mac6986

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Posts posted by mac6986

  1. Posted

    Thanks Guys, When you say "it wont take 12"" Mac what do you mean? just that size or no bigger etc. Im ok with slow as long as it doesnt take 10 min for something like a 10x10 area decal. I hardly doubt i will ever go that big , but i did have a layered decal i did which was 12h"x22l" which probly should of been printed .so maybe i do need one to go a ok size. lol but im not sure

    With any production printer, your outer most pinch rollers dictate where your printable area is. there are only certain zones where you can place then, but you can move and slide the roll placement before its fed into the printer to get virtually any position you want, giving you the freedom to place smaller, off-cut rolls into a larger machine. it doesnt happen too often, but its nice to have the option to do that if the need arises.

     

    When you load the BN20's "easy feed" system, its actually anything but that. there is a feed bar, with two large endcaps, one of which is stationary, mounted to the bar. The other slides off the left end to load the roll of material. Then, you place the cap back on the bar, slide it into the core of the media, and place the whole media/rod assembly in the slot meant to hold the feed bar. At this point you have to slide the pinch rollers in, but you can't go past the edge of the material. The endcaps that you need for the media to feed properly, and the pinch rollers are designed together so that you can not slide the roller in past the edge of the material. This can get very aggravating when you order a 20" roll of material and they put it on a 20.5" core. It wont work because the printer thinks that your trying to put a roll in thats too big.

     

     

    Here is a list of sizes that work, as you can imagine, green is good, red wont work.

    5.9 - 6.7 inches

    6.8 - 7.8

    7.9 - 9.3

    9.4 - 11.2

    11.3 - 12.7

    12.8 - 13.6

    13.7 - 15.1

    15.2 - 15.4

    15.5 - 16.9

    17.0 - 17.2

    17.3 - 18.7

    18.8 - 19.1

    19.2 - 20.3

     

    The first roll of media I bought, I had a 30" roll cut down to a 20" and a 10", not knowing about the "dead zones" needless to say I was little angry when I tried to load my 10" roll and the printer would not accept it.

     

    I may have been off in my last statement in 12" wont fit, its been almost 2 years since I sold mine.

     

    personally after owning this one, and upgrading to a VS-300, The BN20 was nothing but a headache.

  2. Posted

    but be aware that the BN20 is a slow printer, and it does not take standard sized media. it will have to be cut to fit, plus there are certain sizes it just wont take, like 12" for example.

     

    This is coming from someone who owned one.

  3. Posted

    so Im asuming that you have imported or opened a raster image to trace, now your workspace is a raster image with a vector path over it?

     

    go back to preview mode, and just delete the starting image from your workspace so all you have left are the paths. Then save as a different file name as to not lose the original image.

     

    what program are you using to cut? SCALP or Flexi ?

  4. Posted

    Let me know what you guys think or if I'm even doing this right lol 

     

    Colors look good, nice even pressure. You'll notice if your not using enough pressure/heat if you start getting "clouds" in your images.

     

    another item to look for is "molting" in the coating. looking in a glare from the light or the sun, you will see pitting or orange peel in the surface. thats too much heat and pressure combined.

     

    but looks great for a first attempt.

  6. Posted

    Layered decals are really meant to be applied layer by layer to the substrate. not before hand because you will never get even pressure across the vinyl when applying. there will always be the smallest gap at the edges of the different layers of vinyl when squeegeeing; when the squeegee isnt in full contact with the vinyl, you have air bubbles.

  7. Posted

    I think you forgot one more limitation, you cant use it with windows 8 (yet). the reason being it only hooks up with usb and rolands drivers are not approved by Microsoft and roland refuses to pay to be approved, even when roland techs force the drivers onto the system it still won't work.

    didnt know that, I refuse to upgrade to 8, lol

    • Like 2

  8. Posted

    Former BN-20 owner.

     

    Take it from someone who owned one. Go Bigger. there are no combo printer/cutter machines at the 24" size. there are a few off brand 24" printers, but you have to combine with a cutter, and who knows how accurate you're going to be.

     

    the print speed for this machine is just way too slow for any kind of production. You'll be spending lots of time waiting. It prints slow, and it cuts even slower. max cut speed of 15 cm/sec combined with a threaded screw-down blade carriage as opposed to an electromagnet. It takes forever for the blade to lower and raise to move to the next cut. 

     

    If you can get by on roland specific material, then material cost is comparable. If you need a specific material and you can get it cut, the cost isn't worth it. some suppliers wont cut the material

     

    Also, a little dirty secret about the machine that nobody will tell you is that you cant use certain sized material.

    Sizes that work:
    5.9 - 6.7 inches
    7.9 - 9.3
    11.3 - 12.7
    13.7 - 15.1
    15.5 - 16.9
    17.3 - 18.7
    19.2 - 20.3

     

    at max width (20.3") you only get 18.9" of actual printable area. I could go on with more limitations, but If I had known these, I wouldn't have bought it in the first place.

     

    A brand knew BN-20 I think retails for $9k and after lease/financing, you're looking at anywhere between $10k-$12k. for that price you can get a used 30" and not have to deal with all the limitations of the smaller machine.

    • Like 1

  9. Posted

    Keep the paint stripper away from glass!

     

    Learned that one the hard way when I was 16 and got my first car. Used some paint stripper on the windshield to get the paint marker off, and it killed the glass. Had it for one day and had to have the windshield replaced.

