Lamination

I’m working on an art project that I’d like to get laminated. I’m looking for good quality lamination as these will be gifts. They’re basically of thick paper/cardstock material, each piece approx 5x15cm. Clear lamination, nothing cloudy/textured/brittle.

I’m in Taipei. TIA!

You can buy a little machine yourself for about 1000. Used mine to death when I used to do kids.

(teach them, not laminate them)

Apart from that, I’m not sure, but I bet the Double A copy shop opposite Taipei City Hall MRT would do it. (Don’t know where you are.)

Look for a shop (often a photocopy or photography shop) that has the characters 護貝 (hu4 bei4) outside it.

Perfect. Thank you, Buttercup and Chris.

Buttercup, I didn’t know personal laminators were available. If you bought yours in Taipei, can you tell me which store?

Daiichi. Red and white sign; general electrical store.

I’m looking for additional information before purchasing a lamination machine. [color=#0000FF]Does anyone have good or bad experiences with a particular brand or model? Or the name and location of a store in Taibei (especially eastern or central Taibei) that can offer a wide selection of machines and laminating stock? [/color]

We need to laminate hundreds of flash cards, alphabet letters and other teaching materials for kids, and would like a fairly inexpensive machine that will last, as well as one which does not require unusually expensive proprietary plastic sheets or pockets (I have no idea whether such sheets can be used in other machines or whether they have them set up so that you have to buy a particular kind for a particular machine, the way they rip you off with inkjet printer ink).

Any advice?
Thanks!

Dragonbones,

Having laminated thousands of cards, I just want to suggest you really consider, is it worth doing it yourself, or can you buy sets of cards preprinted that will serve your purpose?
It would have been much cheaper for us to buy our own set of cards than printing then laminating like we did.

Sorry, I can’t help with the laminator choice.

What asiababy said, if possible.

No, there aren’t proprietary sizes, but make sure your paper fits (use standard sized paper, not custom sizes); otherwise it gets really faffy. Also, if you have to cut the laminate, it’s not very safe for children, or the teacher, because of sharp edges.

Can’t remember brand names, but don’t go for the cheapest plastic cased ones if you have a lot to do; they don’t always heat up to a high enough temperature so you get bubbles in the finished product. Kids love messing with stuff like that so they won’t last as long.

By the way, if you want to check out pre-made cards, you can look at:

http://www.discountschoolsupply.com for ideas.

And Scholastic publishers have a good selection, and if you are ordering bulk amounts you can meet with the to discuss prices.

Thanks, all!

Good tip! I ended up skipping the Aurora-brand models sold at Carrefour and Quan2guo2, since they didn’t have a heat control and only did up to 80 mils; the one at Costco (Royal brand) had a heat control that went way up past that thickness, and it was only a little more money ($999).