American And Proud

A HUGE MESS ! This is all happening FAST, bought the cutter, software, a inventory of Vinyl on the way, updating a bunch of software , trying to learn it all is the Hardest part. I have a back room on the house (No basement just a crawl space under the house) and my heated and ac'ed 22'x24' garage is Full of woodworking equiptment, new and vintage machines I collect. Anyways the back room is 12'x16' and was one of those rooms that grew into a room over the years by previous owners of our house, starting life as a back porch, screened in room, turned into a 3 season room, and before my injury a few years ago I tore it apart removing the 3 walls of those crappy joulosy windows (10) that leaked air like crazy. (4" wide slated glass windows that cranked open) NOT a good choice for windows here in Chicago! I tore them all out and put 2 new dbl glazed windows in and an opening octogon window in by my desk and vinyl sided the outside walls adding 2" pink foam insulation on the outside. Got injured and had a few surgeries so never got around to finishing the inside of the room, my desk and the kids computer desks a TV and a small fireplace reside back here. But the unfinished room has become the catch all room for all things unwanted but to good to toss out. I am trying to learn software programs sift through the mess and finish ripping out the paneling on the walls to reinsulate them and drywall/paint them. I have one of those large corner style desks that the corner is Raised up and your monitor sits just above your PC tower with an access in the desktop that allows the PC to sit directly in front of you with access to the drives. I have three 19" LCD monitors setup on a MoView Triple monitor stand. Bought my 19"ers right before the Wide format ones came down in price. I just setup a second PC Dedicated to all things Graphics, Photos, HD Video. with a new 24" Widescreen LCD monitor for it. My desk is a complete Mess after moving everything around to also fit that monitor on my desk, I have ALOT of work ahead of me here. Winter plan is to get the walls fully tore out and add all new insulation as one of the previous owners stapled the insulation in the wall cavities not on the edges along the studs to keep it Fluffy, but to the wall board crushing the insulation down to nothing, leaving about a Zero R factor. For now heres a pic of the Triple monitors, once the room is nearing completion I will post picks of the hole Office it should become. I am into Vintage Delta woodworking machines as a hobby and the screens reflect that.

Kaz's Auto & Wall Graphics "As Individual As You Are." (OK so I'm a Newb just starting out and only spend about 2 minutes in Corel picking a couple fonts but you get the drift) Just keep playin in your software of choice and keep savin documents as you restart on another, have family and friends look at them giving input and keep refining until you like what you see. I'm going through the same thing myself here. It's not easy, I keep pouring over old sign images getting ideas and even some new ones I like trying to come up with my Own creation. Something that looks good and POPS out at you. (I got a few ideas for makin that happen , just working of using the software to help create it.)

The guy has a bunch of listings for these at a bunch of different prices ranging from $30.00-$65.00 all with $20.00 shipping. I asked the seller if they were Plastic but never recieved a responce. At $50.00 shipped with 1000 free #2 Gromments, I was wondering if these are worth it for Banners and if anyone here has bought one of these and could give their Review of it? Thanks http://cgi.ebay.com/used-Grommet-Machine-2-Vinyl-cutter-sign_W0QQitemZ130286279015QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1e55aad967&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Do an ebay search, there is someone selling a program he claims to have written. $24.99 and one with something else added for $29.99 Heres a link to his ebay store. I have Not tried it was wondering if anyone here has. http://shop.ebay.com/crusher000/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=

