[Lab] Vinyl

Fri Jan 6 19:02:53 EST 2012

Same as Paul. I grew up in a sign shop, and I worked for Carleton University's in house sign shop while I was student there. I don't know what else you would refer to as "adhesive vinyl" except the rolls of sign grade stuff, what are you talking about? Got any literature on it?
If you're going to go with a reflective vinyl, it is a little heftier than regular vinyl, but it can certainly be cut by the standard plotter. It also comes a little higher price. A sign shop will probably mark it up proportionally, so don't be afraid to look around for a cheaper source. My dad used to use ND Graphics, but I don't know if they're still in business.

Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2012 18:46:46 -0500
From: themumbys at gmail.com
To: darcy at siteware.com
CC: lab at artengine.ca
Subject: Re: [Lab] Vinyl

I assumed from "Adhesive Vinyl" that he was talking about standard adhesive backed vinyl film, in which case yes they definitely can. If he's talking about something else then I have no idea.

I assume he means the standard sign stuff, used in signage, window lettering, and vehicle decals. (I worked for a sign shop for a few years way back in the day, and also worked IT for a large print/publishing place that did signage as well for another 2 years, so I'm fairly familiar with the technology).

Typical adhesive backed sign vinyl comes on rolls normally in 6", 12", 24" or 48" widths... So you get the roll that fits your machine. The cricut is a bit different in that it's not meant to run the vinyl through alone, you need to use their cutting surface along with it, but that's not a big deal. (and I'm sure it could be easily hacked to do the vinyl straight up). But I know the machine does cut standard vinyl, as Michaels sells vinyl rolls for it, and I've done vinyl lettering on it.

- Paul
On Fri, Jan 6, 2012 at 6:38 PM, Darcy Whyte <darcy at siteware.com> wrote:

I don't think the vinyl cutters used for signs can cut the plastic in question.

On Fri, Jan 6, 2012 at 6:29 PM, Jason Cobill <jason.cobill at gmail.com> wrote:

   Why buy the cow when you get the milk for cheap? Any respectable Ottawa sign shop will have a vinyl cutter on hand, and most of them will cut you a huge sheet from a .eps file for < $20. 
   Alternatively, there's a bunch of online places that will cut your decals to spec and ship it, for even cheaper. (Search for Vinyl Lettering or Sign Lettering)

   Or - if it's a smallish 1-off design of reasonable complexity and you have a steady hand, print your design out on paper as a stencil and hand-cut a roll of vinyl using an x-acto (cheapest!). A little patience goes a long way - I once saw an amazing final-year typographic design-school project entirely hand-cut in an afternoon.

   I totally dig your idea to pimp out your green bin, by the way. :) You need some of that 3M reflective vinyl they use on road signs - eyecatching! If you template out the measurements of your green bin in a vector program, be sure to pass it along, I'd love to come up it a few designs of my own.

   Also note that vinyl stickers don't wear well exposed to the elements - you might want to design using a less-adhesive vinyl for the point a year or two down the road when you need to inevitably peel all of it off.

   -Jason Cobill

On Fri, Jan 6, 2012 at 5:43 PM, mike Jans <mjans at live.com> wrote:

This company has been making Vinyl cutters for decades now:
http://www.rolanddga.com/products/cutters/ 

My dad has had the same one in his shop since 1990, very reliable machine, but a bit noisy. It wouldn't surprise me if they solved that problem by now though.

From: mike.ayukawa at gmail.com

Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2012 15:53:26 -0500
To: lab at artengine.ca
Subject: Re: [Lab] Vinyl

Need to find one of these:  http://www.corbingraphics.com/cuttersraven.htm
On 2012-01-06, at 3:36 PM, Darcy Whyte wrote:

It might cut on a cnc machine.... 

On Fri, Jan 6, 2012 at 3:35 PM, Andrew Plumb <andrew at plumb.org> wrote:

Never! Vinyl is chlorine-based. Chlorine gas is... Bad.

Andrew.

Sent from my iPhone

On 2012-01-06, at 3:00 PM, Michael Lechasseur <mlecha at artengine.ca> wrote:

> Can the laser cutter deal with adhesive vinyl well? I might like to pimp my green bin.

>

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