blackpaws

Oh to be 18 again!! If I could go back and start over at 18, I'd buy my MH721 and not wait a moment later. It will pay back for itself in a couple jobs. Once people hear you can make decals...you're set. I'd use that profit to buy sublimation stuff. You won't be in the hole any if you already have money saved up to buy the machine and some vinyl to start. Then keep using the money you make to buy more stuff (don't get a loan) and eventually get into sublimation (if you're still interested in it at that point). That's basically what I did except a few years older than you. Live at home as long as you can lol, it will make it a lot easier. As long as you have the desire and interest, it won't matter how much you make but odds are you'll make a decent profit regardless. Here it is 6 years later and I'm still using my MH721. I know there are better cutters out there but honestly, I'd start with a cheaper one (make sure you ground it and get the keyspan) and get your feet wet before deciding whether to get a more expensive one. You would always have the cheaper one as a backup.

It's illegal for you to make it, illegal to sell it, and also illegal for that person to buy it if you don't have the rights. Been hearing of more and more people getting caught lately, it's just not worth it.

So let me preface by saying I've sold over a thousand wall decals in the last year probably, and have been blessed so far with not having one complaint of vinyl sticking to the wall! I use Oracal 631 for everything. Unfortunately I sold someone a larger tree decal (I've sold several of these with no issues so far) and they sent me these pictures the other day. So I immediately asked the person a million questions, and they have been so gracious so far to answer them and try to help me figure out what's going on. The paint on the wall is flat, has been painted for at least 5 years. It's drywall, just painted, ever so slightly textured (as typical drywall probably) but also have another wall decal (from another buyer) that is sticking fine. I know that it can't be the roll of vinyl itself, because as you can see it's happened with both colors. They said a day prior they wiped the wall off with a slightly damp towel. I just noticed that the black decal there is a haze on the wall after it fell off...I'm wondering what that could be from? They mentioned that it's 30 degrees out where they lived and it did set outside all day until they got home. Could that have anything to do with it? Maybe it froze and something happened to the glue? Any ideas guys? I really want to figure this out so that I can prevent it from happening in the future. Any help is much appreciated!! Thanks in advance.

I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on getting into sublimation. I was hoping I could go over what I plan on doing/learned so far and you seasoned sublimators could chime in to see if I'm on the right track... Step 1: Printer I need an inkjet printer that vibrates the dye on, rather than use a heated head (or something like that) so Epson and Ricoh are my only choices. Epsons are much cheaper, but I think I want the Ricoh because they don't have issues like the Epsons do with sitting around and drying up when not used for periods of time. Step 2: Ink I need a special dye based ink meant for sublimation, such as sawgrass sublijet or Chromoblast. Chromoblast costs more, and does everything sublijet ink does, except Chromoblast also prints on cotton. Chromoblast ink is the only way you can use sublimation to print on cotton. Step 3: Paper Need special transfer paper meant for sublimation. Step 4: Substrates I can either buy substrates with the sublimation polymer already coated on them, which is preferred for the most uniform, precise looking image transfer. I can also buy my own polymer to brush on glass, wood, ceramics, etc Heat Press: Already got one, but basically just needs to reach 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat times vary, (not sure what heat times are based on) ....am I on the right track folks? Please correct me if I'm wrong on any of this. Thanks in advance for any advice on where to order supplies from too (printer, ink, paper, substrates).

Just curious why ya didn't use it? I still haven't bought the printer or paper yet. Still debating which Ricoh to get, either the one that prints 8.5x11 for $200ish...or spend $1000ish and be able to print 11" wide.....might get the small one to start then will have it as a back up if I get the bigger one...I'm thinking out loud haha but I might like to try that stuff once I get the printer. Will likely decide in the next week or two

The slight wall texture might be it, could you upload a pic? Adhesive spray should most definitely work.

One question! What is a good sublimation coating? I found a couple of products (from dyepress, and digicoat) but couldn't find any reviews really on either product.