Looking to place my first order for Oracal 651. Mainly starting off ordering 15" wide and plan on placing a later order for 24" wide in colors as well. If you don't mind please look over this order and make suggestions. I have the MH871 (34") cutter. When I ordered my cutter I ordered the 12 color BGS 24"x8 yrd rolls and the starter kit with squeegies and clear transfer tape, etc. So I have 12" and 6" clear R tape already. Apptape roller. Extra blades 40 and 60 degree. And some other things. Mainly with this order I want to have some good vinyl and color choices "in stock" Again after looking over this carts order contents feel free to make suggestions. Thanks. IN CART- ORACAL 651 Intermediate Cal Vinyl 15" x 10 Yard Roll (Punched) Colors: 025 - Brimstone Yellow - $1.50 $14.99 10oz Banner Blank-Asst. Colors- Hemmed & Grommetted View/Hide options Size: 24''x6ft Color: Black $12.91 <( I already have a white one, both will be for My use) ORACAL 651 Intermediate Cal Vinyl 15" x 10 Yard Roll (Punched) Colors: 092 - Copper (Metallic) - $2.00 $15.49 RTape ApliTape 4075 - High-tack General Purpose Application Tape 100yd Size (Inches): 15 - $31.45 $34.34 RTape ApliTape 4075 - High-tack General Purpose Application Tape 100yd Size (Inches): 3.25 - $4.58 $7.47 RTape ApliTape 4075 - High-tack General Purpose Application Tape 100yd Size (Inches): 8.5 - $16.59 $19.48 ORACAL 651 Intermediate Cal Vinyl 24" x 10 Yard Roll Colors: 070 - Black $20.99 ORACAL 651 Intermediate Cal Vinyl 24" x 10 Yard Roll Colors: 010 - White $20.99 ORACAL 651 Intermediate Cal Vinyl 15" x 10 Yard Roll (Punched) Colors: 068 - Grass Green - $1.50 $14.99 ORACAL 651 Intermediate Cal Vinyl 15" x 10 Yard Roll (Punched) Colors: 080 - Brown - $1.50 $14.99 ORACAL 651 Intermediate Cal Vinyl 15" x 10 Yard Roll (Punched) Colors: 031 - Red - $1.50 $14.99 Oracal 651 Intermediate Calendared Vinyl 15'' x 10yd roll Colors: 091 - Gold (Metallic) - $3.00 $16.49 3 Roland Cemented Carbide Blades - 60 Degrees $12.00 Oracal 651 Intermediate Calendared Vinyl 15'' x 10yd roll Colors: 065 - Cobalt Blue - $1.50 $14.99 Oracal 651 Intermediate Calendared Vinyl 15'' x 10yd roll Colors: 090 - Silver Grey (Metallic) - $3.00 $16.49 Oracal 651 Intermediate Calendared Vinyl 15'' x 10yd roll Colors: 070 - Black $13.49 Oracal 651 Intermediate Calendared Vinyl 15'' x 10yd roll Colors: 040 - Violet - $1.50 $14.99 Oracal 651 Intermediate Calendared Vinyl 15'' x 10yd roll Colors: 010 - White $13.49 Subtotal $293.57 TOTAL $293.57

Well here they are BGS vinyl , I bought the 24" 12 color starter pach that are 3 yrd rolls. The USC clear tape seems to SUCK as the vinyl just wants to stay stuck to the paper backing. Hints on peeling and getting all the Tiny pieces to come off so they can be applied? Made these in SBE, grabbed them off the forum here (thanks to whomever posted them) Grabbed a few thgings for some practice, most I think I said Thankyou in the thread they were posted in. The Eagles are 8"x8" and Marilyn is 4.5"x6". < Wants a local PAID Tutor for the software ! LOL (Not kidding about that.) I "Mirrored" one of the Eagle Heads so when I apply them on my vans side windows they both will be facing the same way. Thanks to all for the help so far, I got ALOT to learn. Here they are:

Well looking at his feedback this one might have answered my question.> Not a serious grommet mach. It's made from "pot metal" Broke in 5 min. Junk inthesignbiz ( 136) Aug-21-08 13:53 Reply by vynil_windowtint_supply (Aug-21-08 18:16): buyer is a garbage we shipped a perfect machine -- (#130241559259) And few few others complained it broke as well. I had read an OLD thread here about a Grommet machine Deal on ebay and was wondering if this was the one being reffered too., Must not be.

