midwaste

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Everything posted by midwaste

  1. This is my $5.02 version of the SpeedPress. I have a 20 18x24 double sided coro order coming up tomorrow and I was looking at my roll of Rtape AT-42 (only tape i use) and not looking forward to throwing a good portion of it in the garbage can doing the signs. I have seen the SpeedPress before and it's a pretty good idea, but I like building shit and not buying it. So I sketched up a quick design and went to Lowes. $5.02 later (minus tax) I have below. (1) 10' length of 3/4" Schedule 40 PVC - $1.78 (4) 3/4" PVC elbows - $0.96 (1) 5/8" x 48" dowel rod - $1.98 (I splurged and bought the poplar because they were straighter, lol) (6) 1/4-20 x 1-1/2" carriage bolts Other stuff I had that you might need to buy, depending on what you have lying around: 4 screws (black drywall screws in photo below, but just about any screw 1-1/4" or so will work) 4 eyescrews (I had some hooks that I bent closed) Tools: Drill and bits Hacksaw or PVC pipe cutter (much, much nicer. If you do any work at all with PVC, buy one now) Tape measure Sharpie, etc. Optional, but recommended: Bud Light Note: This is for a 18x24 version. I cut some longer pieces for use with a 24x36 sign, more on that later. First: Cut two pieces of PVC 27.5" long. (24" for apptape width + 2" for extra width + 1.5" for allowance of elbows). Then, cut two pieces 21.5" long. Assemble these with the elbows. DO NOT GLUE THE JOINTS. It will probably be a little out of whack, just put it under your feet and tweak it until it sits flat on your table. Next: Cut the dowel in half, drill small holes in all 4 resulting ends and screw the eyehooks in so they are oriented the same way. At this point, it should look like this: Next: Drill holes in the corners on the elbows. These should be slightly smaller than the carriage bolts, so they thread in, rather than fall in. If you dont have the right sized drill, you can glue them, but make sure the square part under the head of the bolt doesn't go in the hole. You need the head and the square to set the gap from the table. http://i42.tinypic.com/svt9bb.jpg[/img] Next: Turn the unit over and center your dowel on the long pieces of PVC and mark below the eyebolts on the PVC OPPOSITE THE CARRIAGE SCREWS. Drill a small hole to allow your screw in. Screw the dowel to the PVC through the eyebolts LOOSELY. The dowel needs to be able to move up and down about 1/8". http://i41.tinypic.com/1zf4jkn.jpg[/img] http://i42.tinypic.com/humxld.jpg[/img] Loading it with apptape Turn the unit over so the carriage bolts (bottom) is up. Cut a piece of apptape sticky side up, leaving about 6" on each side of the legs: http://i42.tinypic.com/1z5lv2x.jpg[/img] Turn the dowel side to face you and thread the app tape between the dowel and the PVC. You can pull the dowel down to allow the tape to slide easier: http://i42.tinypic.com/wqow9h.jpg[/img] Leave yourself enough tape hanging down to wrap it around the dowel and back onto the sticky bottom of the tape (ignore the lousy job I did, try to do better, but it isn't terribly critical, unless you really wrinkle it up): http://i42.tinypic.com/sgs8b8.jpg[/img] Next, turn the unit around and do the same thing on the other side. It's easier to get this side tight and straight. Try to pull the tape fairly taught, you don't want it to sag in the middle. http://i42.tinypic.com/2vc9ms9.jpg[/img] Now check your gap underneath between the table and the clear tape. It should be a consistent 1/4" or so all the way. I'll skip ahead to the tensioning screws at this point, because if it's sagging, you need to tighten it up. Drill two holes on the ends of the PVC where it meets the elbow and thread in some bolts. See the picture for a better explanation, but you can hold the elbows and twist upwards on the bolts to wrap up some of the tape and tighten the sag up: This is why we didn't glue the joints. http://i43.tinypic.com/oq9cfm.jpg[/img] Now place your vinyl on the table (it needs to be laying flat, not curled up) and place the unit over the top of it. Get it centered and squeegee the apptape down from the center out, lifting the vinyl up: http://i40.tinypic.com/2ymy6uc.jpg[/img] Flip it over and peel the backer off: http://i41.tinypic.com/do5lbo.jpg[/img] This is with the backer peeled off and flipped back over, you can see the gap to the table that will allow you to position the coro: http://i40.tinypic.com/8ye26t.jpg[/img] http://i43.tinypic.com/3308xp5.jpg[/img] Depending on your tape, it is AWESOME lining up coro below using this tool. Before, I would cut the backer paper/apptape close to the vinyl to get a good measurement from the edges of the substrate to the lettering. Using this method, you can almost eyeball it all the way. My job this week is on the house-shaped signs, so it will be a cakewalk lining up the stroked border with the edges. Do the same thing as before: Start in the middle and squeegee outwards to apply the vinyl to the coro (or whatever). Flip the unit over: http://i40.tinypic.com/2v12kcm.jpg[/img] Now comes the tricky part: Peel the sign away from the tape without pulling it too loose. A combination of quick snaps and slow pulling seemed to work best. Remember, you can retighten the tape if it sags. I'll probably figure this out a bit better after doing the sign job this week. Any input is welcome! http://i39.tinypic.com/2j280us.jpg[/img] Lastly, you can make the cross pieces any size you want. I cut some pieces 39.5" long to make a frame for a 24x36 sign, all you have to do is swap the non-dowel pieces out: http://i41.tinypic.com/2nvde.jpg[/img] You will most likely need to put some carriage bolts in the center of the longer pieces to keep it from sagging, I haven't tried it yet though. Hope this helps somebody, and if nothing else, I hope it saves some apptape! Any questions, please put them in this thread so everyone will get the benefit. **Edit**: Put a piece of backer paper on the tape to keep it clean between uses. I am interested in finding out how many signs this will do before the tape needs replaced.
  2. midwaste

