I'm getting married in February. In the "save the date" little things we'll be sending out in a while, my fiance wants to add little extra invitations for other upcoming events (shower, etc.) made out of vellum. I'm pretty particular about my laser printer. Before I cut a 12x12 sheet of vellum down to fit in my printer, is there anything I should know to make things go smoothly? Will it work? Will the printer get too hot?
Vellum on Laser?
- Thread starter kevinthenerd
- Start date
I've never used vellum in a printer myself, but here's a couple observations:
1. Make sure your printer is able to print to the size of paper you plan to use (check the manual). A lot of people don't know this, but you can't just put any size piece of paper in a printer or copier and have it work. Every copier, printer, and plain paper fax machine I know of has paper-detection sensors in the paper path that look for the paper at certain times during the copy/print cycle. If the paper is not there, or is there when it shouldn't be, the machine will jam and give a misfeed indication. Using odd-size paper, that the printer isn't 'programmed' to recognize, will cause certain misfeeds.
So, make sure the paper is exactly 8 1/2 x 11" or 8 1/2 x 5 1/2" or whatever other compatible size you choose. (If you care, I used to be a copier/fax machine tech in a previous career and that's how I know this.)
2. Again, I've never used vellum myself, but I don't think it's likely the printer would "get too hot." Like plain-paper copiers, laser printers typically use what's called "fuser rollers" to melt and press the toner into the paper just before the paper exits the machine. The lower roller is often made of solid rubber, and the upper fuser roller is typically hollow steel with a teflon (or similar) coating. Inside the hollow portion of the upper roller is a "fuser lamp" which provides the heat. That heat is then monitored and regulated via a small temp sensor called a "thermistor," which sits up against the upper roller at all times (measuring the heat). When the machine is idle, the fuser lamp is off. When you go to print something, the lamp comes on and heats up the upper roller to the appropriate temp so it will melt the toner as the paper passes thru the fuser rollers (the lower roller is mainly to apply upward pressure from below). The thermistor communicates with the printer's main board (sort of a mobo for printers) and cycles the lamp on & off at the appropriate times -- i.e., turning it on when it's needed and turning it off when it's not.
Typically, there is also a "thermal fuse" (aka "thermofuse") sitting near the thermistor. If the temp should ever get too hot -- like, say, if the thermistor were to fail or something (or get too dirty) and keep the lamp on too long -- the thermal fuse will blow and shut the fuser lamp off so the machine doesn't catch on fire.
So, to answer your question, if the machine were to "get too hot" for some reason, it should shut down before any damage can occur. Since the paper you run thru the machine should have nothing to do with the temp of the roller, I wouldn't think vellum would make any difference.
You might check your owner's manual or call the mfgr about running vellum, as some printers have paper adjustment levers that either loosen or tighten paper guides accordingly when 'custom' paper is used (so the paper doesn't get jammed inside). Running thick card stock or construction paper, or really thin paper, would be examples of this.
Hope this helps. Best of luck with your wedding.
EDITED to fix a typo.
1. Make sure your printer is able to print to the size of paper you plan to use (check the manual). A lot of people don't know this, but you can't just put any size piece of paper in a printer or copier and have it work. Every copier, printer, and plain paper fax machine I know of has paper-detection sensors in the paper path that look for the paper at certain times during the copy/print cycle. If the paper is not there, or is there when it shouldn't be, the machine will jam and give a misfeed indication. Using odd-size paper, that the printer isn't 'programmed' to recognize, will cause certain misfeeds.
So, make sure the paper is exactly 8 1/2 x 11" or 8 1/2 x 5 1/2" or whatever other compatible size you choose. (If you care, I used to be a copier/fax machine tech in a previous career and that's how I know this.)
2. Again, I've never used vellum myself, but I don't think it's likely the printer would "get too hot." Like plain-paper copiers, laser printers typically use what's called "fuser rollers" to melt and press the toner into the paper just before the paper exits the machine. The lower roller is often made of solid rubber, and the upper fuser roller is typically hollow steel with a teflon (or similar) coating. Inside the hollow portion of the upper roller is a "fuser lamp" which provides the heat. That heat is then monitored and regulated via a small temp sensor called a "thermistor," which sits up against the upper roller at all times (measuring the heat). When the machine is idle, the fuser lamp is off. When you go to print something, the lamp comes on and heats up the upper roller to the appropriate temp so it will melt the toner as the paper passes thru the fuser rollers (the lower roller is mainly to apply upward pressure from below). The thermistor communicates with the printer's main board (sort of a mobo for printers) and cycles the lamp on & off at the appropriate times -- i.e., turning it on when it's needed and turning it off when it's not.
Typically, there is also a "thermal fuse" (aka "thermofuse") sitting near the thermistor. If the temp should ever get too hot -- like, say, if the thermistor were to fail or something (or get too dirty) and keep the lamp on too long -- the thermal fuse will blow and shut the fuser lamp off so the machine doesn't catch on fire.
So, to answer your question, if the machine were to "get too hot" for some reason, it should shut down before any damage can occur. Since the paper you run thru the machine should have nothing to do with the temp of the roller, I wouldn't think vellum would make any difference.
You might check your owner's manual or call the mfgr about running vellum, as some printers have paper adjustment levers that either loosen or tighten paper guides accordingly when 'custom' paper is used (so the paper doesn't get jammed inside). Running thick card stock or construction paper, or really thin paper, would be examples of this.
Hope this helps. Best of luck with your wedding.
EDITED to fix a typo.
When I said "get too hot," I was asking if the printer would get too hot for the paper. Thanks, though. That was a very good explanation.
Oh, sorry. I didn't realize that was what you were asking. Sorry I rambled on about something you didn't care about.
I don't know if the fuser temp would be too hot for vellum. If I were in your shoes I'd prolly call the mfgr of your printer & ask 'em. Whether or not you'll actually get someone on the phone who knows, I dunno. Other than that, I dunno how'd you'd find out other than to run a piece thru and see what happens. (I'd run a blank sheet thru -- just print 1 page of a blank Word doc or something -- so that if it jams or melts, at least there won't be melted/smeared toner all over the place along with the paper.)
How thick or thin is the vellum you wanna use? Is there a weight indicated on the packaging (like 20lb or 24lb or something)?
Actually the vellum package itself should tell you if it is laser printable. Usually you can set paper size to custom and set it to any size withing the available ranges. Vellum should be available in standard paper sizes - not just 12x12. So use a standard paper size and print multiple copies per page using an inexpensive page layout program like Print Shop or PrintMaster.
Are you talking about Bristol Vellum (aka 67# cover stock) or the translucent stuff? If it's the latter, you'll probably have to use inkjet on it. There is something called Sukashi Vellum made in japan that is laser printable (32.50 per 50 sheets the place I saw it) but has a sort of floral watermark in it. I don't think the normal stuff is laser rated.
.bh.
Are you talking about Bristol Vellum (aka 67# cover stock) or the translucent stuff? If it's the latter, you'll probably have to use inkjet on it. There is something called Sukashi Vellum made in japan that is laser printable (32.50 per 50 sheets the place I saw it) but has a sort of floral watermark in it. I don't think the normal stuff is laser rated.
.bh.
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