TxVinyl

Hey guys, I'm trying my hand out at sandblasting some stone. I've got access to some basic sandblast equipment and plenty of stone to practice on. I'm using the Hartco 930. My question is how you guys apply the stencil. Do you just apply the stencil straight to the stone and then weed it once it's on there? Or do you weed the stencil like it was regular vinyl and then add transfer paper to get it onto the stone. The stones I'm using aren't smooth polished surfaces if that makes a difference. They are rough. The design I'm practicing with is just some basic shapes. No small detailed intricacies or letters or anything. I played with it and got my cutter to cut the stencil great. Any tips for the rest would be awesome. Thanks guys!

Ok, thanks for the help. Do yall have any input on clip art that would work well for what we're trying to do? I was first looking at the Ultimate Ornaments Mega Pack but I think the package with vector art for the home and the stick figure collection may work better for us instead. What else would be beneficial?

A friend and I are planning to invest in a vinyl cutter for a new business. We just plan on doing some small part time work with it and filling online orders from a home office. We had initially decided on the US Cutter Laser Point II. When including the vinyl, clip art, accessories and all that we would like to come with it, we'll be spending close to $900 on the setup. Does anyone have any input on this as a first cutter? We are both new to the field. However, from reading on the forums, a lot of people tend to like the Graphtec cutters. The package that comes with the Graphtec CE-5000 includes basically the same things we were adding to the other for "free" but the package alltogether costs about $1700. We have everything pieced together and the last part we need is the cutter itself. We are already in for this several hundred dollars more than we had initially budgeted for when we started this, and that is with the LaserPoint cutter, so we are a little behind already. We will run whichever cutter we choose with CorelDraw X5. Does anyone have any input on how the US Cutter brand cutter works with the amount of cutting in a beginning business and how well it does small details? If the business picks up well within the first year, we're not opposed to upgrading to a better cutter after about a year and then keeping the first cutter to bring with us if we decide to do events and things. I know Roland is supposed to be the best but they are out of the question for now. We are looking at the 24" cutters of each. We plan on using Oracal 651 for decals and Oracal 631 for wall decals. For starters we plan on just doing window decals, interior wall decals, and maybe getting started with some simpler banners and magnetic signs within the first year and expanding as we see the need/ability to. I guess my biggest question is will the LaserPoint cutter work for us for the first year or so until we can get some experience and a feel for the business and be able to do everything we need until we have the means to upgrade to a more professional cutter? Or do yall think it is really worth the extra money for the Graphtec to start out with and go another $800 over budget that we didn't really plan on spending for the startup? Basically, what can the Graphtec do that the LaserPoint can't? And is it worth the extra money? We just don't want to go broke on all the equipment to start out with if it's not going to pay off quick enough to make it worth it. Sorry for the book but we really appreciate any input.