Cal

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Everything posted by Cal

  1. Welcome aboard, LollyC, and happy new year to you. The above instructions will get you cutting in short order. I want to suggest to you that if your cutter has a pen tool, that you start using it as you begin working with your machine. It is quite often that I read from new users that they are frustrated and have wasted "tons" or "yards" of vinyl trying to get a design from screen to cut vinyl. I always run new designs through the plotter first before committing to vinyl. Cal
  2. Cal

    happy happy

    And, in all ways, prosperous...
  3. Cal

    Oracal 631 sticking issue

    Is it freshly painted? Did you clean the wall first? If you did, with what? If you are sqeegeeing it, did you apply it wet? Depending upon the size of the decal you might lay the sqegee down and just use your thumb or a tennis ball. A sqegee is good on glass but not many walls are as smooth as glass. Cal
  4. Cal

    Moving on....

    Good luck, hope you have a great 2018 to start off! Cal
  5. Cal

    Printing in order

    Wow! You might look into A. upping your cut speed B. reducing the number of nodes in your designs and C. make sure you are not cutting any part of the design a second (or third) time. As an example, a circle or oval shape can be cut with 4 nodes. Any more than that creates extra "work" for the cutter. And welcome aboard, glad to have you here, Oh, one last thing, Ms Skeeter is a lady and a real helpful one at that! Cal
  6. Cal

    New Years' Resolutions Thread

    I've not resolved anything yet, but then I have a couple days to think about it... I guess I could think about not being such a procrastinator for starters!
  7. And right there you go @Dolomite41. An offer you can't (and shouldn't) refuse. Primal is a good guy with a heap more experience than myself. But, since you asked... it does not matter where you load the vinyl as long as you have the pressure rollers over the feeders (not even sure what those things are called). A 50' long design!!! The only thing I have done even close was a set of pin stripes for my truck. Those were maybe 18'. I used Sign Cut step by step cutting on my SC cutter. Results were not saleable, but ok for my use. As an experiment I loaded a design into AI and saved as an SVG (I usually save as an AI or EPS). I then imported into SCALP and it loaded immediately. It was a smaller design, but complicated. Not sure what you are running into unless it is those 50' long designs? I very much recommend that you give Primal a shot.. Cal
  8. Cool Mr. Joel - I have always use the "by guess & by gosh" method - and practice runs... Cal
  9. Welcome aboard Dolomite and congrats on the new cutter. What type of projects do you have planned for it? I will try to answer your questions, others may do a better job of explanations though... 1. You size the project to the vinyl (or paper). If you look at my pic, the project has the blue circles with various arrows, this shows the outside of the selected artwork. Look at the tool bar on the upper right labled "Properties". Under "Position & Size" you find the "X" & "Y" axis which shows where the object is placed on the workspace grid. Below that are boxes labeled "W" & "H" for width and height of the project. Using my project as an example, the outside measurements are 4.325" wide by 3.734" tall. If either of those measurements are larger than your paper you are in trouble. You can resize your project by using the little up & down arrows or simply deleting the numbers in the box and typing the size you want. The "keep proportions" box under the size will sync the measurements so changing one will change the other - or not. You do not want to cut off the paper, doing so will cut into the cutting strip which can cause future problems for you. I have never cut plain paper, but I think you use a cutting mat under it if you do. 2. I do not know of any way to speed this process up, and really not sure what you are referring to. When I finish a design in AI and hit save, I can immediately import it into SCALP and cut. Not any hold up in time... 3. If AI asks about a dpi I just use default. I have never seen it ask though so I am not sure of the question. I will have to look the next time I am in AI working. 4. My speed & pressure is 200/55 - that is on an older SC model. Cal
  10. Cal

    Newbie in the house..

    Welcome aboard Tanya, Cal
  11. Cal

    Hello from Montana!

    Welcome aboard, Cal
  12. Cal

    Vinyl won't stick to glass #HELP#

    Welcome aboard Church504. A couple of questions I might ask, what is your experience level? I am guessing that you are fairly new to vinyl, not just this site. In addition to the tips listed above, how are you pulling the transfer tape off? You do not want to pull "up" on the tape, it will lift the decal. You want to "peel" the tape off. And maybe because I am right handed, I find it an easier peel when I go left to right on the decal. I do not know why exactly. YMMV. Also, how large is the decal? Inside or outside application? I will apologize in advance if you have plenty of experience and find the above elementary... Cal
  13. Welcome aboard Silverag, go ahead and step up to the SC cutter. It is a great machine that works well with Macs. Cal
  14. Cal

    name the location game

    Thanks, I will definitely get out of the southwest rut and search around the upper midwest. Really appreciate it, Cal
  15. Cal

    name the location game

    So @ShaneGreen, tell us where you grew up... you may be onto something here. Cal
  16. Cal

    name the location game

    Now those are good observations jmas. I noticed the tree got moved between the first and second picture also! Time to expand my search area I think... Keep throwing darts Scott - some of us like those old A Bodies! Cal
  17. Cal

    Merry Christmas

    Wow, Merry Christmas indeed! I will have to get a tree up if it works like that Cal
  18. Cal

    name the location game

    Catskill's? Can't say yea or nay as we don't know, but it does not look like any part of the Catskills that I have been through. Cal
  19. Cal

    name the location game

    This is similar to a game I've played on another site. Over there we have to come up with the likely location the photographer was standing to take the advertising pic. This pic has everyone stumped, including the threads "moderator". So, anyone here happen to have seen this church in your travels? Best we can guess today is somewhere in the southwest US. Cal
  20. Cal

    Looking for advice for a new purchase

    Welcome aboard AmberK, glad to have you here. I have an older model SC and it has been a great machine. I have had no problems with it. Cal
  21. Cal

    Which vinyl has the strongest adhesive?

    The above is good advise. You did not tell us what pressure you were using, or how long you are letting the gun stay in one place. I use 50-60# on glass, using Oracal 651- but I keep the gun moving. Less detail is better IMO, or at least less small detail. When I do glass work, I go over the design 4 times, but I am moving quickly. I move the gun from left to right. Pass 1, holding the glass upright and turning the glass as needed. Pass 2, holding the glass upside down and turning it as needed. Pass 3, holding the glass horizontally by the bottom and rolling the glass around & Pass 4, holding the glass horizontally by the top and rolling the glass around. This is four quick passes to be sure that the design is done evenly, especially at the edges. Here is a set of flight glasses with a very simple design. Total time in the blast cabinet for each glass was probably in the 30-40 second range for all four passes. Cal
  22. This setup will get you a constant flow of media: http://www.tptools.com/USA-Cabinet-Gun-and-Pickup-Tube-Upgrade-Kit,2320.html?b=d*8026 I have two cabinets, one is the Harbor Freight table top model. I converted both of them with this TP Tools upgrade and it makes a big difference. I also blast glass and mirrors at 50-60 psi. I boost it up to around 80 to do Yeti style mugs. As for media coarseness, play around a bit to see what you like. Personally I favor a coarser and deeper etch on glass rather than a smoother frosted look. To each their own. Play around and see what you like best. Cal
  23. Cal

    Hello, Newbie for Ohio

    Welcome aboard Chris. I cannot help with the Cameo 3 or T Shirts either, sorry about that. I might be able to answer questions about stencils on wood though. I have done a bit of that. I am sure there will be some folks along who can offer some specifics for you, Cal
  24. Cal

    Hello Everyone! Sun's shining here

    Welcome aboard Jedi, Cal