As with any new tool, there is a learning curve involved before
it's use is integrated into a smooth day to day procedure.
When you fill your machine, the top of the roller has no paste.
If you rotate the transfer roller with the drive roller before
pulling your strip, you can minimize the dry spot at the top,
but it won't be perfect. To fix this you can just brush out the
top six inches after pulling through the machine, or you can cut
the material with an additional foot of material at the top, and
then cut and discard the extra. The latter works if you have plenty
of paper with no fear of a shortage.
The machine can be a wonderful labor saver, but it is not a smart.
It can apply a very even coat of adhesive to the back of the wallcovering,
but it doesn't care a bit about the pattern. Only you ( and your
client ) care about pattern placement. One way to affect proper
pattern distribution is to mark the intended top with a notch
in the material and then feed it into the machine. When the top
goes through the machine, cut the material and discard, and then
proceed pulling the rest of the strip. Counters can be invaluable,
but there is the chance of slippage. If you rely on the counter,
the strip will never be too short, but it can be longer than intended.
I sometimes works better to place the counter wheel on the drive
roller and not on the paper if this is possible. The width of
the machine and the material will determine if this is viable.
Depending on the pattern repeat and match, it is sometimes prudent
to paste strips from alternate bolts of wallcovering to minimize
waste. This means the first strip comes from the A bolt and the
second is taken from the B bolt. ( and C,D,E, and F for a multiple
drop pattern) Obviously, wallcoverings with no match are the easiest,
but matched pattern will soon become easy and automatic.
When it is determined that a pattern can be pulled from a single
bolt, you cut your top, pull the desired length, book, and cut
the bottom, and then pull the pattern through til you find the
next top. Repeat until the room is complete. With some material
you may find it better to cut and pull the strips for one trip
to the wall without leaving any in the machine. Some papers left
in the machine will have the top ten inches saturated when you
return to paste another strip. This will cause the top to be expanded
so much that the remainder of the strip will never catch up and
you'll have strips with fat tops that can really screw up the
flow as you progress across the wall.
I know a few paperhangers who made the plunge to machine pasting,
full of excitement and big plans, but they never made it through
the learning curve. Their machines reside on shelves in their
garages.
The most important piece of advise I can give anyone contemplating
mechanization is "THIN YOUR PASTE"
Adhesive does not need to be as thick as you think. most problems
with machines can be solved with the addition of cool clean water,
a little at a time, til you get it just right. Paper, and paperbacked
goods absorb moisture, so what seems to be too thin will often
be just right by the time you get to the wall. Sometimes the paste
may seem uneven or lines may appear if your machine has a scraper
bar. A six inch block brush used to quickly work the paste in
will help. This is an extra step that most don't bother with but
it doesn't take long and is not difficult, and will ease the process.
The paste is already on the paper, you're just working it in and
moving it about.
Michael
If someone were to ask
me why I use a paste machine I could tell them the
pros:
1. It makes pasting faster. On 2 story drops, I guesstimate that
sheets can
be pasted 5 times faster with a machine, maybe faster.
2. Machine pasting is easier and requires less effort--which is
good.
3. Paste is applied more uniformly with a good machine than with
hand
pasting.
4. Lid lumps are a thing of the past with a pasting machine--you
never have
to pick at the little dry paste nibs that fell from the can lid
off the
back of the sheet.
5. I look damn good when using my machine. Damn good.
6. The pasting table stays cleaner.
7. The pattern side of the sheets remain cleaner.
9. My pasting table drop cloth stays cleaner.
Jim
