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Hazellarkin

Cutting Stencils with xacto blade

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I've been cutting Stencils on just about everything I own. My pots and pans are etched and cups and mirrors, right now I'm doing a steel tray but it doesn't work as well as stainless steel. The blade won't glide across the metal at all it actually feels like the steel is sucking my blade in and making it really hard to cut the contract paper and my blade gets super dull as soon as I start. It's just like the aluminum cake pan I did. I was thinking about trying the curved blade maybe then the metal would've grab it as bad. All advice welcome!

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Yeah, well, my 'advice' is to plunk down a few hundred bucks and buy a USCUTTER machine to make stencils using vinyl stencil material. After you get up and running with a proper tool for this type of work (a computer-controlled cutting plotter) then I would imagine you'll move beyond decorating 'everything you own' and start looking for people outside your home who will pay you for this.

 

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I absolutely plan on investing in a cutting machine I just don't have it right now. I did etch/engrave a bunch of hip flasks that I ordered and they sold super fast. I think that there is still some value in doing things the old fashioned way.

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10 hours ago, Hazellarkin said:

I absolutely plan on investing in a cutting machine I just don't have it right now. I did etch/engrave a bunch of hip flasks that I ordered and they sold super fast. I think that there is still some value in doing things the old fashioned way.

Yeah I guess there is. Still... you are selling your time. When I upgraded to my Summa I sold off my old P-Cut to some people who ran a Halloween scare house and they had been hand cutting vinyl graphics for doors, walls and windows. When they got the cutter working they were like kids at Christmas with wonder and amazement at the details and speed that even that very low budget machine could produce. The guy told me he spent a couple hours on each decal he had done before and the P-Cut was cutting them in under a minute start to finish. 

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13 hours ago, Hazellarkin said:

I absolutely plan on investing in a cutting machine I just don't have it right now. I did etch/engrave a bunch of hip flasks that I ordered and they sold super fast. I think that there is still some value in doing things the old fashioned way.

If you don't have the money for a brand new machine, then you can look for a good used one, just make sure that you see it in action before you buy it. Another alternative is a Cricut. You stencils would be a lot cleaner, faster, and professional if you get yourself a means to use a cutter of some sort. You can find used Cricuts too.

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Years ago, I found a used MH unit on craigslist for $90.  Apparently, the guy had bought it, only used it a few times and hated the results.

Turns out he never set the blade depth right, it was gouging the cutting strip, which I replaced and never had another issue with this.

Anyway, I'm in the same camp as those here who don't necessarily think beginners should jump right into a large-format cutter with the MH (despite the price attractiveness, there are several good reasons for 1st-time cutter buyers to get the SC2 or LP3 or even Titan 1 machines, because of their higher 'credibility' to the MH in user satisfaction for raw newbies).

Yeah, for sure, time is money. How many times have I sat there twiddling my thumbs just waiting on the SC2 to finish a pattern cut, while knowing a Titan2 servo would be done already, zippy zip zip. (Yeah, yeah, I know, my pet peeve, not having a size 34" Titan2 as an option).

Value in doing things the 'old fashioned' (i.e. - hand cut) way? Sure. There are still guys out there who paint signs with brushes.
hand-lettered-sign.jpg?compress=1&resize

 

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