Ohhh okay, good to know! I was kind of thrown off then because on uscutters website with their ricoh printer, they sell both ink sets with the printer, so I assumed they were both for sublimation and since the Chromoblast cost more, it was one more extra thing you could do with it. I was wrong! I think they should relist the printer twice then, one under the heat transfer category selling only the Chomoblast ink, then leave the one in the sublimation category selling only the sublijet inks. Anyways, thanks for the input!!

Personalized ornaments! Just have to watch, it can be tricky putting flat vinyl on a rounded surface.

I figured since winter has officially started where I live, I might as well get a head start on working on products for next years flea markets. We have one that happens a few times in the summer and can draw in a crowd of 10,000 on a good weekend. Last year I attended as a vendor a couple times selling t-shirts, but I didn't do too hot. I was charging $15 a shirt since they were made in USA. I did okay, but I hated competing with a couple other t-shirt vendors who were selling copyrighted shirts at $5 a shirt.... So I thought next year I'd do decals instead. I am considering getting a full concession trailer to work out of, but not sure what sells at these types of events. I refuse to make anything trademarked or copyrighted that I don't own the rights too. I would like to customize and make stuff on the spot, but not sure what. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Neat! I never even seen or heard of those before. Thanks for the suggestion! Along with products like that, I'm thinking about getting some vector clip art software that comes with books to display for people to browse through.

I don't think you'll have any regrets getting into it. Just like vinyl, its highly profitable and you can usually get a fairly quick return on investment. Just make sure you have a good space for it, good ventilation is a must have.

I use Illustrator only because it was the first vector based software I began working with. Most people from what I read use CorelDraw and are happy with it. I tried to use it before but it was just frustrating because I'm used to Illustrator, and Illustrator works great for me.

That's a steal!!! I don't remember what I paid for my panels of that size but I know it was too much. The price of panels weren't too bad, but shipping was almost the same price. Nice job!

I unfortunately had to send them a refund. Do you notice the haze in the picture? Someone mentioned it was likely from them rubbing it over and over. I think it's b/c they wet it, because my paint does a similar effect when its wet. I mean, I just can't understand why the bottom of the tree stuck, but nothing else. They had to have done something different, and what else could they have done besides maybe wet it? Nothing else makes sense to me. Sure, it could be the paint, but then why is the bottom of the tree sticking? They did send the decal back to me, and it wouldn't stick to my wall either. Idk. On second thought, I find it interesting that the wall was painted "5 years ago", (they said it was that color when they bought the house), but their nursery bedding seems to match it perfectly. Sure, maybe it was painted like that and they got lucky that they liked the color, and also were having a girl. The paint looks pretty vibrant too for being 5 years old. So idk, maybe it was fresh paint too. Maybe not. We'll never know!! lol

I'm just curious, what do you find to be a better brand, and why? I've only sell Oracle and I claim that I use the best vinyl in the industry (because I really feel that it is, especially for the price) but I am curious if there's something better out there. I know there are other brands but haven't tried any personally

Is the decal all one color, or does it consist of multiple colors? If it's multiple colors that aren't sticking, then you can rule out (to the customer at least) that it has anything to do with the vinyl. I have also heard that certain paints do not allow the decals to adhere to, but I have also sold thousands and have maybe had 2, 3 at tops, customers, who claimed the decals would not stick. I tried and tried to get to the bottom of it, but I felt like there was more to the story that they weren't telling me. The one customer claimed they used lowes valspar eggshell, but I knew it wasn't that because I've also used that same exact paint with no issues. I had a feeling they tried to wet the decals maybe, it's the only thing that in my mind, made sense to them not sticking. Make sure you get pics from them. You then have a couple options. You could recommend they try re-positional spray adhesive on the back of them to help stick. Likely they won't have that laying around and find it inconvenient they have to go buy it to stick it when it should already stick. Or you can have them return the item, send a refund or replacement and try again. I know it's annoying as heck when you can't figure out what they did wrong or why it won't stick, but just be glad you can sell so many all the time with no issues. Good luck and be sure to let us know if you figure it out!

