BannerJohn
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Posts posted by BannerJohn
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Pre-made is the way to go!!!!(as tater said) I was in the upholstery business for 30 years. Had a commercial sewing machine. Doing the edges,putting in the grommets,took me longer than doing the actual banner.Waste of my time.And sewing a straight edge is harder than you think.Even a cheap commercial machine is going to set you back about $500 including table and motor.
There is a guy on ebay that I get ALL my banners from.Excellent quality,pre-made,13 oz glossy one side,nylon mesh core. I pay $3.50 plus shipping for a 2x6 in lots of 10. 4x8 is $12, hemmed and grommeted ready to go.You can't buy RAW banner fabric that cheap.His ebay store is JoMark's Banners or something like that. I've been using them for almost a year with not a single problem. TRust me,I use them in my own concession business and they have held up through 60 mph winds and some of the worst weather you could imagine.
Oh,and if you request,he will do special order sizes. I've had him make me as large as 8x12.
He only sells white right now,but that's what most people want..in my case,anyway.
And at his prices,you can afford to mess up a few while you learn.
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I did this for a friend who runs a concession business. Pic is froma camera phone on a cloudy day,so not very good but you get the idea. It is 3x20 feet.
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I've been using LG for quite awhile for banners and coroplast signs. It is good vinyl,never had a problem with it. T-shorts,etc is not my area. Maybe someone else can advise on that.
If you bought the vinyl from Jack Ripper on ebay...they are great to deal with and customer service is awesome. I also get my application tape from them.
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as tater pointed out,there are 2 options in Flexi. The PRINT option is for the printer,the CUT/PLOT option is for the cutter. If you don't have a printer set up,Flexi will give you that error.I use the prin option to have a picture of what I am doing in front of me as I install the vinyl.
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The blank disc should have had the usb drivers,nothing to do with lpt port.
The carriage going all the way to the left,I think,indicates that you have the cutting settings wrong.Check everything in your settings. Make sure that the vinyl size is set to 24 inches or less.
If the carriage moves at all,when you try to cut,it indicates that the cutter is receiving commands from signcut. If it wasn't,it wouldn't respond at all.
When I got mine,I couldn't get it to work,called Ken,he walked me though it,and I was up and running in about 5 minutes.He will do the same for you.Send him a PM and he will give you his number.
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"I set the plotter settings in the signcut software to refine MH/EH 721 but I do have a refine MH1351 does this matter?"
Yes,it matters. Open signcut....go to settings>cutter> and chose the MH1351. See what happens. It needs to have the driver for the cutter you have.
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with mine, the baud rate didn't seem to matter,as long as both matched in the software and cutter....but on USB I had to set mine to com port 5 before it would work. Try playing around with the com ports.I never could get it working with printer or serial cable.
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I think the USB problem is in your computer,not the cutter. I had that problem once with something else. The computer would stop recognizing the usb device. I changed computers,and it solved the problem. It couldmof course,be the usb cable/.
AS for the settings resetting every time you power down..I see this as a major flaw in design that could easily be fixed and can't think why it hasn't been already. My other plotter keeps the settings,unless I manually change them.
So,until someone over in China or wherever,gets around to doing this,just get in the habit of resetting every time.
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I use Flexi.You can buy the starter edition on ebay for around $100. It has most of what you will ever need. And it will work with your cutter.
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I always save as .eps,I've had better luck than with .ai. Save as both and see which does best for you.
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Yeah,you can vectorize a jpg in inkscape. The secret is to have a high resolution image with good clean lines. Color is hard. I always convert to black and white before I try to vectorize.
Go to google,do an image search for VW bug,see if you can find a better pic.
OR you can do what I did last week...a customer wanted a pic of her boyfriend on the banner. Well,I just printed a nice big pic on photo paper,lightly glued it to the banner,covered over it with CLEAR vinyl,then cut a nice frame from vinyl to go around it,cover up the edges of the clear. She LOVED it... and I must admit,it looked good. This of course wouldn't work for outdoor use if it rains unless you laminate it first (which I have done) but if it's for graduation.most likely it won't be outside for long,if at all.
Of course,if you have a color laser printer,which I don't,you could,in theory,print the pic directly onto white vinyl,etc. I have a friend who does labels this way,to put on the back of his banners.
