rrc1962

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Posts posted by rrc1962

  1. Posted

    Guide rails won't help to keep it straight.  If it starts to wander, vinyl will just bunch up against the rail and cause even more problems that if you just let it drift a little.  I made some stops that I mounted to front and back side of the plotter.  I use those as a guide for aligning material.  Another thing that works is to set the vinyl up a little crooked to compensate for the amount of drift you know will occur.  That's not an exact science though.  You kind of have to make an educated guess as to how much drift you will get based on where on the vinyl you are cutting. 

  6. Posted

    The strangest one I have heard was a friend that actually helped there tracking using less blade. 

    That's what I did.  Les blade and less pressure = less drag on the material, which helps to stop the material from shifting when making long cuts down one side of the vinyl.  Anyway you slice it though, making a long cut down one side will usually cause some shifting.  In over 10 years of doing this, I've seen just about every friction fed machine do it.  If you do a lot of striping work, it pays in the long run to buy a pin fed machine.  If you don't believe it, cut a long stripe down one side the with the vinyl aligned in the same spot, cut the same stripe down the center of the vinyl and compare.  Take it one step further and cut the same stripe down the other side.  You'll notice the vinyl always drifts away from the side being cut.  That's because the drag from the blade is like a brake on that side.  Placing two of the pinch rollers in the area being cut helps...Like this...

                                                                ^

    -------------------------------------------------

    O                                                    O          O

    When I make long narrow cuts, I use the narrowest material I can get a way with and I cut down the center.  The little bit of wasted vinyl is WAY cheaper than cutting the bob over and over trying to get it right.

    Of course, you also have to align the vinyl dead nuts in order to track dead nuts.  Even the best plotter will not track unless the vinyl is aligned properly.  Don't rely on the front and rear rulers.  Even the Roland I used to have was off by almost 1/8" on the rulers.  My Refine is off by about 1/16".  Make some test cuts and note where the material was on the rules before each cut.  If it's dead on, you got lucky.  If not, make a note align accordingly.  Remember, what happens when you dry feed and what happens when there is a blade creating drag is not always the same. 

  7. Posted

    I bought a 1992 Corvette convertible on eBay on 9/11/2001 for just under $1800.  It was listed with no reserve and had brought a few bids.  It was set to end on the evening of 9/11.  I bid $1775 with a max of $5000 about 2 hours before the WTC got hit.  I had forgotten all about the Vette.  Later that evening I got the email that I won the auction at $1775.  I drove it for 2 years and sold it for $11,000.

  9. Posted

    We get some business from CL, but it's a whores market, and that's not how we roll.  You can get a set of 12x24 magnetics here for $15 on CL.  Printed banners for $1.50 per SF.  Vehicle lettering for $10 per door.  Doesn't really matter what you quote, someone on CL will do it cheaper.  Of course, the quality of work you get for that is another story, but people are price shopping these days.  They seem to be OK with inferior work as long as they are getting it cheap.

    I commented on a job that another shop did the other day that was at least 10 degrees off level.  The logo was off but everything else was pretty close.  The guy was OK with it because he only paid $25 for 2 doors and a back window in 2 colors.  I said...Well, you got what you paid for. :thumbsup:

  11. Posted

    We used to do craft shows with our sublimation equipment.  We traveled with a diesel RV and a trailer all set up the equipment and a photo booth with green screen.  The summer/fall of 2007 we were netting 3-4K per show.  When we started back up in the spring of 2008, we couldn't even cover fuel costs.  We kept at it all summer but it just got worse.  2007 to 2008 was like someone hit a light switch.  It's no better today.  A friend does craft shows with metal art and he hasn't covered his booth fee on the last two shows.  To add the the lack of sales, the venues want to charge higher vendor fees because there are fewer vendors now.

  15. Posted

    I charge more to clean up old junk than for a new substrate.  There is usually way more time involved in cleaning up the junk to where it's usable than the cost of a new panel.

    If it's a lighted sign and it's painted already, then it's no longer a lighted sign.  If they are OK with that, use a cheaper non-translucent material, like alumacorr.  If it is a lighted sign and they want to keep it lighted, then you have no choice but to replace the panel.

  16. Posted

    Always be selling!

    That's it right there.  Just like a famous performer is always on stage while in public, a successful business owner is always selling.  When the wife sees lame graphics on a vehicle, truck, etc., she'll jump out of the car at a stop light, tell them how much more business they could have with a well designed logo and graphics and hands them a card.  We've got a number of jobs that way.  When she sees a lame yard sign, she calls the number on the sign and does the same thing.

    Be proactive.  Business won't come to you...Not until you're well established anyway.

  18. Posted

    What I do in this case is i use a scrap of .040 or other metal about 4 to 5 inches wide I install a line of3m vhb double sided tape and a line of silicone the tape holds it in place while the silicone cures makes a good tight joint that wont open up.

    Dan

    I've done the same, except I use Sikaflex or 3M 5200.  When it sets, it might as well be welded.

  20. Posted

    I bought 7.6 back when I was making killer money in another business venture.  I just bought 8.1 from a buddy getting out of the business.  We traded some work in our steel shop for it.  I could never justify buying it new.  I'll bet if SA woke up and realized that most of the sign shops out there are small businesses on a tight budget and brought the price down to $599...even $999...they would see sales skyrocket. 

  21. Posted

    If you're using a serial cable you will need a driver and then add your plotter as a printer in Windows.

    Joe

    You don't need a driver if using the serial port.  All you have to do is make sure the communication settings are correct.  Here are mine in FlexiPro.

    Bits per Second: 9600

    Data Bits: 8

    Parity: None

    Stop Bits: 1

    Flow Control: Hardware

    Hardwires (Check boxes)

    DTR: Checked

    RTS: Checked

    DCD: NOT Checked

    DSR: NOT Checked

    CTS: Checked

    And of course, make sure the correct com port is selected.  COM1 in my case.

  23. Posted

    What about an image like this one that I've attached?  It's so tiny and full of detail, and you would THINK that an organization like this would have an .eps file on hand.  But nope, just a blurry .jpg! I actually don't know how to do any vectorizing on my flexi other then the brezier button.  Sometimes i wish I could hire someone to spend a day with me and teach me all the amazing things my programs can do that I'm oblivious to.

    All you would need to create this relatively quickly is the logo.  I rarely ever trace text.  Much faster to just find the right font and add it that way.  As you can see, the logo is available on Brands of the World.  If it weren't available already in vector format, I'd hand trace it which would be about a half hour job.  For a logo like this, you could probably google up a better jpeg to work with.  For one off logos, you're pretty much stuck with whatever the customer brings you.