Has anyone done this before? If so, ballpark figure on how much you paid to file? I just spoke to a firm who charges a $2500 retaining fee for the process. They said it usually covers it all, but occasionally you might have to pay more. I thought it sounded like a lot, but I'm not sure. I'm concerned about whether I can use the name or not. When I search "xname" and live trademarks, there are 72 matches with xname in it, and of those, 12 of them are exact matches, that are only named "xname". So I assume you can have the same named trademark as someone else, as long as they have nothing to do with each other?, which in my case it wouldn't. But I'm not sure how it works.

I think I'm just going to do them with vinyl, use a better grade vinyl (right now I just use 651), so either 751 or 951, and warn them that it will fade over time, but pretty much anything does in the sun I suppose. Thanks for your responses.

So I have been making some ceramic tiles with decals on them as gifts, and I thought about getting into making little personalized pet grave markers but I'd prefer to make something more permanent than just using vinyl. Making vinyl stencils and actually sandblasting the tiles is one idea. I also thought about laser engraving too? I don't know. So I looked around on the interwebs for ideas and came across this on Etsy. But I'm wondering, how in the heck did they make it? I am assuming dye sub, but wasn't entirely sure why they are saying it's not outdoor safe. Thoughts? Link to mystery item: https://www.etsy.com/listing/113737329/wedding-anniversary-gift-personalized?ref=sr_gallery_35&ga_search_query=ceramic+tile&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_search_type=all&ga_facet=ceramic+tile

Boo! That's a shame. You would think there'd be something you could put on it to make it UV resistant? Even if you had to do it once a years? I know with a regular ceramic tile you can't poly it or anything, it all just flakes off after time.

Somebody contacted me about buying a particular in wholesale for their retail store, as it goes with their store theme. I looked up the persons name and company, it's all legit. So I'm trying to figure out what to set my pricing at, and how to package the product? The cost to make is $ .84. I sell it online currently for $9.50 plus shipping. I assume that I'm responsible for packaging. I was thinking of putting the decal in a cellophane bag, then putting cardstock on the front of it, having it fold over the top and down the back an inch or two, and stapling it at the top. Prior to stapling, I'd print on the card stock a design on the front of what's inside, then application instructions on the back. The decal is a fairly simple one, and if I was just making the decal only I think I'd want to do a minimum order of no less than 10 and charge like $4 for each one. Is that too few/too cheap? If I have to do up the packaging too, which would only make sense I guess, then I'd want to charge more I think. Maybe $5 a piece? I don't know. That's why I'm here asking I guess haha

For colors I use almost every day (about 5) , I just roll them up by color and size and keep them in a large cardboard box. Since I keep over 40 colors in stock, for the colors I don't use that often but have scraps of I'll put the scrap inside the roll of vinyl. Helps keep it sorted and well organized. Seems like eventually my scrap box gets out of control though so about once a year I'll go through it, toss a bunch out and start over.

So I tried this technique yesterday. It was a DIY disaster, to say the least! I used Oracal 651 vinyl, cut the stencil, cut a reverse of the stencil. I weeded both versions. I put application tape on the non-mirrored stencil. I flipped it over, pulled off the backing, then stuck the reversed decal to it. I had to cut the reversed one apart and do it in sections because it was too big to do all at once and get it right. Then I tried to apply the stencil to the sign.It was really hard to get the tape off, because I had to peel the stencil from it. I had to go really slow and be really careful to make sure it didn't stretch. My plan was to use spray paint. Since the stencil wasn't adhesive anymore, I had to spray some spray adhesive on the back to make sure it stuck to my sign good enough to make sure it didn't move, or let paint underneath it. That right there made me realize there was no point in sticking a reverse design onto the back, I needed that adhesiveness! Anyways, I sprayed my sign. There were some parts where I didn't spray enough adhesive on the back and the air from the paint was blowing the stencil over. As the paint started to set, my vinyl curled up mainly on the smaller parts of vinyl, but it definitely made my stencil not reusable. I ordered the greenstar material, should be here in a couple days. I hope its sturdy enough to not flop around, and doesn't curl up like the vinyl did. We will find out!

I was just curious if anyone has any experience with this? I'm mainly curious as to how many times it can be reused before no longer being tacky. Also wondering if it leaves any sticky residue behind. I would assume not but just wanted to make sure. Thanks in advance for any input!!