sjdvn2

Hi all, I’ve been doing bits and pieces of vinyl cutting on the side for a few years. Decals for friends, logos for my day job, iron ons, boat decals and large car decals. I’m wanting to step it up a bit to help some local businesses and be able to provide services legally, but need to improve my space. I have a 34” cutter, computer setup, small/med sized table, shelving and a clamshell heat press. I’ll be registering an LLC for this as well. Currently, I do my drawing and computer work on my basement office, which my wife has taken over for remote work. I’ve cleaned out my utility room and think I could make a decent small space for decal/light sign making. I’d love to see some of your small shop areas for inspiration. What do you love about your small space? What would you change? Look forward to hearing back!

Ah thank you!

Thanks for the input, the forums are definitely quieter nowadays, it’s too bad. I do like the idea of online-only, I had decent sales for the little I was doing and enjoyed it. I was mostly doing shipped decals, little work applied to substrate. Just curious if you focus more on applying to substrate and selling, or just the decals? Thanks for the feedback, I usually see your name chime in first whenever I have a question, much appreciated!

I have a customer that wants a number of decals which include an American flag. The stars would be small and tedious...any best practice tips out there for weeding out all the little stars, or should I just prepare myself for a couple days of wrist pain?

This is a great tip! A lot of my decals are matte finish. Do you have any experience with this on matte vinyl? I'm curious if it will keep the finish or make it glossy

Hi all. I've been getting more orders for my side project of making large decals and need a little professional advice. When I was just doing a couple a week, I'd cut them out, take them to my kitchen table to weed them, apply xfer tape and prep them for shipping. It was cumbersome, but it worked. I have a work bench that I built to double as both a router table and can have a worktable placed on top for assembling wood projects. I'd like to make another top for it to use as a workspace for weeding, trimming, taping, etc. What would you recommend as a work surface? I'm thinking just sanded plywood with a full-coverage self-healing material, but wanted to know what you expert's use.

Any preferred sources for a large self healing matt that I can custom order or cut down to size? I have a 24x36 but need something larger

Hi all, I have a few pieces of clothing that have what appears to be a thick iron-on media, I've attached a sample. Is there a product like this that can be cut with a vinyl cutter and ironed on? I would assume it would need a couple passes I'm the cutter to cut through! Any guidance is appreciated!

That's actually exactly what I want..I have another shirt that is like that but thinner...now to find some gray, thank you!

Good morning, In my spare time I've been making fairly large decals, which are primarily cut from 30" rolls of 751 in matte black. Per a previous recommendation, I moved to high-tack transfer tape, as my standard tape wasn't holding very well to the matte finish. I switched to R-Tape 4076-RLA, which has been great. I've been buying 16" rolls and applying it to the 751 manually by hand by laying it onto my decals and using a squeegee to put it in place with good results. I run 2 rows of the 16" with some overlap so it can be applied in one piece. Today, I went to order some more tape, but it is no longer available in 16". Is there another brand that anyone can recommend? Next question, is it time to step up and do these with a single layer of transfer tape? I know it will look much better to the person ordering it, but im a little intimidated by running a 30" wide roll of transfer tape by hand. Can anyone offer advice, tips or tricks on the best way to layb30" tape in a home office environment? Thanks!

Thanks. I just ordered a big squeegee. It seems they're aluminum now, last time I looked, they were pvc. Hopefully this speeds up my process!

Hi all, I'm helping a family member tidy up some of her commercial properties by replacing some of the old signage. One item were doing is the Fire Department Connection signage (current sign attached). These are 18x12", and we want to make them reflective. I'm thinking the best bet is to get the reflective white aluminum blanks from Grimco and lay down red 751 vinyl. These properties are in Southwest Florida, so there is a lot of wear and tear from the sun. Is the 751 going to do the job I need for a long-lasting application? I've also read about laminating over the unpainted vinyl - is that worthwhile, or are we better off just going with bare colored vinyl and no laminate? Any input is appreciated!

Definitely an option as well. Im not familiar with the reflective vinyls, as I haven't used them yet. Any recommendation as to what one to use in this application?

Just wanted to say I just came across this and it's amazing! I have a little project I'm taking on and was worried I'd have to buy clear xfer tape...not needed with this! Thank you!!!!

Hello, I have a client looking for a large panel to be installed on their tailgate. They are looking for camo vinyl, but the only one I really see available is the Mossy Oak, which is quote expensive. Are their any good alternatives that come to mind? TIA!

Hello...wondering if there's a preferred source for obtaining vehicle measurements/patterns. For example, I have some customers wanting vinyl custom cut to sections of their body panels. I could go measure these out individually, but with numerous vehicle requests, it would be nice if there was a forum/database/site somewhere that offered this, even on a paid-basis. Thanks!

Im pretty new to all this, but this was a pretty cool project I got to try out for someone. I made a flag on AI (New to that as well), distressed it and divided it into two sections, one for each pane of glass. It was cut out of 751 Matte Black. Vinyl was super easy to weed, but my real problem was with my medium tack xfer tape. It took 3 prints and a lot of swearing to get it right and there are a couple spots im a little unhappy about, but no one knows but me! For the one I'm going to put on for my client, I think im going to try a high tack tape, then wet apply it and wet down the tape before removal to hopefully loosen the adhesive a little. I have a few other people interested in having these mailed out, so I'm trying to come up with the best way to ship them out. Im thinking in a rolled/triangle mailer with instructions, a small bottle of rapid tac and a squeegee. Perhaps I'll sell the install equipment as an orginal upgrade? Any ideas would be appreciated!

Just wanted to circle back on this. I picked up stonge high tack tape and WOW what a difference having better material! I did the flag for this truck in 1/4 of the time! Thanks again for the tips!

I did the front glass wet. I actually did the rear glass dry and hinged it down the center of the truck from front to back, which went surprisingly well and cleanly. I used rapid tac to clean/prep/wet the glass, stuff worked great!

Yeah, Newbie work for me! It was a 30" roll and the front glass (where the left side of the flag is) was 26" wide. I'll have to do some more trial/error with the xfer tapes!

Hello all. I've recently started doing some small side work with my 34" cutter I bought for personal use. I have a client that wants 10 coroplast signs made up. The problem is he is pretty set on one of 2 things: Black coroplast signs with metallic silver vinyl, or Hi-Vis Yellow/Green corplast signs with black vinyl I've never had any luck with the metallic/chrome vinyls indoors, I can't imagine them being any better outdoors. So far, I've had no luck finding a supplier that makes a hi-vis substrate to go with option 2. I'm trying to figure out what way to go here! First thought was I could layer fluorescent vinyl over a black/white sign, but none of the fluorescents last very long as far as I can see. My next thought was to try one of the Krylon Fusion paints to paint the board and vinyl it, but I'm curious if anyone has tried this and how well it held up? Any ideas are greatly appreciated!

Nice, those look great!

Great to know thank you!

Since we're on the topic, for a coroplast substrate, I was planning on going with calendared/651 vinyl. Should that be sufficient or will the corrugation make it more worthwhile to go with cast?

Yes, he's just looking for signs to put up on job sites - Roofing Contractor. I'll look into the metallic silver, I think that's going to be more up his alley!