Finishing & Screen Printing
East Coast Finishing Installs Autobond Compact 105 THS
Monday 11. August 2008 - East Coast Finishing in Fairview, NJ, has replaced its two previous laminating machines with a Compact 105 THS from UK manufacturer Autobond. The new Autobond thermal laminator is equipped with a Heidelberg Speedmaster 102 feed head and a stacker, while the Compact 105s quick make-ready and throughput speed means that it can easily handle laminating requirements at the site.
“We operated the other two laminators for many years but their output was restricted by the speed of the flying knife and the after-sales care from the manufacturer was inconsistent to say the least,” says Ron Stagnari, whose father started the business in 1963. “I knew John Gilmore from Autobond and he was willing to take the other machines as part of the deal, so buying the Compact 105 was an obvious choice.
“The Compact 105 has proved to be so efficient that we can handle all our laminating on it, which means that we have freed one operator to perform other tasks. Our runs are anything from 2,500 to 40,000 and the ability to change jobs very quickly and then laminate at up to 200 feet per minute makes the Compact 105 extremely effective. Our customers are nearly all commercial or packaging printers or publishers within the local area and we often have to work to tight deadlines.”
The 41 x 30 inch Compact 105 is Autobonds best selling model. The compact design means that it can be used where space is limited while its ease of use means that someone can normally be trained to operate it within a few days. The laminator can handle stock size down to 8½ x 11 inches and weights from 60 lb to 24 pt. The rising pile, back separation Heidelberg Speedmaster 102 feed head ensures accurate feeding of stock even at high speed. The feeder is equipped with a mill skid plate, which allows a full pallet of print to be loaded directly from the press.
The use of 1 inch thick steel side plates results in an extremely robust machine that can apply up to six metric tonnes of pressure in the nip rollers. Film is mounted on a micro adjustable quick-change airshaft, which means that changing rolls is very simple. There are several options with the Compact 105, including the ability to laminate sheets both sides in one pass. The model at East Coast Finishers has been built with a walk-in section, which allows greater access.
“The remote diagnostics facility on the Compact 105 was useful during the early days when the operators were still learning, because Autobond could simply log on to the laminators electronics and quickly identify any problems we were having, which were generally simply operator error,” says Ron Stagnari.
“The Compact 105 has fitted in very well with the other processes that we offer, which range from die stamping and UV coating to cutting and creasing, gluing and hand assembly. Weve had some excellent results combining different technologies, for example, applying a gloss film to a printed job on the Compact 105 and then screen printing a spot matt varnish on top of the laminate.”