darcshadow

You're basically wanting to do this. This is a simpler image but basically I duplicated the original, broke it apart and pulled out the silhouette, then expand it to slightly larger than the original and change it to white. Put it below the main image and above the black background.

The grit is mostly a matter of personal preference. The lower grit will give a more ruff etch look and the high grit will give more of a frost look. I like 120 as it give a good etch that has a bit of a "sparkle" to it. The higher grit will give you an etch closer to what the etching cream looked like, only better. A lot of people like the look of 180 as well. You'll just have to pick one and give it a try and go from there.

Just a personal preference, I'd make the designs a little smaller so that they can be fully seen when views without the need to rotate the mug to see the whole design. Obviously some designs are intended to wrap around but The ROB for example, looks to big to me.

That is what I use with AO and have not had any problems. Black Diamond is a brand, are you referring to coal slag blast media? If so, that is most likely your problem, sand and coal slag both have a Mohs of about 6, which is about what glass is as well. To get a good etch you need to blast with something harder than what you are trying to etch. You should also try to avoid sand as it can be a serious heath risk if you do not have the proper respiratory equipment.

What are you using for a stencil, and what pressure are you running at?

I believe there is a setting someplace in windows that will force popups to open in the active window, but SB is so old, it still might not work. And I have no idea where that setting in windows might be. I only vaguely recall seeing it once years ago.

I like the results I get with 120 AO. Never found any at local stores but it can be found online at reasonable prices. Often times eBay is actually the cheapest.

If you believe that shuffle your feet around for awhile then touch the screw on your electrical cover. That zap you feel is the static charge being discharged from you to ground. Ground is the great equalizer, all electricity wants to go to it. The machine is grounded via the power plug and grounding the vinyl to any ground will eliminate any difference between the two. Now yes, technically if the vinyl is electrically connected to the chassis of the cutter and the cutter is not grounded static should not be an issue because the cutter and the vinyl will be at the same potential. But having electronics on a floating plane introduces a whole new range of possible problems and safety issues.

Just to be a stickler for details, the stand doesn't actually need to be grounded, it's the vinyl that generates the static and is what needs to be grounded. Typically the vinyl is sitting on the metal rollers that are part of the stand so ground the stand grounds the vinyl.

Try using some paper and the pen tool and see if it goes crazy. If not, then it's likely static, if it does, then you have another problem.

I have not come across vinyl larger than 24" but under 28" so there is not much benefit in getting a 28" model vs. a 25".

I know it takes away some of the fun and satisfaction of creating the product, but with a large enough order you might consider subbing out the job. A quick search on the net found a place that will do bulk order (12 or more) pricing of beer mugs for as little as $4.65 a glass. Don't know what shipping would be, but it might be worth looking into, if nothing else as a backup in case you can't fill an order fast enough.

What were you trying, and what sort of problem were you having? This is a relative simple design that would not be too hard to redraw/trace by hand.

<p>I've cut a few rolls with a miter saw, now issues. just put some blue painters tape around the role where I was cutting. Trick is to not go too fast, or too slow. I don't recall what the tooth count of the blade I was using, but it was the standard blade I use for cutting wood, maybe a 60 tooth.</p> <p> </p> <p>The two problems the guy in the video above had, was he cut way slower than necessary, and didn't have a large enough saw to cut all the way through. Not being able to go all the way through isn't too big of a deal, but it does mean you'll have to rotate the roll and cut a second time and you will likely not get an exact match so the edge of the vinyl will not be perfect but it'll be good enough, you never use the very edge anyway.</p>

I'm not familiar with the software you are using, but there should be a wire frame view, or something similarly named. That view will show you exactly what the plotter will cut. You need to try and get your head away from designing in terms of lines, and think in terms of shapes and paths, that will help. When you draw a line with your program, you see the thick line you want, but the plotter only sees the single line. To get a thick line you need convert your thick line to a path as described by dc up above.

If you consider 27C (80F) cold, what do you call hot? Why did you removing the backpaper?

Just curious, why did you make the main circle in 4 parts?

Looks like camera flash to me. I'm no English major, but shouldn't it read "Trucker is" home? "Trucker's home" is saying the trucker possesses the home.

What you're looking for is the truncated cone template. A quick google search will get you the answers you're looking for.

The reflective stuff has a metallic backing so trying to lay clear over it before cutting will probably be pushing the limits of your cutter, but trying out a small sample shouldn't cause any problems. I've never tried laying matte over reflective, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. So long as light will pass through the matte layer the reflective layer will bounce it back. Might be slightly dimmer than usual but I doubt you'd notice it.

You mean like the one on Wikipedia?

I believe SignBlazer will work with your cutter. Do a search on here, there are several links to downloads of it. But since the EPS file you posted has the straight lines rather than curves, it's not the cutter program that is the problem. It is your conversion from AI to EPS. When you save the file as an EPS, is there any option about converting text to paths? If so, try turning that off.

Does your software have an over cut option? I've seen reference to some software on here, basically when cutting a path it instructs the machine to go slightly past the start point when it comes around so that there is a bit of an overlap on the start/stop point.

I'm not familiar with AI but when you save the file as an EPS, is the lettering being saved as a font, or as a path? I suspect it's being saved as a path, and if so I would assume there is a setting someplace to improved the font to path conversion, or just keep it as a font. If you could post the eps, and the ai version of the file I'm sure someone here can point to what needs to be done.

There is also a cut path option that can be used. Just draw a line through your design, select the line and the design then select Cut Path from the Path menu. This method will break the design apart so that's kind of weird. You could also use the division tool, which does about the same thing as the cut path. Skarekrow's method would be easier/better for a complex design. One step I'd change in his procedures, rather than moving the box after duplicating it, leave it and use the difference tool, and then the intersection tool. That way you don't have to worry about getting your shape lined up exactly.