Thanks for the Tip. Already had some and bought a few more at the local Ace Hardware, they have a bin full of them at the register for a $1.00 each I think they were. Got a really Nice pair of Tweezers that was in the bin the Pointed ends are curved and sharply pointed, I'd have grabbed several of those but it was the last pair.

Thanks

Ignorance is no excuse for the Law You had Better do your homework and FIND OUT. Better to be safe than sorry.

Thanks everyone, I did make the ladies kinda small wanting to see just how much detail it would cut. Weeding was a PITA in my semi dark badly lit compter/now cutting room. The light boxes I bought on ebay are AWSOME for seeing whats actually cut. My eyes have thanked me for buying them after weeding in the dark . lol Thanks again and i'll keep adjust cutter and speed to dial the cutter in .

Thanks. I did get clear app tape in 12" and 6" when I bought the cutter. I plan on placing a large order of 24" rolls next. Thought maybe some colors might be better off buying in one size or the other. The apptape roller thing I bought here is 28" wide so 24" should fit fine. I added the small roll to have on hand for small decals, and will consider a 24" roll with my 24" vinyl order. I was planning to see how things went and then place 50 yrd roll orders once I had a good idea of what I would be using alot of. Thanks again for your help.

I agree ff, I bought a few Gateway computers a few years ago. One was an extreme Lemon from day 1. I paid for extended warrenties that also Included In Home Service, I'd call tech support over and over and they would send out a replacement part and say when you recieve it call us back and we will walk you through installing it, i'd say but I paid extra for in home repair and get an excuse every time then one service person said, "oh we would only actually send out a in home service tech IF we had to send you a complete Motherboard". Guess who was sitting at his kitchen table with new Motherboard in hand phone in the other to completly tear down the computer to install that Motherboard. Needless to say I was pretty ticked off, so I did some research and found a site about complaints on companies and clicked on the Gateway section. A woman explained her dilema with Gateway and what she did about it. I took that info and contacted the states attorney generals office NOT for MY state, but for the state that the company Gateway is in. Any business were your wornged call the states attorny general office that the company is in to get Results. I fought with Gateway about that computer for over 6 months. I made that ONE phone call on a Friday afternoon and the secratary said the states attorney was not in her office and took my info and reason for my call, and my number. I NEVER thought I would here from her not being a voter in her state, WOW was I WRONG, First thing Monday morning at 9AM I get a call from her in person, she asks me whats the problem and I explain, and have complete documentation to back my story to her. She says give Gateway 24 hours to contact you and If they do not contact you call me back after the 24 hours. 5 hours later I get a call from Gateway, and I am told how Sorry they are and am asked if I have access to the internet, I say yes on one of my other computers and the Gateway person asks me to go to the Gateway website and to please pick out ANY computer I want, I say, I can't afford to do that, We Gateway will pay for it 100% and ship it out to you overnight at our expence for all your troubles. Less than 24 hours later a new complete computer system at 2x's the cost of my original purchase was at my door and I had several phone calls from Gateway asking if I wanted assistance in hooking it all up and making sure it was running fine. Next day and the next week I got calls asking if everything was OK and to my satisfaction. I called their states attorney general back and explained everything was taken care of and Thanked her very much for her time and help . I have no idea what she said or who she talked to at Gateway but she sure put a raging FIRE under someones azz and got things Done and Done FAST. I learned alot on how to get things taken care of when needed. That was a 1,000.00 purchase for that one computer so was worth the effort to find out exactly who to call and when. Now on small things I just don't bother shopping with a company anymore and shop elsewhere, and IF everyone else did the same companies would bend over backwards to keep you as a loyal customer. I have since bought 4PC's and 3 laptops, who lost, not I.

