Just got a large order

[houseofvinylanddesign 0]

Ok guys and gals i just got a fairly large order of 500 decals. They are close to 1" by 3" so not real big. They are two color so i will have 1000 images to plot. Anything to look out for when cutting this many images? How often to change blade, take brakes to cool plotter maybe only cut 100 at a time. Also what are you guys using for pricing. Thanks in advance.

Ryan

[thredz 1]

I'm running 500 -4 inch ovals right now.I found that you can't full cut ovals because once you cut one out,it breaks the sterngth of the vinyl and the rollers grab it and wad the vinyl up.I ran the ovals with a regular cut and square lines around the ovals.I'm using a large paper cutter to cut the squares.I stripped mine at 25 up.It seems to work better as far as using pens go.I ran eight runs last night and i'm on run 15 right now.It took six hours to run the eight @32 to 48 I.P.S..The only break the machine got was when I had to change from the pen to the blade for the oval cut.The only problems I have had have been of my own ignorance.I can't tell you about pricing.I don't use anyone else to compare to.I just bid the jobs at the lowest reasonable rate I can give them.I could probably charge higher,but I found that I would rather make a little bit of money from one customer all through the years,as opposed to making a lot of money from a customer that will not return because of prices.On the blades,I have been using the same blade,set at 20g's and it's cutting great.The vinyl I'm cutting is fdc 3.2 mil.I usually change my blades when I start a new job.But I also add that in to the material on the bid.Same with the pens.I try to start with new pens.It keeps you from using a dull piont and getting wider lines than you started with.

[houseofvinylanddesign 0]

Hey Billy thanks for the info. I have to ask what do you mean when you say pins. Not sure what that is. What i have is a background i need to cut first. Then the text and logo will go on top of the background. Ill prolly plot 25 or 50 up at a time like you did then weed the designs. What methods do you use for regristration on multi color jobs? Eyeball it or do you cut something in to line up each layer. Thanks again for the help.

[thredz 1]

When you are setting it up before the run.If you will make two squares and place them at the outer corners of your design,then duplicate the squares and change the color of the next two,then place them over the top of the first two squares,you should have a good registration.If it's a large design,place another set of registration marks at one of the top corners.I finished the 500 one colors today,but I ended up running 175 of them in two color.I try to set every design up with the logo as one color,then i'll put the lettering as another,then if I am putting squares for lining the cut up on my paper cutter,I make them another color,then I run my blade oval cut last as another color.That way,you can run a one color as two,and it gives you a stopping point to either change the pen or blade if you need.Hope that helps a little.

                                      Bill

[houseofvinylanddesign 0]

Hey Bill just got on your page of all you work and saw the 500 logos you did. I did not understand that you were using pens. I would like to know more about this. Where do you get the pens and what is the process of using them.

Thanks Ryan

[thredz 1]

I have around 35 hewlet packard plotter pens I bought off of ebay.They are .7 mm and .3 mm in size,but I have had to cut the rib edge to get it to fit in my cutter.The .3mm's are the ones I did the 500 ovals with.Most of the other large plots are done with the .7mm's.You can also use just about any pen style permanent marker.I took an old sharpie and cut the bottom one third off of the bottom of the pen cap and then I sliced the side to make a rough type of collette for the pens to sit in so you could tighten them in the blade holder.I have marks on my collette so I can set all of the pens to almost the same depth.I try to keep them high enough so they don't leave drags lines when they cross the designs,and if it's higher,you can set the downforce at 10 to 20g's where it's barley touching the paper.The more downforce the more you dull the tips of the pens.I've got four to six motorcycles I ran yesterday that I will probably put up on my plotter art page tonight that were done mainly with an ultra fine black sharpie.By running those 500 ovals with the pens,I was able to offer my customer 500 designs done in ten different colors.And I even ran 125 of them in two colors,which was only a little more time for the extra pen change.I wouldn't buy too many of the old plotter pens though.The ones I got were made in 85 and 88 and some of them had dried out even though they were in sealed packages.So,if you see hp plotter pens for sale real cheap,it's because hp quit making pens in the late 80's to early 90's,so buy them at you own risk.Hope that helps you out.It's definetly worth the time involved in setting up a way to run the pens!

[punkydads 0]

Billy,

I noticed you have done *alot* with pens and your artwork is awesome -- is there anyway you can put together a HowTo (or add to the Wikki) about using pens, *and* include pictures? It might help some of us out.