Stencils

[meggimann 1]

Not sure if this is the right topic area but I'll take a shot.  I'm looking to create a stencil for a customer to read "HANDICAPPED ONLY" which can be used to spray paint that text onto concrete.  I've tried a couple of ideas which have not panned out: tried increasing cutter pressure to cut through some poster board...didn't work.  Tried to simply cut through the vinyl and backing which only caused massive alignment problems as the rollers squashed the vinyl together as the integrity deteriorated.  Thought about putting the cut vinyl on a sign board and cutting it out but the time involved didn't seem prudent. 

Does anyone have a good method for this?  Appreciate any feedback.  Thanks ahead of time.

[roxanneupnorth 106]

CNC milling machine......

[rrc1962 0]

I've cut these out of very thin sheet metal on our CNC plasma table.  Someone in your area should have CNC plasma.  Shouldn't cost much to have it done.

[windasm 0]

Have you tried just scoring any material just deep enough to make it easier to cut out by hand? I imagine if you are cutting all the way through the material that you would need to have a tacky sheet under neath to keep the tracking aligned. I'm not sure you can use them on any cutters besides a cricut and a robo craft though.

[meggimann 1]

Thanks for the ideas. 

[bayotle 26]

Print out letters, apply to 3/8" plywood board, cut with Jig saw, paint till the cows come home!

[rrc1962 0]

I did these out of 16ga steel yesterday.  They are using them for paint stencils on their shipping cartons.  The text is 3/4" tall and about 7" long.  It took about 15 minutes to set up the part file in AutoCAD and about 3 minutes each to cut.

[rex 7]

x ray film, or 5 mil mylar, is what i use to make airbrush stencils, x rays can be gotten from a vet just ask for old or damaged ones, sometimes you need to go over it in a few places with an exacto, but their free and can be used with ureos, hope this helps

[kburk 2]

I spray lines on parking lots and I make my own stencils for the lettering and numbering sequences. The handicap is easy to do. I cut cheap vinyl and apply it to sign board, coroplas then I just cut it by hand with an art knife, Xacto. Takes about 10min to cut it out, just follow the lines. I suppose you could run paper through the cutter and then just trace it on They will typically last for about 6months or more. The thing is the paint you apply to the parking lots drys in about 15 min in cool weather. Its just about dry before you take it out of the can on a hot day

Don't over think it and there no point wasting your time and money on anything fancy! if you always keep one in stock you can just trace it!

well hey that's my 2 bits!

Keith

[antsinthekitchen 0]

I recently cut some stencils out of 24x45 60mil polypro, I used a 60 degree blade, set the vinyl cutter to the slowest speed and the maximum pressure. It didn't cut all the way through (probably because I didn't have the blade far enough out), but enough that I could just fold it the wrong way and it snapped clean away.

[Pcrat 65]

I recently cut some stencils out of 24x45 60mil polypro, I used a 60 degree blade, set the vinyl cutter to the slowest speed and the maximum pressure. It didn't cut all the way through (probably because I didn't have the blade far enough out), but enough that I could just fold it the wrong way and it snapped clean away.

yep i tried that,, using manilla office folders, slowest speed have the blade out a alot, i didnt need max pressure tho it wasnt that thick, but worked awsome for spray paint stencils.