Scratchthejeepguy

I've done stenciling on wood signs before and they've turned out great. Here's my process: I paint the board, and once it's dry I apply the vinyl stencil. Then I paint the board again with the background color. Then once that's dry I paint the topcoat color. Once dry I peel off the vinyl and I have nice sharp, crisp lines with no bleed through underneath the edges of the vinyl. But with pallet boards I don't know how to do the seams of the pallet boards. I feel like if I use spray paint it will work good since the top coat will go straight on and won't get under the vinyl too much, but I think I remember having problems with the spray paint causing the vinyl to shrink. What's the best way to do this, I have attached some pictures of the places that I expect to have problems.

Thanks for the compliments. From the videos I've watched, a lot of them made a point to mention that the key to vinyl stencils was very little paint. I wonder if an airbrush would work? I think I remember that they put out a very light dry coat as it was going on. I think I still have one somewhere, maybe I'll dig it out and try it. Of course as long as I don't use boards with beveled edges, I should be ok.

Well, nobody seem to know a good answer for this and since I need to have it done by tomorrow morning, I decided just to try figuring it out myself. I did watch some YouTube videos but nobody covered the pallet seam issue. I think the main problem is that this pallet board has the edges of the boards beveled. If you flip it over the edges are not beveled and I wouldn't be having this problem. But it's too late now I pushed the vinyl down as best I could on the beveled seams, then did my basecoat, then topcoat. After it dried I peeled off the vinyl and there was some ugliness in the seams, so I got a toothpick and some gray basecoat paint and touched them up. It doesn't look perfect but it's pretty good still. I'll know not to use pallet boards with beveled seams anymore. Here's a finished pic;

Nice! What's it say under THATS ENOUGH?

Because of circumstances, I have a nearly endless supply of old 4x8 voting signs made of coroplast. I also have 20 acres of hiking trails, off roading trails and a private gun range that I make signs for, so I use those old signs since they're just for me. I tried a bunch of different methods of painting the coroplast with not very much luck until I found that if I use Rustoleum's plastic primer first, then plastic paint over that, it seemed to last and not peel off. But in my case, I could still see some of the screen printed lettering on the voting sign and didn't really like that, so now I just cover the entire sign in whatever vinyl color I want for the background, then layer the vinyl letters over that. Here is a recycled trail sign covered in brown 651 then white for the lettering.

I have an SC2 (the 28" size) and have had it for about 10 months or so. Keep in mind that I've never used a vinyl cutter before and have no experience with any of the better quality models out there, (and yes, I completely agree that there are better quality models out there) But I was up and running in minutes with mine, and haven't had any problems with anything. I keep mine in my sunroom, on the carpet, and keep all the vinyl stored below it. Never done anything to treat static, and have never had any problems. Most of my work is about 12" square or less though, but I have had a few jobs that were 4-6' long. I have no desire to own a better unit, and my only complaint about this is that the stepper motors are noisy enough that I can't do any cutting late at night because my wife will hear it sleeping. I'm using the included VM software and love it, and have no plans to upgrade yet. From the complaints I hear online, the SC2 is the lowest model you would want to purchase. I'm so happy with my SC2 that If this were to get stolen and I got insurance money to replace it, I'd have a hard time deciding if I would upgrade to a better machine. (but I probably would...)

I'll play... This is from last summer on a camping trip.

Oops missed that. Good catch.

I have no complaints about my SC2, but I have nothing to compare it to either.

I use to use Corel, but now I think VM has a much easier to use vectorizing feature.

Id stay away from the bundles as well. Except for their sample kit of different vinyl colors, I do suggest that. I'm a big Amazon buyer but I have noticed that a lot of stuff I thought would be cheaper on Amazon, was actually cheaper buying from US Cutter.

Welcome from another Cheddarhead!

Sounds like you've already made up your mind and are planning on getting the SC2, so Ill add to your decision. Keeping in mind that this is my first experience with a vinyl cutter so I don't really have any other experience.... But my SC2 has been super easy to setup, use, and has given me zero problems at all. My only complaint is a pretty weak one... The loudness of the stepper motors. I have my cutter in an area of the house where it seems to echo all over the place. It doesn't bother me, but it does the rest of the family. Not enough for me to wish I spent more money on servos though. They all complain when I'm making decals for other people, but they don't seem to complain about the noise when I'm making decals for their Hydroflasks or bedroom walls... I haven't used contour cutting and have no plans to yet, but should be able to struggle through manual setup when I need to, and as far as size goes... I have the 28" which I'm happy with. I don't do a lot of larger stuff, and actually most of my stuff could be cut on a 12" roll.

