leecebu 0 Posted January 20, 2011 Hello, I know next to nothing about vinyl cutters and I was curious how fine of detail they are able to cut. I need to mask off designs in steel then have them etched and vinyl works very well as a mask....but it is a pain to cut shapes by hand so I was going to see about having a vinyl shop cut me some designs out. I went to a local place but their only working machine only goes down to .5"...and their other machine (which is currently down) goes to .25". The designs I will be needing cut are pretty small....is .25" about as small as these things cut or do they do finer? For example how fine of a font/font height can be cut using one? Are they capable of printing something like a biohazard symbol .75" tall and still keep the details or is that asking too much? Ideally I would be able to print fonts around .187-.2" tall and print various shapes like dragons, bamboo, etc 1" tall and still keep the detail. Sorry for my ignorance...my only experience with vinyl cutters was helping a friend weed....and he specialized in larger stuff so I have no idea how small they can cut. Thank you for any insight you can offer me! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jay2703 704 Posted January 20, 2011 Have you thought about using a laser engraver instead of vinyl to etch the designs? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leecebu 0 Posted January 21, 2011 Hello, Unfortunately laser etching isn't suited for this application. It does get very, very nice detail but the parts we are etching/engraving have various angles and thicknesses... which do not work well with a stationary laser etcher. Also most laser etches do not do the depth we are looking for and the finish is too uniform. (uniform is typically a good thing but these are one of a kind pieces so some variance is nice) We've tried laser etching, hand engraving, acid etching, electrochemical etching, etc and so far the acid etching and electrochemical work the best for our application....they etch deeply and tend to contour to the grain of the steel so the background in the etched area is unique each time it is done. The problem we have is we need to do some of the same designs over and over and thats where it would be nice to have vinyl cutouts to stick on instead of drawing/cutting by hand each time. Thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DeviantGeek 0 Posted January 21, 2011 i know i can get pretty small with my cutter. but my cutter is one of the value/non proffessional ones. the laserpoint. ive cut small lettering to put on my squeegees i hand out with decals. its prolly about .25" but its block lettering (i think i used something like comic sand only not so comical haha)so something bold and thick. the thinner you get the harder and harder it is to cut. however i do not know how the proffessional cutter hold up like roland or graphtec. i know you can get photomask for etching. im not sure how well it would hold up using a chemical etch as ive never used it. just read about it. take a look at http://www.rayzist.com/Education/Education-MaskVideo.php. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
XLII-Guy 8 Posted January 21, 2011 If you want to send me a file, I could try a test cut later tonight. I am able to cut some pretty fine lines, but... There are two issues with real fine work. 1.) Weeding can be very difficult. 2.) Very thin pieces of vinyl have less surface area, thus less adhesive. Like I said, send me a file (click the little envelope under my name) and I'll see what I can do with it... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rodger 527 Posted January 21, 2011 + 1 on what has been said . Cutting it isn't much of a problem after you get some experience with the blade depth & pressure adjustment . Weeding some fonts , especially the smaller they get can be frustrating . There is a recent thread that had a decal cut so small & intracate it was amazing . The answer is Yes , but it takes alot of experience & patience . If yousearch MR300 & Jenl93 member's posts they have some VERY intracate decals cut . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,709 Posted January 21, 2011 my Graphtec can cut very small .2" and very detailed work Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Booper 2 Posted January 21, 2011 Yes they will cut that small if your machine is dialed in right and if you install it on the steel first and weed it afterwards it'll make life alot easier for you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Conquestgraphics 4 Posted January 21, 2011 Yes they will cut that small if your machine is dialed in right and if you install it on the steel first and weed it afterwards it'll make life alot easier for you. good idea i will have to try this on mugs with fine detail logos Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
all systems 0 Posted January 21, 2011 I cut this on my 34" MH-871. The small letters are 1/8" tall and just starting to lose crispness. I learned after I cut this that when cutting small stuff, to slow the machine down all the way and it cuts a little better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leecebu 0 Posted January 21, 2011 i know you can get photomask for etching. im not sure how well it would hold up using a chemical etch as ive never used it. just read about it. take a look at http://www.rayzist.com/Education/Education-MaskVideo.php. We have tried photo resists in the past and they work great for doing what they are designed for but when it comes to the very deep acid/electrochemical etching they don't work. They are usually used to take a few thousands of an inch off, some of our etches go up to .125"" deep, but usually they are .030"-.060" deep. To do this you have to add an acid resisting adhesive to the photo resist backing before placing it. It usually ends up messy and often is a one time use type deal....too pricey. But thank you...we do use photo resist on some of our other projects requiring a light etch so additional suppliers are always nice to have. If you want to send me a file, I could try a test cut later tonight. I am able to cut some pretty fine lines, but... There are two issues with real fine work. 1.) Weeding can be very difficult. 2.) Very thin pieces of vinyl have less surface area, thus less adhesive. Like I said, send me a file (click the little envelope under my name) and I'll see what I can do with it... I really appreciate your offer!... but for the moment I will hold off on it. I don't have any specific graphics saved yet. I just wanted to see if it was even physically possible to do before I started making a collection of graphics. At this point I have just been doing abstract designs that I cut out by hand. as for 1&2...If the difficulties in weeding are just because it is time consuming then thats not a problem. If the cutter doesn't cut all the way through in some areas then that could complicate things. As for being adhesive....I don;t think that will be an issue. They will be pressed onto a piece of steel, submerged in acid for 30-90mins then peeled off. I tested some vinyl already and as long as I pressed the edges down good then the acid did not penetrate underneath at all. Again I really appreciate the offer! And thanks to the rest of you for your replies! I was curious if it was remotely possible and you have answered my question. Now I will have to come up with some specific designs and find out the most economical method of doing this. I'm hoping to outsource the cutting (we can weed it) but a few square feet of cutouts will go a long way with the process I had in mind since my "canvas" is usually between 2-20 sq inch.....so its a smaller project than I think most graphic shops would want to mess with. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
XLII-Guy 8 Posted January 21, 2011 If & when you're ready, please don't hesitate to drop me a line... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bayshorecreations 30 Posted January 21, 2011 How much wood would a woodchuck chuck ? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Conquestgraphics 4 Posted January 21, 2011 How much wood would a woodchuck chuck ? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop? 3 on tootsie if a recall the owl correctly Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