CS is the Same way Here too. I buy a Brand New cutter and Several Supplies for it at the same time. I did not mess with ebay and bought Direct from USCutter. I get my MH871 and a roller is missing the press fit bearing end. I told them on the phone I have Not unpacked everything yet and that I noticed the missing piece while putting the stand together and said the cutter itself was still taped in its plastic bag so I won't know if the cutter is fine or not. But I wasn't sure how they would handle it with the missing part and called before going further into unpacking and connecting everything if they were gonna say box it up and ship it back we will send out another one. I was sent the roller out and told to go ahead and finish unpacking it all and hook it up. OK , cool , I continue on putting the stand together and then unbag my brand new MH871 cutter bought directly from us cutter and my son and I go to lift it up on the stand and, OUCH ! as I reach under it at the end my hand grasps under the end and as we lift it it slides in my hand and I get cut and am bleeding,(luckily for someone it wasn't my sons hand) like WTF I look at the cut wipe off the blood we grab the cutter and put it on the stand and I start looking it over, I see why it cut me the bottom of the plastic end cap has a crack in it which is sharp. I wash out my cut and am thinkin, no problem I will send a ticket as they call them explaining the side cover has a crack in it, and they will send me out a replacement like they did for the roller with the missing endcap bearing. A few days go by and no answer to my ticket email. Meanwhile my order of supplies is shipped (about a week after the cutter arrived) thats fine I knew they shipped from different places. I open the box and am shorted a Light Yellow roll of the BGS 24"x3yrd roll, so I fire off another Ticket. Finally I get an email about the first ticket asking me if anyone has contacted me, I reply no not until You. We get on the phone then, I explain that the sidecover has a small crack in it at the bottom and it has cut me once and tell him about the other Ticket I sent about the Missing Light Yellow BGS roll from the 12 color starter pack , placed on hold, came back and asked me "well how many rolls did you get"? I said it was the 12 roll 24"x3yrd deal for $65.99 and it shows Two Yellows a light and a dark yellow. So missing the Lighter yellow I have 11 rolls. Placed on hold again for a few minutes and he comes back and says he will Credit my account for $10.00.HUH? BGS 24"x10 yrd rolls are $14.00 (No option to buy a 3 yard roll) PLUS another $9.99 to ship if I go ahead and order the light yellow roll I should have recieved in the first place. I get double talked on the issue with a side cover being cracked by asking me if the cutter is working, I say yes I think so but the covers cracked and cut me, His reply/thoughts were to say, "well we could cover it under warranty but I would advise against that". Which basically amounted to a brush off of the issue, WTF? Keep in mind my very first direct uscutter order was $566.24 (MH871 and supplies) and I have $293.57 IN my uscutter shopping cart waiting to be bought here. And planned on a few more 300.00 vinyl orders placed within the next month to pretty much be fully stocked as a sign shop would be. It looks as though they just did not want to be Bothered sending me out a roll of vinyl that I PAID for already, and a non cracked replacement side cover. And there is No mention of the $10.00 Credit I was told I would recieve in my account on 9-03-09 @ 9:58 AM by email after our phone conversation. My order has sat in my cart since then waiting for that $10.00 Credit to be put in my Account. On the phone it was made to sound like ok if you insist we can cover it under warranty, but I don't recommend it,(sounding like if I wanted that replacement cover, it was gonna Cost me, Shipping it back, the cutter, and paying shipping for a replacement, it wasn't actually said, but with the "we can cover it under warranty but I wouldn't recommend it" comment earlier in our conversation it sure felt implied to me it would be that way. I just wanted my due to me roll and a replacement cover sent to me, to be installed by me. I'd have been very happy with that outcome, as I was not asking for anything other than what I had originally paid for to begin with. Left a very Bad taste in my mouth thats for sure. I know and can here some of you saying , but these are decent cutters for less, you gotta expect some things. To me thats just a BS excuse, there are plenty of other chinese cutters in this price range on the market, Customer Service will be the Only thing that sets one seller apart from another. ( And maybe software that comes with the cutter from a company still in business) I had planned on placing my 300.00 order for Oracal 651 15" rolls here, then after recieving that order placing a 300-400.00 order for 24" Oracal 651. Was even thinking about a second cutter so I would have a spare, that contour cuts, but with service like I recieved on my first 566.00 order I will more than likely be looking elsewhere to buy from in the very near future. I was injured on the job awhile back, a union trade, and was injured to the point I cannot return to my former trade ever, so I am Investing in Myself to start a new career. I could Invest in a few of the Rolands if I wanted too, but thought I would go in at a $1 - $2,000.00 level and see were it lead me, then invest in better equiptment down the line as I got comfortable. I will say this, that One bad customer service experience cost a heck of alot more in future sales than just sending out the paid for missing light yellow and a replacement piece of 50 cent plastic. In this day of economic hardships for average people and Huge corporations with businesses closing their doors daily , Customer Service will need a major Overhaul as the average person, Is mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. The Companys Loss not mine, I can spend my hard earned cash anywhere.

