Hello from South Dakota!

[piscespokerbrat 80]

Hey everyone, my name is Jeremy, I am from South Dakota, and I am new to all of this! I have been watching videos, reading forum posts, stalking evilbay, and in general dwelling on this decision to jump in! I recently was quoted $320 (self install) or $420 (they install) to make approx. 6 decals for my truck from a local sign company. I thought that was a little high! So, I stumbled upon the MH series cutter on evilbay, and I thought, to heck with them, I will do this myself! Well, I have evolved in my line of thinking in that I wouldnt mind using the cutter to make a few extra bucks on the side (I want to stay with vehicle lettering/numbering, decals, and store window lettering/graphics). So, I have now moved on from the MH series to potentially springing for a 25" SC cutter. I am wondering though if that would be big enough. Could anyone suggest why I would need a 34" cutter aside from the obvious of being able to run 30" vinyl through it? Eventually, if this all pans out, I will be looking at a Graphtec for sure! For now, I need my decals for my truck to advertise my coffee business! Thanks everyone for having me, I look forward to getting to my stay and making new friends!

[Poot25 9]

Welcome, WHat area of SD you from?

[slice&dice 2,450]

Jermey, glad to see ya here!

I understand that you've been looking over the forum a bit already, and let me call your attention to a thread that covers the topic of cutter width sizes -- http://forum.uscutte...ns-only-thread/

Next, can you show us what those decals will look like? And how big? The complexity of the design is a factor to consider, as well as knowing what is involved with multiple colors.

Also, you'll have to take into account the physical space that operating a cutter will require, for weeding, applying transfer tape, etc.

Creating a 'dedicated' work area is worth it.

Then, look at the costs of things beyond the cutter itself, (including transfer tape, transfer tape holder, vinyl, vinyl racks)

Here is an example of truck lettering that I did recently, each section is 10"x24" and my price to the client was $25 per section. ($12.50 sq.ft.) + installation fee.

---- Since he is my neighbor & friend, I didn't charge for the red layer ----

[mabscotthandyman 1,410]

Hello and welcome a 24 in cutter will do 90 percent of what you would cut if it needs to be bigger you can always tile the cut .

Dan

[Binford 53]

Welcome . From Reno. i just moved to Reno last years about from North Dakota Valley City .. Nice to see a Fellow Dakota boy I have the SC Series works great and a good buy nice starter , i also will be moving on to a Graphtec later on .. SC 34 is a good buy though nice size so you can do lager Graphics with 30' Vinyl i would go with the SC.. just my two cents . there is a'lot of others on this site that also have it and are very pleased with it ... its noisy some what loud Plotter but its good for a starter bro. have a great day fellow Dakota boy

[lostonmonday 0]

Hello! I'm also from SD, Rapid City specifically. If you happen to be in Rapid as well, you can check out my 34" cutter to see if it'll fit your needs better. I'm in the same building as Black Hills Coffee (figure you might know where that's at if you're in the coffee biz as well )

Adam

[piscespokerbrat 80]

Hey everyone, thanks for the comments! The last time I checked my intro page, there were no comments.. booo LOL

Slice and Dice, awesome advice, thank you! I am looking into an office space right now that is 1200 sq ft in size with a garage door on it for $650 a month. I like your work you did on that truck. Is that just a red font with a normal white outline? I assume that its layered? What cutting software do you use? I have yet to figure out to cut the seperate colors, I am sure experiminting with my cutter when I get it will probably answer a lot of my questions!

Dan, that is cool, I never thought of tilling, of course, I am new, so I havent thought of much yet

Kaywall, thanks for kind words and add as a friend. I love Reno. I took my son there in 2009, and we played at the Circus Circus I am originally from the Portland, Or area. So, I am a new Dakota boy :-) I never plan on leaving this place, I love how low key and easy going the people are here. Anyways, nice to meet you!

Adam, hello neighbor! I am in Spearfish just up the road from ya, I will certainly drop in sometime and formally introduce myself the next time I am down there! I think as others have suggested, I am going to go with the 25" cutter. Cost is my main motivator at the moment for this endeavor!

Thank you all for your advice and kind welcomes, I look forward to getting to know the lot of ya :-)

[slice&dice 2,450]

The FIREWOOD lettering has red layered on top, as an inline.

I use Signblazer Elements and there is a feature in the MANIPULATE menu that allows Inline/Outline.

