FrogDog

The 813 arrived. Had some problems with setting the copam to cut some tight letters but that is a whole other story. I used one of the bad cuts as a test. Pounded it with Krylon. Just loaded it on. Was trying to get as much of the solvents onto the mask as possible. It did NOT melt. It peeled off easily and pretty much held nicely. Other than the cutting problems I might actually like the stuff. Needs more testing in my art process but it might be an acceptable replacement for the Venturetape. It certainly will work for the purpose I was asking about.

Has anybody used Oramask 813 for stencils they painted with automotive Urethane's? How did it work? The description says it is recommended for water based but my customer is using urethanes. So is it going to melt? Thanks.

Just spent the day cutting the Oramask. 60 degree blade, 150 gms, of pressure to cut some 1" letters with lots of sharp points. Still had some lifting. Not sure I'm liking the Oramask.

Yeah. That's what I was thinking as I wrote that last one. Just get a roll and test it. It's cheap enough and I've got plenty of use for it on other stuff. Heck, it may even work better than the Venturetape I can't find. Thanks. I'll let you know how it works out.

Turns out my guy is going to use Krylon. Would the 813 be OK for that? I keep asking about the the 813 because I will be using the rest of the roll for my personal work and it is a hell of a lot cheaper. I use mostly water based. Golden, wicked, auto air and createx illustration colors on canvas, illustration board and aluminum panels. But these old airplane restorers don't want to hear about water based stuff. I got away with wicked and autoborne on a nose art job I did because I 2 pk cleared over it. This guy is just painting numbers and wants to do a one shot and done on it. I LOVE Venturetape myself. Use it for everything. Except now I am running out and I can't find a supplier. Coast used to carry it but dropped it for their own branded stuff.

Thank-you. I appreciate the advice.

Thanks. This was a big help. They try to get this info out there. If it was on the first page of the COPAM specs it might help...(ie. uses Roland Blades) I've seen it on some of the blade pages but, unfortunately for me, not on the mixed 6-pack I was looking at.

Thanks. This sounds like a fix for my problem. I am trying to cut 18 pt letters out of Venture Tape (spray mask) but it isn't happening. Same thing like you only the blade holder gets a bunch of vinyl in it and I have to pick it out between tries (all failures). At about 1/4 inch tall I wondered if the letters were just too small for the copam to cut. I've got the stock blade so I was wonderiing if I needed a different blade, or a new one or what. I'll try this tomorrow and see what happens.

Perhaps Service Corps of Retired Executives? They are a US SBA organization chartered to give free counseling to potential business owners...they are Retired business executives that will look at you business plan and help you plan and execute.

Got my COPAM yesterday. So far so good. Haven't cut anything, but thats a different story. Anyway this topic is to record things I wished I did (yeah already) when I ordered the cutter. I hope others will read and benefit from my mistakes. Please add if you have any advice on the nits and grits of ordering a cutter.

Thanks for the tips. I will look for the auctions. And I'll probably end up with the cleancuts if I get serious about this.

Thanks. I think I got it. Between tracing the faces and then welding. I got output. The double lines are canceling out so I'll have to fix that. I put a pen in the cutter and made my first plot. It was missing all the lines at the corners. But my first output from the device!!!!!! Woohoo. This is really cool.

Been using CorelDraw since V3 and I can fumble around in AI so I understand vectors vs bitmaps stuff. I am complete green, wet behind the ears newbie, however, with vinyl cutting. I am trying to cut a spray mask of beveled objects. I want all of the bevel sections to be cut and I will pull them out one at a time. I don't really want the same line cut twice. Do I have to figure a path through all of this for the cutter and then draw my line sections in that order when I am vectorizing the bitmap in Corel/AI? Ya know that even confused me and I wrote it.... Maybe a simpler way of asking the question is : When I trace a bitmap do I have to trace it in any special order. Like, the order that I want/expect the cutter to cut it? OR am I over anal-zing this stuff and I just trace it and Signblazer will figure it out from the file I send over?

Thanks. I think I got it. Between tracing the faces and then welding. I got output. The double lines are canceling out so I'll do what you say. I put a pen in the cutter and made my first plot. It was missing all the lines at the corners. But my first output from the device!!!!!! Woohoo. This is really cool.

Been using CorelDraw since V3 and I can fumble around in AI so I understand vectors vs bitmaps stuff. I am complete green, wet behind the ears newbie, however, with vinyl cutting, th ough. I am trying to cut a spray mask of beveled objects. I want all of the bevel sections to be cut and I will pull them out one at a time. I don't really want the same line cut twice. Do I have to figure a path through all of this for the cutter and then draw my line sections in that order when I am vectorizing the bitmap in Corel/AI? Ya know that even confused me and I wrote it.... Maybe a clearer way of asking the question is : When I trace a bitmap do I have to trace it in any special order? Like, the order that I want/expect the cutter to cut it? OR am I over anal-zing this stuff and I just trace it and Signblazer will figure it out from the file I send over?