    Creative Tools of the Trade

    Tennis ball for slightly (or heavily) textured surfaces such as interior walls. Roll it around to apply pressure and add blow dryer heat to it if the texture is large. For weeding, I only use an X-acto (retractable, rubber grips), but when I put a fresh blade in it, I stab it into my cutting mat several times to get the very tip off, otherwise it slices into the backer paper before you even know it. For doing around rivets, I squeegee in and use a standard Bic lighter to warm (not burn, be careful, I've done that too) the edges and squeegee in radially. If you do shirts, keep plenty of neoprene mousepads around to cut to shape if you need to raise an area to avoid a seam, for instance.
  3. midwaste

    Eagles w/spread wings?

    Anybody got any eagles with wings spread out? Thanks in advance, LJ
  4. midwaste

    my ideas

    I have used heat press vinyl on EZup tents before with great results
  5. midwaste

    really what is it this time

    Are you using USB or serial? My LP24 (same as pcut I believe) used to do that when I was using the USB. Over time, the USB port gets worn out and if it misses contact for a split second, it will freeze. It also may have something to do with the orientation of your cord in the new setup (i.e., is the cord hanging from the USB port on the cutter?).
  6. midwaste

    Anyone do DTG printing?

    May be too late to reply to this, but I have not had good luck with those DT shirts. I love(d) them, but their durability sucks. I had several where the threads under the arms and elsewhere came unraveled, etc.
  7. midwaste

    a great big stupid in my own town

    I've always wondered why this hasn't happened to more schools. In my area, there is a blatant Patriots logo ripoff as well as an Eagles ripoff (albeit with the colors changed). And why the hell does University of GA have the exact same logo as the Packers? That one has always baffled me.
  8. This has nothing to do with USCutter. You should change your profile settings so that your email is only visible to Admin and Mods. There have been problems here before with marketers grabbing emails from profiles en masse and sending this type of shit out.
  9. midwaste

    Heat transfer vinyl

    That's dye migration from the jackets into the vinyl, caused usually by low-energy dyes, but it will almost always happen to some degree with 100% poly garments. You need this. As far as salvaging that coat, you could try putting another layer over the colors, but it will probably bleed into that vinyl too, as well as being pretty thick..
  10. midwaste

    PVC free vinyl??

