Jeff McRitchie

GBC Catena 65 Roll Laminator Review

By all appearances, the GBC Catena 65 offers in-plant print facilities, copy shops, and other businesses that do laminating in-house a flexible and reasonably-priced choice for professional laminating. Here is a quick overview of what we consider to be the Catena 65's strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths:

1. One of the major strengths of the Catena 65 is the machine's superior mounting abilities. This machine can mount prints onto Gator board, foam core, and Sintra boards that are up to three sixteenths of an inch thick. There are few laminators on the market with that kind of capability.
2. The Catena 65 gives you a lot of different options when it comes to adhesives. We found that the machine worked great whether we used pretreated board or hot mounted adhesive. This kind of versatility is awesome, and is part of why we think there are a lot of businesses out there that should take a serious look at this machine.
3. Adding to the versatility of this machine, we were pleased to discover that the Catena 65 is able to handle a remarkable variety of laminating films, including 1.5, 1.7, 3, 5, and ten mil thicknesses. You can adjust the speed and the temperature on the Catena 65, which is great for working with materials of different thicknesses and types.
4. The Catena 65 comes with integrated one inch core adapters which will work for most standard projects and film types. Of course there are some types of films that will only operate correctly on core adapters that are two and a quarter inch, but for those kinds of projects, you can buy adapters separately.
5. We found the Catena 65 to be of very durable construction. The feed tray is all metal, and the sides of the machine appear to be made of a high quality plastic. To keep your machine running cleanly and correctly, you should always remember, however, that the rollers need to be handled carefully during cleaning, and you should never let any sharp object touch them. Also, there are some objects that simply shouldn't be run through the machine (or really any laminator) such as any items that contain glitter or any other abrasive materials.

Weaknesses:

1. Unfortunately, it seems that the Catena 65 cannot accept film on a three inch core. This won't affect too many projects, but there are some specialty types of film that are only available in three inch cores.
2. The Catena 65 is a professional grade machine, and as such you may find that it is a little more difficult to master and configure than your average school or similar machine. This is no reason not to purchase it, just something to consider. There is a little bit of a learning curve involved in mastering the Catena 65.
3. The 25-inch capacity is almost certainly going to get you through most projects, but for wider items such as posters, etc., you will need to move up to a wide format laminator.

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