To quote Roseann Rosannadanna: "Never mind." You dont' really need the pen attachment. I fit a fat pen into the holder and it works just fine. Anyway, it works just fine and it saved the cost of the pen attachment and the shipping. A stick pen won't work as it is too thin. Has to be a fat pen. I'd still order extra blades, though.

I think brands of the world got theirs from the AF. The silver one is the exact one I am using but all the fountain fills are making it nasty. It was pretty easy to trace and I'm done but now I have another problem. I export to eps then import into Signblazer and it looks good. But when I switch to cutter a couple objects, faces, are moved way out of place. On my way to the Corel thread to see what that is.

Thanks BP but I haven't gotten that far yet. I'm all wrapped around the axel with which way to do the original trace. Although I will remember that when I switch over to AI. I am using Corel because I started with Corel and it is so "intuitive" but one of my jobs requires AI so I have to move over before I start. I am starting to think I am over analyzing and I should just trace it, cut it and see what happens and quit trying to engineer it in my head.

Thanks. I think you answered it. But here is a file with an example. I am cutting the Air Force logo out. The eps you get from the AF site is very bad for cutting (it has 1700 objects for the beveled version I want). So I need to retrace it. For this file I erased all except a single object, a beveled diamond. If I was making a mask to spray, I would trace the outside diamond, trace the inside diamond and drop in the lines at the corners and print it. Then with my trusty xacto I would make a cut on each line ending up with 5 pieces. If I needed closed objects to fill with shading and print I would trace each surface 1-5 and overlap the lines that are common to two objects. So, I am thinking (which in my case is dangerous ) that for the cutter I have to trace it by picking a starting point and then make a single line with nodes at the corners around all four objects and I have to figure a path to do that while I trace. Because, if I start tracing at the top corner in Corel, when it gets to the cutter, the cutter will start cutting at the top corner and follow my path. And it will cut and recut every line it sees and if I have overlapping lines when it cuts those multiple times there is the potential to shave little strips of vinyl off the object with the second cut and when I transfer and go to paint it I will have gaps and lines. Does that make sense? OR am I just over analyzing the thing. I can just trace it any way I want and SBE is smart enough to lift and move and cut it right. BTW, if anyone is concerned about the AF logo copyright, I have legal authorization to do this job. Graphic1.pdf Graphic1.pdf

Consider, CorelDraw Unleashed by Foster Coburn. Have used them since V4 of Corel. He gets into the nits and grits.

The hardcopy user's manual is not as user friendly as the US Cutter on line version. So just throw it away and you will not be led astray.

The COPAM does not come with a pen attachment. The pen is an OPTION (!@#$) so remember to order the pen attachment from the COPAM parts and supplies section of the web site at the same time you order the cutter. That way you can set up and test without wasting vinyl. Also, it only comes with one blade...looks like a 45 degree...might want to order more blades. By ordering with the cutter you'll save the $9.99 shipping and the extra week to get the stuff.

Hi, Still anal-yzing this new cutter thing. Called tech support and they provided a lot of info and now sorting through in my mind. But still unsure. :- Narrowed down to COPAM CP-2500 or the Refine MH-871. What do you all think? I am cutting masks for airbrush painting. First up is 5/8" lettering and some tiny stars. Doing 15 copies of a US flag that will measure roughly 5x5 inches total. After that it will be stencils to paint motorcycles, cars, helmets and fine art. Reading this forum it seems that when you have a vinyl cutter work appears magically so might expand. Although cutting vinyl is not my primary business, I am a big fan of Dire Straights (money for nothin and your chicks for free ) and would be glad to have extra income. I know the COPAM will be a 24" vs a 34" and that is Ok. And I know they will both cut the mylar/lexan I asked about in the other thread. But beyond that what do you all think in terms of quality, durability and overall utility? Can I expect the COPAM to do more than the Refine or are they both pretty much starter machines until I graduate to a Graphtec or Roland? And THANK-YOU everyone for all the information you share on this board. I have been all over it and you are a great community sharing a lot of great information.

Wow. Thanks Brandon. It is estimated for Friday delivery. I hope it gets here early enough to call then so I can start cutting this weekend.

Done. I just ordered the Copam. Got the small vinyl package to get started. Hope the learning curve isn't too steep. Thanks for all the information. See ya the user's side.