I'm trying to write installation instructions for my customers and would like to see how you all word yours (if you have them printed up) Anyone want to share their customer installation instructions?

I was hoping for more of a short description of instructions. Something like the PDF you showed. Thanks!

Id steer clear of the MH cutters. ive seen lots of posts about people with problems with them. I'd say the lowest you'd want to go is the SC cutters. i also think the VM Cut software (which comes with the cutters I think) should be perfectly fine to start with.

I have 3 large vinyl sings cut from 631. They are about 70" X 23.5" I need to apply transfer tape and the tape I have is paper tape that measures about 24-1/16". Are there any videos or tips on getting it straight and not having it miss the vinyl? I guess maybe I should have gotten wider tape to be safe.

So yesterday a customer finally nailed down exactly what they wanted and I cut it out. I got them all covered in transfer tape today and they want me to come install it tomorrow (if all goes well with their timeline). I'm wondering how I should prep the wall and what I should bring? This is my first real install on an indoor wall, and I don't want to forget something stupid that I should have brought. This is a painted Sheetrock wall install of 3 large decals about 70" X 36" using 631 and paper transfer tape. I've already tested the walls with 751 and it stuck very well. Here's what I'm thinking to bring, let me know if I should bring anything else: Vinyl Blue painters tape Ladder Level Tape measure Pencil Exacto knife Scissors squeegees Cleaning cloth How should I prep the walls? Common surface cleaner, or soapy water spray, then isopropyl alcohol?

Can anyone else see this link? I can't for some reason.

Welcome!

Welcome to the site. I'm into Jeeps also! See if any of your buddies remember a guy named Scratch that drives a gold Rubicon and has an area in Hudson called Flatfender Farms to wheel in. I used to have events a couple times a year. Good luck on your purchase!

So I just got my first vinyl cutter, an SC2 and so far it works perfectly, but I'm wishing there was somewhere to easily store the extra blades. I know on the Cricut or Cameo or some of the small cutters I've seen a little opening in the bed to put extra blades in. I'm thinking about screwing a little storage box or something to the cross brace of the stand of my SC2 to store my extra blades, an exacto knife, scissors, pick, etc... anyone else do anything like this and have a pic to share with what you put in it? My desk with cutting mat isn't right by the cutter so I'd like to have an exacto knife at the very least, right with the cutter. Any input?

I have a couple of questions and I'm hoping I can get some help from you more experienced people out here. I'm pretty new to vinyl cutting as I've only had mine for about 2 months. I have a local business that wants me to make them some vinyl decals for their walls. They are a dance studio that my daughters have been going to for the past 16 years. I want to take "friendship" out of the equation though. I want to see what you would charge a regular customer for this job, and I have a few other questions too... It's a very basic decal they want, and I've included an image of it. The HDS letters are 24" tall, and all three total about 46" long. The HELMER DANCE STUDIO letters are 8" tall, and about 73" long. They want the HDS to be glossy gold so I was thinking about using some Oracal 651 that I already have. The HELMER DANCE STUDIO they want to be matte black, so I was planning on using 631 for that. I tried a sample of 651 and it installed very easily, and also peeled off ok too. They need three of these complete identical signs, for three different dance rooms. My questions are: 1. Since the 651 still seemed to remove fairly easy for future painting, is there any advantage to using 631 over 651 on painted sheetrock walls other than matte vs gloss? 2. Is there a reason I wouldn't want to mix gloss and matte on a sign other than personal preference? 2. What would you charge to cut this, they will be installing it. (I'll probably help them for free since they are friends) 3. I need wider transfer tape so I'll have to buy some. I have the Transfer Rite Ultra Clear 1310G right now so I'd like to get some of the paper stuff, any suggestions? 4. I have the 28" SC2 so I shouldn't have any problems, but to save material, instead of cutting the words like this: HELMER DANCE STUDIO and using 73" of vinyl..... I could cut them like this: HELMER DANCE STUDIO Arranging them this way would only use a 24"X 24" square of vinyl. Then they could just either apply them separately, or I could use blue painters tape (?) to attach them together in a line. Would you do that to save material, or not? The HDS I will have to cut separately unless I shrink them down an inch or so which I don't want to do. Any input from the masters?

Yes, I've already taken a pic of the walls and measured the ceiling height for a mock up picture. I learned that from making metal signs for the past 15 years or so with my CNC plasma cutter. Great tip to bring up by the way! One that some people may not have thought of.