     

    You don't want to find out that the paint stripper you choose isn't compatible by having to replace a customers storefront glass (especially if its double pane or hurricane glass). Just stick with the app fluid and razor blade. The longer it takes, the more you charge.

    • Like 1

  10. Posted

    The whole headlight is covered in a clear UV resistant film, it's main use is for industrial applications. I decided to try it when I put aftermarket headlights in our work truck to see if it prevents yellowing. 5 months and it's crystal clear still.

    Ahh, ok. My original recommendation is what I stand with. I don't know how well the edges will show up if you try to scan a clear piece of film, but that is a good idea to keep the headlights looking new.

  11. Posted

    Magnets are always a cash and carry. No guarantee it will stay on. Always round the corners, and get them to sign a release like above.

     

    I do 18" x 24" 2-3 times a week and only have the occasional problem with certain types of vehicles, and what I define as "improper care"

     

    I have a sheet of instructions I give the customer at delivery about how they should apply them to the vehicle and care for them.

    • Like 1

  14. Posted

    network, network, network.

     

    Word of mouth is more powerful than any type of media advertising. Continue passing out business cards, talk to people, and be specific about what you can do. I cant tell you how many times I get in a conversation with someone and I tell them a specific product or service I offer and their reaction is "Oh, I didnt know you could do that."

     

    What may seem like common place for us in the industry, isn't to the general public. You cant sit around and wait for the business to come to you, you need to go out and find a customer that might need something, and offer them items that they might not have even thought of.

    • Like 2

  15. Posted

    I had a couple print shops do some test prints with white ink.  One was on a Roland, and the other a Mimaki.  Neither one had any opacity.  I had them print on clear vinyl to produce decals.  As soon as you put the decal on a dark surface or helmet you can't tell the white was even there.  Also, the white didn't really improve the opacity of the other colors either when used as a base print.  A blue decal on a yellow helmet turned green.  You have to go thermal to print white on clear, if that's what you're doing.  You need a Gerber edge, or Summa DC4. 

     

    I have the New VS-300i, I was able to get the desired opacity by jacking up the ink limit in the media profile, and over-printing twice. Customer was happy with the sample, I was awarded the job.

     

    The problem they are going to run into is the specialty vinyl I was required to use will deteriorate before the print will. I tried to explain, but I guess they know better.

     

    I've only been printing and cutting vinyl every day of my life for the past 8 years, what do I know, lol :rolleyes:

  16. Posted

    3m or oracal only. Avery reflective is garbage, and I've had to re-stripe almost every vehicle I did in avery about 2 years after installation.

     

    If you haven't yet, you need to come up with a formula on how you calculate time and materials, so your pricing is consistent every time. Once you do that, the variable is the cost of the material and time. The final price will work itself out.

  17. Posted

    Is it easy for a competent person who has never done a wrap to do?

     

    um, no.

     

    If it was that easy, everyone would do it. There is a reason why the material manufacturers have wrap certification classes. installing a wrap is one of the more difficult processes in the sign and graphics industry, and not meant for the every day DIY handyman.

     

    is this the only thing you plan to do with the machine?

  20. Posted

    RapidTac and paper tape all the way.

     

    The trick with the paper tape and a wet instal is once the graphic is applied and squeegeed and you're ready to remove the tape, spray the entire piece of tape with the rapid tack again, and rub it all over with your hands. This will help the tape release from the graphic, and the tape will almost fall off. You'll start to see the tape wrinkle and pull away around the edges of the cut graphic.

     

    That's the trick to wet instals and why you need to use paper tape.

     

    Edit: Also, this is where you really need to make sure your cutter is set up properly. if you cut into your backing too much, you'll end up "skinning" the liner, I.E. you'll have the liner stuck to the adhesive of the graphic, making an already difficult job, a living nightmare. Nothing worse than trying to separate the fuzzy leftovers of a separated liner from the adhesive side. Almost guaranteed to get some fuzzies stuck to the back and then you'll have a bump in the graphic that will never come out.

    • Like 2

  21. Posted

    I know this is a real long shot, as white ink is relatively new, but does anyone else here have a Roland printer with white ink and have actually printed jobs with it?

     

    I need to pick someones brain with a problem I'm having with overprinting white.

  22. Posted

    I wouldn't keep your app tape in the basement. It will be adjusting to the humidity in the basement and when you take your masked graphics up stairs and they dry out, I think you'll end up with the same problem.

     

    as far as customer problems go, Every once in a blue moon, you get someone who emails you and asks "Why is there masking tape on my sticker?"

     

    :rolleyes: Mind you they never looked at the instructions I include with the shipment.

  25. Posted

    well what exactly was the "phrase" that was trademarked that you are in violation of? You cant trademark common phrases.

     

    20th Century Fox had ebay take one of my listings down. I had a euro oval decal with just the word "giggity" in it. there were no references or images to the character or the tv show, but since its such a unique word, and not common place, it warranted removal as a trademark violation. Honest mistake, I didn't think it would be a violation, but it was. They just simply had ebay take it down, I spoke to a FOX I.P. rep, and they were very polite, and just said since the word is unique to the tv show, they had the right to do it. oh yea, and then they said "DONT DO IT AGAIN!"

     

    Also, there are sellers out there that just message you and say they have the trademark/copyright, just to scare you into taking listings down so they will have less competition. I would ask to see some sort of documentation or registration proof.