Truckntran

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Posts posted by Truckntran

  6. Posted

    This is one doozy of a job for a "first paying job". I can see all sorts of things going wrong here, but if you really want an adventure....

    First of all applying paint with an airless sprayer to concrete walls masked off with paint mask... I highly doubt you will get an effective seal on the letter edges, and you will need to touch up a LOT. I would consider using the paint mask as a guide to lettering brushes and roll on the majority of the fill paint. Hopefully there is some of the original paint used on the wall around to use for touchup.

    Second.. Many 24 inch machines will have registration problems on a graphic that large.. Prepare to do a lot of fudging and remasking the seams.

    Third.. Pricing... You are competing with walldogs and conventional old fashioned sign painters here. If you just go to a website and price RTA vinyl  and add your paint costs you are probably going to be wayyyy too cheap. And by the time you are done....you may be really sorry you took the job.

    I don't yet do stuff this large, so I cannot give you a real world price. If it were me, I would find a concrete block wall somewhere and do some experimenting before I took this on. Or I would make friends with a friendly old time signpainter and offer to give him the job in return for some on the job training for you guys.

    By they way did you notice the website says their stuff costs only "thousands"?

  7. Posted

    N Glantz....also a company named Graphic Solutions Group is spoken highly of by a friend.. If you google them you will get phone numbers and locations... And of course there is always SIgn warehouse for other stuff but they do not do large substrates...

    I just did my first 4 by 8 billboard type sign... I had the business owner help me apply the 8 foot long lettering and it went well... Line up some help for your vinyl application if you can.. (Probably better if you ask someone OTHER than the guy who is paying for the sign....this one was for a buddy so it was no big deal...)

  8. Posted

    Either keep the vinyl on a back side window and high enough that it doesn't get worn from the window opening, or plan on not using the window. I do a lot of pilot car signs on windows, and yes, they do wear if the windows are opened regularly. Warn your customer that this may be a concern...

    I just replaced a chrome sign that was about 3 years old...It was worn right down to the backing and some letters were gone. And I know the driver was pretty cautious about using it only when absolutely necessary.

  9. Posted

    If they already own a cutter and the supplies, you can bet you are going to compete with in house labor...perhaps their vinyl guy quit and nobody else knows how to use the equipment??  Watch out that they don't want to watch ya do it and get free training on their own equipment...If that is their intent sure, do it but charge for it.

    I would doubt that $45/hour will go over real well unless you can do some whiz bang stuff in little or no time.....even though it is worth that any day of the week, they are probably used to paying $10-$15 hour and having employees that can do other stuff when not applying vinyl.  I would be very very careful when negotiating the $$ in this situation.

    Who is responsible if the vinyl is no good and peels down the road? Will they pay you time to get their machine working and talking to their sign program if it is in need of help?  Can their computer do what they are asking you to do with it? Is the software a supported program or is it a bootleg off Ebay?    Is the cutter a professional machine capable of doing reflective? (Or is it a Cricut or Stika?)

    All of the above may be just fine , just go into it with your eyes wide open.

  11. Posted

    Sounds like a sales opportunity to me... Upsell them to a more permanent substrate and a nicer graphic specific to the bar...... At least they are thinking about a new sign already....and point out the coro is not permanent, only a temporary use sign. It might last at best a year before looking ragged. (Unless you completely cover it with vinyl the coro is gonna UV degrade.... )

    Don't get mad about them recycling.. If some folks knew what a coro blank cost us they wouldn't be doing this repainting relettering thing... but we probably don't want them to know either..

  12. Posted

    Get the best squeegee you can find, with no nicks or scratches on the edges, and, yes, apply more pressure. The trick I use is to wet the transfer tape after I have done one pass and do it again with more pressure. I am sometimes amazed at the bubbles that will migrate out from under a letter. The wet transfer tape lets the squeegie slide better and all the force is used to move the air bubbles. Also.... Let the decal sit for a little while before you pull the tape, so it has a chance to develop more of a bond. Then spray it down again and do a final pass before you pull the tape.

    I do a lot of pilot car window signs, I have eventually gotten to where I apply them dry after a thorough cleaning with windex, then sometimes rapid prep, then rapid tac, somewhere in there I use a razor blade to get off specks of paint or whatever schmegma is still sticking, and one last thing before application, after I have hinged the sign, is a quick wipe with a tack rag... dust spots mean air bubbles..

    I get help to hold the top corners of the sign and apply bottom up.. Usually in the wind too...lol...

  13. Posted

    I just tried to do the cutout method on a 18 wheeler hood, using the "punch out" feature of SBE.....but when layering I found there were mismatches between the top and bottom layer  where the hood would show thru... So I just layered shadow under the numbers without punching out the bottom shadow where the top number overlapped.  It was applied in 84  degree sun in Texas last week, still is on the truck this week thru a snowstorm in Wyoming, so I think I can have faith in its durability.

  15. Posted

    I entered but had no entry code...  Man I needed one of these for my Carport biz a couple years back and couldn't find one... You oughtta get the dealer list from TNT carports and send each dealer a flyer... What I ended up buying thru Staples leaked rain and wasn't very durable. I am no longer selling Carports, I moved and no territories down in TX  but hey Ya never know..

  17. Posted

    I have also seen avertising for 2.99 for one sided.  I haven't sold any yet but was wondering how to compete with those prices.  I have found the boards for around $1 and the stakes around $1 then you still have to add in the vinyl and labor.  How are these people doing them so cheap?

    Kim

    They are screenprinting in volume, not using vinyl.. You compete by offerring speed, quality, and custom design. And if they need a hundred, design it and order them wholesale screen printed yourself.  :thumbsup:

  19. Posted

    I have a competitors cheap press with 10 MM grommets...self piercing grommets. It does banners fine, has two larger dies but no grommets available, but it will NOT do coroplast, not even 4MM...Will the US Cutter press work with 4 and 10 mm Coro?:thumbsup:

  21. Posted

    If you haven't checked out the squeegee video links.......and Banner John's big squeegie do it yourself deal, drop everything and go do that before you apply any more vinyl.... I was having the same bubble problems as you and no longer have bubble problems.once I followed  the insttructions to the letter..I tried a plastic edged paint masker and it was no good...Got a metal edged one, applied the expensive wide velcro, and now it looks like I know what I am doing..lol. ......I also bought a coroplast yard sign big squeegie from Sign Warehouse that looks like it will be really helpful for larger stuff.. Nice and stiff, with two different padded edges.

    Good luck with the signs....don't be afraid to mix it up a little with the designs..These charity jobs are a great place to try some new stuff as long as you aren't making much money anyway.

  22. Posted

    "VILLANI" Becomes distorted when I arc it???

    Are you placing text on an arc or are you distorting it with the bezier tools....It will make a difference. In any case it will distort slightly. Might have to do some node editing to make it look  pleasing.

  23. Posted

    You might find one of the custom screenprinting places will blow your pricing away, even at 20 pieces...Keep that in mind if your customer faints and falls over when you tell him the priceis $30 each... ;D

    You could always use whatever colors of vinyl you have on hand to cover the coroplast you have in stock instead of ordering special colors....white blanks are in the 1-2 dollar range, and remember these are not long term signs, you can use cheap vinyl if you can stand working with it..  :thumbsup: