TheKid

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Posts posted by TheKid

  4. Posted

    I appreciate your honesty man...and i tried going over the bolts, didnt work so well, wasted some material...got pissed and said, screw it...did my measurements and came up with this design....and i am already 1 step ahead of you on that....i am going to either:

     

    1. remove the bolt and put vinyl there and put the bolt back...

    2. paint the inners red...

     

    But this being my first big big thing and my first trailer..its a learning experience too.. :)

    Why not get some paint mixed the color of the vinyl to mask such a small areas. Other than the bolts sore thumbs it looks great. -kid

  7. Posted

    Rotate your object if your width is greater than 24" and your height is less than. I have a 14" cutter and can cut objects greater than 14" this way. Set your mat to match your vinyl. As long as your object is not greater than your margins you can position your file to cut by rotating it to fit your mat.

  8. Posted

    if you go to a show check it out - really cool stuff and they are always at the nbm shows (along with ikonics - same stuff).   I made a home made exposure unit for it

    Is that made from an old PC scanner? Sweet!

  9. Posted

    Your text becomes an object. Put your weed box around it and group together. OBJECT > WEEDING then drag mouse around both and OBJECT and WEEDBOX then OBJECT > GROUP

     

    Now your weed box and text are locked together.

     

    Next go to OBJECT > TRANSFORM > ROTATE

     

    Now you have the object traveling thru your cutter with the least width. If you want to mirror. OBJECT > FLIP >HORIZONTAL will achieve a mirror image. -kid

  10. Posted

    Hello all, I have spent the past couple of days trying to figure this out on my own through reading, internet research, and my own trial/error with no result. Any input you may have is greatly appreciated. I have two questions:

    1. Im cutting a wall decal that is several lines of text. How do I get all three lines of text into the same "selection tool" box so I can size and manipulate the entire paragraph together? (I know how to ungroup and group...anyway to group a multi line phrase together?)

    2. In SCALP, is there a way to place my project on a word or powerpoint sheet? I am trying to place the phrase mentioned in #1 onto a website (from SCALP) as an image without/prior to cutting it.

    Thanks in advance for any assistance.

    To answer the OP's question if you have three lines of text and want to manipulate them all when resizing. Each line of text becomes an object. To combine the objects as one. Yes you use the GROUP switch. To achieve this drag your mouse around all three objects and select the GROUP. Now as the group is selected you can use the shift key and mouse to enlarge the object to your preferred size OR enter in dimensions. To maintain aspect ratio be sure that box is checked.

    Now that you have groups all objects as one. You can use the file in a website with the proper code to define it's size.

  11. Posted

    Anyone here dabbled with the 40-50W laser cutter-plotters as seen on ebay. I saw one for around $2500 and a smaller one for around $600. I want to try to make some vintage tractor serial number tags and thought about laser etching them. The one I'm looking at with either vector cut or burn JPG's to different materials.

  13. Posted

    When using SCALP3 my colors are layers displayed on the right of the screen. I can close the eyes on the ones not cutting so to cut one color at a time. Opening all eyes shows the layers stacked as lines in preview. I guess one would describe as cut by color when selecting that layer. If the weed box is not grouped with it's color one can mistakenly move an object in the weed box and mess up your cut.

     

    So your seven color Object would have 14 layers counting weed boxes. Only seven if the colors are grouped with a box. After grouping with a weed box they can be rotated and position to maximize your matt with less waste of vinyl.

  15. Posted

    I have been using graphic software for almost 12 years now. When you save it's saved. When you close a file it's closed and start a new project. I can't tell you how many times I have closed a file and started a new one then saved but it overwrites the recently closed file!

    Kinda frustrating to say the least.

    In most graphic applications when you start a new project a new project window opens. In SCAL, the same name is there and when you hit save it will overwrite your project and now your work is gone. I have had to redo a dozen files simply due to the odd ball way SCAL saves and starts new projects. When you close a layout window in every other app the window is closed but the app is still open allowing you to create a new workspace. In SCAL, the entire program closes.

    It's a functional program but opening, saving and creating new projects is kinda poorly done.

    Just venting!

    Mike

    My version of SCAL3 3.053 defaults to NO to save when exiting. I also can "save as" prior to exiting and not overright original work by changing the filename.

  17. Posted

    OMG I need help. Idk what I'm doing wrong so first I tried working with a font and a puzzle to send to cutter. It didn't cut right at all than I tried just the font it just scribbles and than when I tried just with a puzzle and the pen just lift...doesn't even write ( wasted some shits with the blade) I'm getting frustrated please help. In anyway.

    Use the pen instead of the blade until you get your problems worked out.

    Let's get down to basics. First, what type of OS PC are you using? Serial port or USB port. Are you using SCAL3? Are you using Windows? What are you trying to cut? Filetype? Are you using a vectoring software to create your graphic? SCAL3 seems to work best with SVG files. It really sounds like your software driver is loaded properly.

    Now describe your process from start to finish. I have a 14" MH using SCAL3 in win7 off a laptop thru a USB port. -kid

  19. Posted

    Here are a few things I did for a friend of mine.

    What are the approximate size these? Also what would the cost of a not copyrighted graphic this size be? One could cartoonize their kids.

  21. Posted

    Thanks!  The guy that makes the headlights is one of my regular customers down in Georgia and always sends his customers my way for vinyl work.

     

    facebook.com/southeastCAL 

    Does this guy in Georgia have a website or contact number you could pass on to me in a PM. Name and number or website? Thanks -kid

  22. Posted

    Sorry. I forgot to use the quote button. My statement about the cheap frames was for selling them at arts and crafts fairs. I didn't mean to imply that you use that for your daughter's gift. I like when you can use the 40-50% off the frames at Hobby Lobby or Michael's. Their frames are quite nice.

    What i've witnessed at flea market and craft fairs is the artist puts the best work on display. With that said, why use dollar frames to sell as an option. If I where to do as you mention I would sell the same Hobby Lobby or other discounted quality frames closer to retail as an option. I hear what your saying and the cheap frames could just be given away with the purchased picture so they have something to show when they get home or to just protect the finished product. -kid

  23. Posted

    correct way to set the blade

     

    To start with, you should set your blade depth correctly, by taking the blade holder out of the machine, and firmly cut across a piece of scrap vinyl, you will be cutting. You should only be cutting the vinyl and barely a mark on wax paper backing, Adjust blade to get there, Then put the blade holder back in machine, and use the force of the machine to get there, same results, only cutting the vinyl and barely a mark in wax paper backing.

    I think you misunderstood what I was referring to. The video did exactly as you described but using postit notepad. You remove the blade and holder and adjust till it cuts only one sheet of paper. Using scrap vinyl like your cutting is best. I did try the paper method and it worked equally as well. It's a good starting point anyways.

  24. Posted

    I appreciate the tip but I wouldn't give a dollar frame to my daughter for her birthday. Hobby Lobby has some high quality frames you can catch for half price when on sale. I think my silhouette looks pretty good and deserves more than a dollar frame. Thanks