HIT: Artwaxer-Pros & Cons

[Maryann Goree <MGoree@LOCALACCESS.COM>]

I'm sending all messages pertaining to the Artwaxer. You can best sort out
the info. & make a decision. Thank you to all who responded.

We have one & seldom use it. It is messy a lot of the time. The wax has to
be just at the correct temp. & it gums up on the rollers and has to be
cleaned. Also, if the temp isn't just right, the wax is absorbed by the
paper & shows up on the front side of the art work, etc. Also,it takes a
long time for it to heat up & so has to be on all the time so it will be
ready. (A problem when it isn't used often.) Anyway, we haven't turned it
on all year. I'm curious if others report the same.  Kirste Rees.  Paron
Hills Elementary

Yes, we have one. I watched the video on it - oh it looks so easy and
useful.I went to use it and - well, I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong but
it rolled wax on front and back of the poster...AND when I tried to "mount"
the poster on the wall the poster fell off. I'll try again but I'm not
impressed after one try. Kate Stirk  Annunciation Catholic Academy

Our school purchased the artwaxer about 4 or 5 years ago. I don't remember
the brand. It was wonderful at first, but after awhile it started applying
wax to both sides of whatever was put through. We used a hair dryer to melt
the wax off the rollers and cleaned them, but it built up again. We still
use it for some small things and rub the wax from the front. The newer
models may be better. Nancy Wooldridge  Oak Grove Elementary

We have an artwaxer in our school. The principal was very excited about the
idea and ordered one. The first one had to be sent back to be adjusted.
They sent a replacement and the machine worked ok. We never have been able
to get it working so that it spreads the wax the way it is supposed to. It
usually globs the wax all over. Finally, teachers stopped trying to use it
altogether, and so it sits. Some posters stick to the wall just fine; other
stuff doesn't at all. Sometimes when you take something off of a bookshelf,
it will leave a lot of wax that then has to be scrapped off. I realize that
this is not a glowing review, and it may be that everyone else is very
happy with it. But....    Cassandra Barnett  Leverett Elementary.

Unless new techniques have improved waxers, I would stick to a ATG gun and/
or laminating of posters. If you need to preserve and protect there are
other methods too. The wax I always thought was for a more temporary
situation. I have used it in posting up layouts for printing...newspapers,
magazines, advertising flyer, etc. I also have a picture framing business.
Sharon Koontz  K-12 LMS

Our principal purchased one of these last year about April. It has to be
turned on prior to using (like an hour) for the wax to liquify. We have
mainly concrete block walls and have problems with things staying up, even
paper waxed and then stuck to other paper comes apart. Several people think
it may be the range of temperatures in the building, or humidity, our
school is never constant. Only papers (like copy paper) have stayed up for
longer than 2 days and they have so much wax on them you can see the wax
striped through the paper. None of my teachers have had much luck with
postesr or anything else staying put on the walls.
Also, I found it very inconvenient for the library, it takes up valuable
counter space in the "workroom"/storeroom/office, and can be extremely
messy when others use it. I have had to scrape wax off the floor and
counter tops more than twice!!
Finally, after a month of trying, school was about out and I reminded
everyone of this equipment this school year but have only had one teacher
even try to use it and then she did not want to wait for it to heat up.
I will admit maybe we are not using it correctly, or it was not designed
for what we want but I'm certainly not fond of it. I will be happy to
answer any questions you have, My opinion is don't waste your money, buy
more tape or tacks or staples.   Mariann Amass   Thayer Elementary

I have something similar. It is an important part of my display equipment.
I would never use it for mounting something to the wall, however. There is
nothing like a thick coating of wax to make artwork stick to a mat
smoothly. You will find the investment worthwhile. The wax supply lasts a L
O N G time.   Mary Veronica Amison  Xavier High School

When I was teaching journalism we used waxers extensively in the
pre-desktop publishing days. We had one "artwaxer", but it was far too
small for a poster to be run through. There were smaller hand-held models
that could have been used on the back of a poster, but ther chief function
was to wax the strips of copy to place on the layout sheets for the
nespaper in a non-permanent fashion so that adjustments could be made as
the paper took shpae. I believe there are more specific adhesives for
posters that would be more suitable for other types of uses.  Paul Kreamer
Santa Rita Hight School

Hi...we have an artwaxer in our school. it works very well, if you use a
lot of pressure to adhere posters, etc. to walls. The only negative thing
that I have found is that it takes a LONG time to heat up the wax, but I
guess it is worth it. Kerry Dwyer  Devon Forest Elementary

We purchased one this year. We had a tricky beginning. Thermostat not right
on the first one. Local co. from which I purchased brought another which
seems to work fine except you have to keep a hair dryer close by to melt
wax on rollers in case it clogs up by mistatke, i.e. motor on without heat.
Also, it seems to use lots of wax but the results have been fantastic.
Things stay on the wall and are easily stored and then can be put back on
wall the next year.  Judith Thomas

We have an Artwaxer at our school and the teachers love it. Most of all the
principal loves it because the wax does not pull the paint off the walls.
You can also use the posters over and over again, unless you clean it off
the wax continues to be sticky.  Betty Keane

This is the third year of use for your Artwaxer. Out teachers love it!
Posters stay up on the walls without falling, and it adheres to cement
block walls! Ours has been acting a little strange lately, but when the
secretary cleaned it out, It had; glitter, a paper clip, scrapes of
construction paper, other gook in it! So, it gets pretty hard use here.
Maybe I should say abuse.  Suby Wallace Nettleton Intermediate Center.

We have had an artwaxer for 2 years and don't know how we got long without
it. Be sure to get a roller with your machine because it helps to keep the
larger posters on the wall. This is really a great invention.   Ruth Bryant

We have one at an elementary building and it is a huge success! The hardest
part is waiting for the wax to heat up. it has saved us grief, time, holes
in walls, pins, tacks. staples, etc. Good luck!  Kay Knight  Perkins Public
Schools

We have an Artwaxer. It is one of the few things that will stick to our
concrete block walls, and even it fails once in a while. We do like the
machine.
B. Brown   Russellville Middle School

The school district I formerly worked in had an Artwaxer in the two
buildings where I was the LMS. They were very popular by all the staff. It
did require some time to 'warm' up, but the waxed posters did stay up on
the construction block walls. It is a bit messy and the wax gets very hot.
I do not advise allowing students to use it. We really like  and used it a
lot.  Lynne Stype  Lawrence Free State High School

Maryann Goree LMS  RE Bennett Elementary  Chehalis, WA  mgoree@localaccess.com