You might want to download and install SBE already, and familiarize yourself with it, before the cutter arrives.

When you place your order for a cutter, remember to obtain all the accessories and vinyl that you'll need along with it.

[piscespokerbrat 80]

Slice&dice - I already downloaded SBE a few days ago, and I have been messing around with it trying to get the feel of it. I'll check out that feature you mentioned. I designed my font in Inkscape that has a yellow border and red font, but in SBE when I import it, the layers come up as a solid yellow under the red, not an outline to where I can lay the red inside it. Does that make sense? I'll see if manipulate makes a difference, thanks!

[mabscotthandyman 1,410]

The FIREWOOD lettering has red layered on top, as an inline.

I use Signblazer Elements and there is a feature in the MANIPULATE menu that allows Inline/Outline.

You might want to download and install SBE already, and familiarize yourself with it, before the cutter arrives.

When you place your order for a cutter, remember to obtain all the accessories and vinyl that you'll need along with it.

And if you are operating from usb go ahead and get an adapter and save your self some headaches.

Dan

[slice&dice 2,450]

Yes, your underlying layer will be the solid yellow, and you then just place the red right on top of it (centered inside of the yellow).

There really is no need to have the red fit inside of a cut outline in the yellow, unless you are dealing with an offset.

[piscespokerbrat 80]

Hey Dan, I have heard that about the adapter. However, on the order page, there are instructions saying to input 'no thanks' to that. So, maybe the USB issue is fixed? Here is a screen cap referring that :-)

Slice&dice - Got the text outline figured out in SBE. I was wondering if the scale was going to be an issue for lettering size. But what I did, I set my workspace to 20" by 2" for my first line of text. Will that come out as 20" x 2" ?

PS - Why is the intro section moderated when the rest of the forums are not???

[BannerJohn 1,324]

PS - Why is the intro section moderated when the rest of the forums are not???

I don't know.As far as I can tell (I have not had it explained to me) it has something to do with new members having to have their posts approved. And every reply to the new members having to be approved. I run a business and can't always check as often as I would like.Sorry if it takes me awhile.

[piscespokerbrat 80]

Hey BannerJohn, I wasnt complaining, I merely curious. I havent been moderated on any other section of the forum as of yet except for here. Its no big deal :-)

Slice&Dice - This is what I was referring too that I wanted to do which I got figured out in SBE -

[slice&dice 2,450]

Dammit, BannerJohn, will you please stop making signs and banners and provide us with your FULL attention, 24/7!!!!!!!!!!!

Jeremy, do not (repeat, DON'T) even contemplate running the SC on USB, you'll just get frustrated with glitches (especially on longer runs) ---- Yeah, it will work, but give you headaches. Just hook that bad boy up to the serial port on your computer, and be done with it.

I can't understand your question about scaling, please rephrase what you are attempting to accomplish.

[mabscotthandyman 1,410]

Hey Dan, I have heard that about the adapter. However, on the order page, there are instructions saying to input 'no thanks' to that. So, maybe the USB issue is fixed? Here is a screen cap referring that :-)

Slice&dice - Got the text outline figured out in SBE. I was wondering if the scale was going to be an issue for lettering size. But what I did, I set my workspace to 20" by 2" for my first line of text. Will that come out as 20" x 2" ?

PS - Why is the intro section moderated when the rest of the forums are not???

Maybe they have fixed the problem but from other members post that is one of the biggest problems with the value cutters . I bought an older desk top with serial for my pcut and never a glitch .

[edge 67]

Guess the world's smaller than it seems. Just spent several days trashing around Rapid City, Keystone, & Deadwood the tail end of August. Had not seen the Copic Air Brush System prior to this thread; is it resistant to scaling or scratching from vinyl and or UV fading exposure?

http://www.4651feeder.com/vacation2012.htm

[piscespokerbrat 80]

Slice&dice - scaling as to what size the cutter will make everything. Ok, so I sized my font up at 22" wide x 3" tall in SBE. Will that come out cut like that? That is the size I want the first sentence to be on my window (window is 24" wide). Ive got room for 4 lines of text at 3" tall and 1" between each sentence. I am buying a laptop with the expresscard port so I can plug an express card with a serial port into it to run the cutter. I am hoping that would work!

Edge - Awesome you were out here visiting! I do not know anything about Copic as of yet when it comes to durability. I'll put it to the test and see how it holds up to winter out here!