Truckntran

If you get any sign making magazines you will find plenty of places to buy them from dirt cheap... DO the artwork, send it off to one of these guys, and make a little for your time, instead of sending them to a new supplier... Its called reasonable markup.

That might do it! Thanks!!

TIme to request a replacement machine that wasn't previously used. Something is seriously off. If US Cutter won't help call Graphtec. Graphtecs are really good machines, and don't do stuff like this unless there is damage from dropping the machine or something got pried or bent... It sounds like the carriage is off kilter........... I'd get on the phone with a HUGE attitude by now if it was me... THis AINT RIGHT!!

I woulda left off the dashes before each line...kinda unbalances the line...but you did use one of my favorite fonts..

By any chance are they steam cleaning or pressure washing their trucks??? That sure looks like pressure washer damage........be carefulllllllllll.

I think it has something to do with the weight distribution of a 50 year old... I had that problem too..

Grabbed the font sign.. Thanks!! You left out my favorite color combo on your color chart... red text on black background... Seen a few of them on the highways out there lately, and wonder just how colorblind someone was to make a sign in that unreadable combination.

Yup.. better than my attempt at making a traceable image.....Thanks! Any idea how to import it into SBE?

It is worth installing the free Signblaster just to get this arch text feature.......I fought DR Stika for years trying to distort text and never got to do it until I installed SBE.

You could also use changeable letter track.. Glantz sells it. Put the individual signs on acrylic sheet. In any case take precautions to eliminate folks messing with the signs. Put it up high or cover it to keep tricksters and high winds from changing the arrangement. More permanent stores could be vinyl right on the sign board. If they move, cover with white vinyl, or white magnets...

A good Drywall sliding T square (some even have a 45 degree setting on them) and a nice sharp Stanley style utility knife will make that an EASY job. The cheap aluminum rulers tend to slide and let your knife wander, but a nice thick straightedge like the safety rulers or the drywall square will work great. If you can cut the vinyl , heck the coro will be simple, and sheets of yellow shouldn't run more than $15 each unless you get the 10mm thick stuff, that's about twice as expensive.

Looking for this type, I think your pic is a Toyota landcruiser or Nissan's equivalent....I think I have that one already but thanks! And yes, that is my jeep. It is only 2000 miles away..

The CC companies should have a sticker already premade for him......Unless he wants it larger for some reason no need to reinvent the wheel, and that will eliminate the copyright issue.

If you put that plate on the front of an oversize load chase car it will be bare metal in a few months of following loads in the winter or on gravel roads.....but in a normal vehicle it should be fine as is. I've been considering getting some paint protection vinyl to test out on the front of some escort trucks but the per roll price is way too high to experiment with. If anyone would like to part with a piece or pieces to cover about 1 foot by 5 or 6 foot PM me..

Did you read this thread? similar issues... http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php/topic,27165.0.html

I wonder if that older laptop isn't your problem.... Just how old is it? I have an XP laptop that will run DR Stika but it won't run any "real " sign program, locks up, etc... I hate to suggest a different computer but I have a feeling it might be the problem... or not.. Just my two cents, ignore at will...

I'm running signblazer with a Graphtec FC 3100 and experiencing absolutely no problems. I can think of over a thousand rea$on$ I like it better than Flexi. I don't like the trial startup screens but compared to a free trial of signcut (I think it was, I've since dumped it into the trash bin) it is a great useable program. Now it isn't gonna make you happy if you want to PRINT signs, but for a vinyl machine......I really can't complain. Took me about a week to get where I was comfortable enough to start offerring signs to the general public. I'm still learning its capabilities. If you have an internet equipped library bring a laptop to the library and download the program on a CD. That is what I had to do as I have no internet connection for my cutting machine, which is an old XP machine. SO far, even with the old and small machine running it, it has worked well once I figured out a COPAM driver was the one that would work with my Graphtec. I also have it loaded on the laptop I bring with me on the road, (Vista) and swap files with flash drives all the time. What sort of computer are you running it on? Also....are you running a serial cable or a USB adapter or?? One thought on running the cutter with cibercut.. have you tried drivers for similar machines or older machines? It sure is frustrating when the cutter just sits there.......I feel your pain.

Depends on whether it is an easily made change in vinyl, or a complete redo as it would on a printed sign. Did you tell him you had already made the signs when he called with the change? Also do you think this is a one time customer you would rather fire or is it someone you really would like to keep... I redid half of a sandwich board sign for free as I knew it would lead to more work later...and I was out my time and about $5 in vinyl. But you can bet if it was a PIA customer that really was not profitable in the first place it would have been charged for. Short answer... play it by ear.

I've tried wet and dry... if the lines run right to left would you squeegie right to left or up and down? Intuitively I would say right to left to push the air along the lines, but ......maybe I am wrong..

John, even after duplicating your big squeegie down to the velcro covering and trying your technique, I am still fighting lines of tiny bubbles on the flutes of the coro. Is it possible I have too great a tack for my app tape and it is pulling the vinyl back off when removing? I am careful to pull it back over itself parallel to the surface, not pulling up from the sign... Oracal 651 or better vinyl, black on yellow coro. I'd be pulling my hair out on this but it is already gone! After a week or two the majority of the bubbling goes away but I can't sell anything right after I apply it as it looks like beginner work.

Will you combine shipping on the books and DVDs? Lotta good stuff you are selling there. I can't afford your pass thru cabinet, looks like a good deal for someone tho. Does it come with a blaster or do you have to have your own pressure pot to use with it? Good decision on getting a graphtec... can't beat 'em.

I wore out a Stika SX-15...I am not really impressed with the drive system for the vinyl, at least on mine it was textured foil wrapped around the driving roller. The cut area is pretty small, altho Siser EZ weed rolls are pretty small too. I would think it would work but the price is so close to the price of a good used graphtec or larger Stika professional model, I'd say just get a 24 inch cutter and be ready for 90 percent of the work out there instead of only doing the small stuff. It was a great learning machine. Just too small and too light duty for everyday sign use.

What tape are you guys using in Coroplast? I am uning maintape medium tack and I'm thinking bout going to low tack as it seems to pull the vinyl back off the indentations and make WAY too many bubbles..That is the only thing I haven't tried , yes I pull back the tape right level with the sheet, I've tried soaking with app fluid, use a big squeegie and resqueegie with a small one, still bubbles appear. It seems like it takes too much force to remove the transfer tape.

Now John......a few minutes with a good router table, some sandpaper, and a set of good heads and those ole drums will sound better than anything DW sells....Save your money and get some good cymbals instead! I went from a Roland Stika to a well used FC-3100-60 which was a huge step up, but I don't have any experience with any US cutter machines to help the OP on this thread with. Both of mine worked great out of the box, and drivers seem to be available for both even tho they are a few generations back. I also am not a high production shop so it hasn't meant more $ yet. BUT I can now do larger and longer cuts than the STIKA ever could, even when it was new. It is nice to not worry about tracking.

WE wouldn't do that.....GET A GRAPHTEC! Sorry, ya left the door wide open on that one...lol.. Really stupid idea... check out your printers folder and see what the default printer is, and if the plotter is in there...(You probably did this already but I had to say something usefull. )