White rollers in V groove?

The card did not allow you to modify it with text choice color or size. Gotta give info and pay extra for that, so this was just a "test" to see what everyone here thought of the colors and general style. IF I go with it I would add to the cost and do changes, first being larger text. Plus the backside I can fill up with stuff too. Name Corny?? It popped in my head and I can't think of anything else at all. Dang Sixth Sence Movie! lol (IC DEAD PEOPLE!)

Just played around on one of those business card online places, your thoughts for the card and name? Card is a basic Template on the site and there very reasonably priced back would be done as well. Just as a quick hand out card until I get a Logo and stuff made up. Looking for a Retro feel maybe a vintage type sign of the 40s-50's type thing . With black background and bright colors like this card but more Vintage.

Guess i'll stick to getting this order with mainly 15" then, thought more would chime in on this. BTW, dude you Gotta RAISE your pricing!!!

Thanks for the reply, what Widths do you keep on hand or mostly use? I plan on going after store fronts (not auto dealers, around here they have guys paint those on glass) but strip mall stores, banners and coroplast signs some decals, window decals, oh just about anything really. Just starting to build an inventory while I explore this signblazer software and start working the streets with business cards after I feel comfortable with the software. I plan on using some colors for the Black Banner that will be my advertising of sorts once I decide on a name and create a logo. Been working on those online business card places and mocking up some cards trying to decide. Anyone else feel free to post up opinions on this order. Thanks

Nice work. Now you Need to talk them into a nice "Open Mondays" sign to match.

I just recieved the 12"x9" lightbox. It works GREAT ! Small and Very light, I have had it ON for 3-4 hours now just makin sure its good and it is. There is NO heat from the unit at all NONE. This little guy can easily and comfortably sit on your lap while you weed out decals or stick multi colored ones together. It is Exactly as pictured and was packed for shipping VERY WELL, they used those gray plastic bags and expanding foam, UPS could have kicked this thing around a football field for days and it would not have been hurt at all. Sitting on my desk it is only 2 1/4 inches high, with four small rubber feet. There are two slots as well so you could hang it on the wall and weed standing up, the vinyl can slide up under the edge and stay like it was X-ray film. I am VERY pleased with it and the seller. BGS Navy Blue I can set on it and clearly see everything printed on the backing paper, gonna be ALOT easier on these 48 year old eyes when weeding thats for sure. If you havent nabbed one of these, DO IT, you won't regret it at all and wonder Why you didn't get one sooner. Can't wait for the larger one I bought to arrive on Friday.

I did the "TEST" cuts with my new MH871 and for the BGS stuff I bought to learn with, found that 60 was good. 60 cut my first few Decals real well for weeding.

Thanks, I grabbed it too.

I just won this one for $9.99 but the UPS shipping was another $26.00. This one is a Tabletop Light Box 18"x12". 12 foot long cord. I plan on flush mounting this one into a long wood banquet table I have thats 8 feet long. My light boxes are now bought so thats another set of Tools out of the way. Sellers images from ebay auction.

Thanks FireMalt, I had seen those on the USCutter website in the Clearance section but had no idea what they were used for. Thanks