Just a suggestion. I'm too tired to try vectorizing that pic right now,maybe in the morning if nobody beats me to it.
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if you solve the nut problem,be sure and post ...someone else down the line might have the same problem.
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You are tightening down the thing after you set it in there,right?
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I know what kind to use for fabric,but what kind of ink(or whatever) do you guys(and ladies) use for coroplast?
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glad I could help. I have corel trace,adobe illustrator... and I haven't opened either one since I discovered inkscape. Why climb the steps when you can take the elevator?
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I use Inkscape. It took me longer to post it than it did to vectorize and save it(about a minute). You should get inkscape,read the inkscape tutorials on these forums. You can do it,if I can.
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My cutting head was off the tracks when it came too. They just should put a big full page in the instructions to tell you to check that FIRST before anything else. It seems to be very common.
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You won't void the warranty.Just pull down slightly on the cutter head,tilt it a bit,and put it back on the track.
As for printing from a network printer...well I have a network but the plotter is hooked up to the actual computer that the software is on...for 2 reasons. 1,the cutting software,vectorizing software,etc, takes a lot of memory and I sometimes do several things at once. So basically I have a computer exclusive for cutting. Its a memory issue.
The second reason,is,from what I have read on here many people have trouble getting it to work with just one computer. If you are a network wizard,I know there is a way. If you aren't...and you have patience, just try a few things and see. I would think that the computer that the actual cutter is hooked up to,would be the one that would need the drivers. But like I said, I've not tried and don't want to tempt fate.
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It cut nice and clean for me.
[attachment deleted by admin]
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what format is the logo you want to cut?
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I just had delivery of a 30"x50 yard roll of gloss black that was $41 delievered,from the same guy. He's kinda weird, but worth the trouble for the deals. I get 15"x50 yd red,blue,green,black,all the time for $30 or less,delivered.Mostly FDC but I have had oracal too. I can't find a thing wrong with it, sometimes the sprockets are messed up (like that matters) or maybe the end of the roll is dented a bit (again,not a problem for me)
He's on ebay,and I think his stuff goes for so litle because he lists it i such an odd way,you don't find it with a regular search. I just stumbled across it. I mean,in his main title description, he just says 'black' or 'red'...no mention of what it is.
YOu won't believe it,but last week I won a 125 yard roll of red 15" FDC,for the minimum bid ($18) plus $25 ship,and I was the only bidder. Seriously. And I got a 15 inch roll of Blue(50 yds) for $12,and he combinned shipping. Both rolls,total cost,delivered....$54.
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I've actually known people who measured out every single roll to make sure they didn't get cheated by a foot or two.Personally,my time is worth more than that. I just assume that it is 50 yards unless it obviously looks like it isn't.After awhile,you can tell by how much you get done with it,if you were shorted. If a seller sells a lot,they would be stupid to cheat people and risk losing their business.
The only time I got screwed on ebay was a roll that had a splice...but I noticed it in time. Didn't complain though,it was a 50 yd roll of gloss black,15 inch,and my cost was $28 delivered.
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I tried R-tape,and several others,with various results.Finally found a brand called Poli-tape.It is made in Germany. I buy it in 48 inch x 300 foot rolls,they cut it down any way I want,and it is just $100 or so delivered. I really like it better than any I have used,and I've tried all kinds.
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I use cheap store brand dishsoap, but i put like 3-5 drops into a quart and then add a teaspoon of isopropyl alcohol to it because it seems to set quicker... Always shake it up before use.
Works great for me... Alot cheaper then RapidTac
Exactly what i use,and I go through a gallon a week...lots of banners. And believe me,it doesn't affect the adhesive,as I have learned when trying to remove numbers months later,changing the date for an event.
I was asking at the local sign supply place about app fluid and the guy told me flat out...don't waste your money,make your own.It works just as well. So I do,and have been very happy with it.
He did tell me to NOT put alcohol in it if I was going to use cheaper grade vinyl made by gmi. Just that one brand.
The whole point of app fuild is to remove the air,and allow you to position before it sticks. Once you remove the fuild,if done right,there shouldn't be any bubble at all. I can't remember the last bubble I had to pop.
Really stupid banner question
in Vinyl
Posted
check your messages.