FM1600 Laminator

The FM1600 is a large-format vertical laminator listed on the company website, for cold, hot and double-sided laminating. Its vertical layout suits wide work: posters, banners, display graphics and mounted prints that would be awkward to feed through a desktop machine.

The specification values below are transcribed from the specification list published in the description of the company website's product page for this model.

Specifications

Transcribed from the specification list in the description of the company website's product page for the FM1600.

Reading the Specifications

Maximum laminating width of 1,580 mm is the defining figure for this machine. It covers posters and display graphics wider than a metre, which is work that desktop and mid-size laminators cannot take. A print shop that produces exhibition graphics, shop displays or large photographs needs this class of machine; an office that laminates A4 documents does not.

Maximum laminating thickness of 5 mm matches the FM650 and covers mounted boards as well as film-only work. The speed range of 0.2 to 1.6 metres per minute works the same way as on the FM650: slower for heavy films and boards, faster for straightforward thin-film work.

Temperature from 20 to 160 degrees Celsius covers cold work at room temperature through to hot laminating at full heat. Four hot rollers give even pressure and heat across the wide format, which is where wide laminators most often fail: uneven heat shows up as bubbles or edge lift on large sheets. For very wide work, confirm the floor space and power supply for this machine by inquiry before ordering, since neither is published on the product page.

Planning for a Wide-Format Laminator

Installing a 1,580 mm laminator is a facilities decision as much as a purchasing decision. The machine needs floor space for itself, space in front for feeding wide sheets and space behind for collecting them, and a power supply that matches its requirements. Measure the route from the delivery door to the installation position, including door widths and lift sizes, before the machine ships, because a machine that cannot reach its room is a problem that cannot be fixed on delivery day.

Wide work also needs the right supporting equipment: a large flat table for preparing prints, somewhere to store wide rolls of film, and a trimming area for finished work. A shop that laminates posters and display graphics regularly will already have most of this; a shop buying its first wide machine should plan for it at the same time as the machine itself.

For buyers who laminate wide work only occasionally, the question is whether a wide machine is justified at all, or whether that work should be sent out. A wide laminator earns its floor space when wide work is regular; when it is rare, the machine sits idle and the money and space could be better used elsewhere. That judgement depends on your order book, not on the machine's specifications.

A Note on Wide Film and Board Stock

Running a 1,580 mm laminator means stocking wide film and, for mounting work, wide boards. Both take storage space and both are awkward to handle alone, so plan for two-person handling of full-width rolls and boards. Wide film rolls are heavy and must be stored horizontally on a rack, not leaned against a wall, where they can fall and be damaged. Boards must be stored flat and dry, because a warped board cannot be mounted well no matter how good the machine is. These practical points do not appear in any specification table, but they decide whether a wide laminator runs smoothly or fights its operator every day.