the temperature from the LM34 but you could use a voltmeter. I have a couple buttons to increase/decrease the set point and a relay output. I get about 15*F overshoot because of the lag between heating element and sensor thru the aluminum plate, but the variance doesn't seem to change the result. Does not appear that PID is necessary. The LM34 puts out 10mV/*F, very simple translation. An even simpler control could be done with a comparator and a pot.
>
> RD
>
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "sailingto" <sailingto@> wrote:
> >
> > Is that 260 to 280 degrees F? If so, then I doubt it will work for my Brother 2140 laser printer due to the high temp toner it uses. The Brother 2140 has a warning label inside saying "Caution - 415F"
> >
> > I sure wish I could use that laminator for $25 - I'd order today.
> >
> > 73 de Ken H>
> >
> >
> > --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Richard" <rdheiliger@> wrote:
> > >
>

Laminator

2012-01-22 by Chris

I've seen various postings about the pros and cons of using a laminator versus a clothes iron, and I'm inclined to use a laminator. Is there any particular brand and model that is suitable for 1/16" thick PCB material?

Chris

Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Laminator

2012-01-22 by michael tenore

I bought a GBC H535 on eBay and I get excellent results! It will pass 1/16 inch easliy!
regards

Mike

________________________________
From: Chris <christrask@...>
To: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, January 22, 2012 11:26 AM
Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Laminator

I've seen various postings about the pros and cons of using a laminator versus a clothes iron, and I'm inclined to use a laminator. Is there any particular brand and model that is suitable for 1/16" thick PCB material?

Chris

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Laminator

2013-10-03 by Jack Schmidling

Is there a preferred laminator for PCB making?

I have been at this for a few weeks and have tried many of the suggested
media and a few of my own. So far the best results have been with
magazine paper after I figured out what people meant by the term.
Hadn't a clue where one could purchase it.

PnP was a big disappointment and about the worst results.

PO label backing was the second best.

I suspect most of the problems are with uniform heat and pressure so the
laminator seems like a good idea.

As a point of interest, Yahoo seems to have really barfed up the Groups
lately and their stock has crashed in my humble opinion.

Thanks

Jack K9ACT

Astronomy, Beer, Cheese, Fiber, Gems,
Nature, Radio, Sheep, Sausage, Silver

http://schmidling.com

RE: Laminator

2013-10-04 by <salomon.777@...>

I've just bought a fellowes Venus 125 laminator, I've tried to use it without modding it but I think the temperature does not get over 130 C (265 F) so it does not work for TT out of the box, it can be fed with 1/16" boards easily, so I'll try to fix that in the next days, I'll comment my results later.

best regards

---In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, <homebrew_pcbs@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Is there a preferred laminator for PCB making?

I have been at this for a few weeks and have tried many of the suggested
media and a few of my own. So far the best results have been with
magazine paper after I figured out what people meant by the term.
Hadn't a clue where one could purchase it.

PnP was a big disappointment and about the worst results.

PO label backing was the second best.

I suspect most of the problems are with uniform heat and pressure so the
laminator seems like a good idea.

As a point of interest, Yahoo seems to have really barfed up the Groups
lately and their stock has crashed in my humble opinion.

Thanks

Jack K9ACT

Astronomy, Beer, Cheese, Fiber, Gems,
Nature, Radio, Sheep, Sausage, Silver

http://schmidling.com

RE: [Homebrew_PCBs] Laminator

2013-10-04 by Fadi Kahhaleh

Hi Jack,
I had good luck with purple cows laminator sold at Costco. However it takes several passes to get food results and I find it doesn't apply a lot of pressure after it gets heated up and used many times
I ordered an apache 13-something for 61 USD on eBay. People praise it fir PCB work, I got it last night and still didn't try it. Bit its built like a tank!

From: Jack Schmidling
Sent: ‎10/‎4/‎2013 8:10 AM
To: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Laminator