    Found this article, says you can request samples from an email address at the bottom of the page. I don't see anything but white and clear, both digital capable, so you'd have to have someone print it all black. I wasn't aware, is PVC the new boogeyman? I thought we were still on Pthalates!
  11. midwaste

    What's it worth?

    I ran across this on CL, not sure I'm looking for a printer or not.. You sent me to the company that does the conversions/upgrades right? I checked them out, and if I thought I could pay back 5K in any appreciable amount of time, I'd jump on it. I haven't tried the SS thing, been waiting for a job that required it! 2 week old been keeping me busy when I'm not cranking out 1/2 color shirts!
  12. midwaste

    What's it worth?

    Hey all, been awhile! Someone local to me has a Mutoh Falcon Jr 38" printer, a Q100 54" Cutter and some sort of laminator for sale, along with a bunch of miscellaneous stuff. He wants 10K for it, which I am 100% certain it isn't worth, even if the printer is in perfect shape. Anybody familiar with these printers or what they might be worth?
  13. midwaste

    sign template

    Ask and ye shall receive...
  14. midwaste

    is this a decent printer

    You can't print most vinyl with it, you would need to use Sihl or similar inkjet-compatible vinyl. It is not solvent or eco-solvent based nor compatible, there is a long thread about HP DJ500's somewhere around here.
  15. midwaste

    Adobe Illustrator

    I've used SB with Illy CS2-CS4. Don't bother exporting/importing, just Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V the graphic from Illy into SB.
  16. midwaste

    Grr.. Plotter

    This takes me back to the day I found out this very same thing from the forum.... Hell, I thought you had two rollers so you could keep two colors loaded at the same time, hah! The sliding end caps are still worthless though. Not sure how that solves your problem of having the vinyl bunch up on the floor though. Get/make a basket, I don't know where I would store my scraps without it.
  17. midwaste

    2' x 4' Banner, Red, O651 Applied.

    Do you hem or tape your banners? Ropes too? I don't do a ton of banners, but $3 for a 2x4 is considerably cheaper than I would pay for a pre-made blank..
  18. midwaste

    Lighted Sign vinyl

    Get a piece of transparent 8300 or something similar and hold it up to the light and compare to 651 and you'll see the difference. I'm not saying 651 is unsuitable for a backlit application, but it's quite different that 8300. The biggest thing I think is that most backlit signs are going to have a layer of paint between them and the vinyl, which is going to further cut down on the light shining through. I just did my first backpainted sign this week and used 8300. It's not that much more expensive and it adds a nice look.
  19. midwaste

    EZ-Up Tents and Flags

    Getting ready to get cracking on 6 13' Proflags and three 10x10 EZ-Up Tents and sidewalls. I built a table around my press level with the main table to make it easier than the last time I tried something this large. Vinyl is Thermoflex Xtra and the flags tents were supplied by the client. Good margin on EZ-Ups and similar projects, the companies that currently do this charge $$$$.
  20. midwaste

    PaperStreetPlastic - Ebay Vinyl

    Has anybody used any vinyl from here? http://stores.ebay.com/Paper-Street-Plastics I just got a bunch of samples from them yesterday, and they have some REALLY cool stuff. I havent tried cutting it yet, but it looks very film-like. Metallics, Prisms, and I ordered a 12" roll of brushed aluminum and carbon fiber, and they are freaking AWESOME.
  21. midwaste

    Craft Show?

    Make sure you have another person with you if you intent to cut and press shirts there or you will get swamped.
  22. This looks freaking awesome. Fees are cheaper than Google Checkout and comparable to Paypal, as screenprintr says. I'm signing up stat, what do you have to lose?
  23. midwaste

    Splicing Translucent

    Depending on how wide the overlapping section is, you could overlap them, then slice down the overlap and remove the overlapping pieces.
  24. midwaste

    Cleaning ink on a screen??

    Yeah, you don't want to get water anywhere near plastisol ink. You need to get some press wash. You can use ink degradent if you are planning on reclaiming the screen immediately, as it will soften the emulsion, whereas press wash will not. Press wash: http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/CC147-QT http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/CCSBEWQT
  25. midwaste

    Cleaning ink on a screen??

    What type of ink are you using?