Any tips on gauging the amount of vinyl left?

[Hugh Potter]

i thought about this a while back, it’s difficult to measure thickness etc as the cores vary,

so…

i had considered weighing a metre of vinyl, (weigh each type such as oracle 651, 751, reflective, etc), then weighing the roll, you’d also need to weigh a few empty cores to find an average core weight to take off,

so, assuming a metre weighs 100gr,

total weight might be 9500g,
minus core weight, eg 300g,
total of 9200g,
divided by mtr weight, of 100g,

would indicate aprx 92mtrs

obviously my weights are just guestimates, but you get the idea. i never did get around to is as i’m too lazy!

Hugh

Hugh

[Lynn Normington]

if it’s vinyl for cutting you can always run it though your plotter and measure it, if it’s vinyl for print you will just have to take a guess.
or like Hugh says you could always weigh it!!!! not sure how that will work though.

Lynn

[Mike Grant]

It’s not rocket science, just don’t cut more than 2 or 3 meters at a time, the tracking would probably be a bit iffy on anything longer than that, then it is easy to see how much is left on the roll. In all my years in this business I only measure the last 3 or 4 meters just to make sure I have enough to squeeze a job out. Then you should have a spare roll ready anyway just in case.

[Nigel Pugh]

As an ex warehouse manager I could tell just by looking at the roll, I know a right smart a$$ 🙄

Easiest way to tell is when you next order say 10mtrs then just measure the width of the vinyl from were it starts on a core, general vinyl from short term to cast vinyl will normally be on the same type of core in terms off core wall thickness and so your guess will be generally right.

Or as Lynn says run it through your plotter to be exact.

[Steve Underhill]

If its coloured,
theres some left,
if it looks like a brown cardboard tube, you need to get some more in.
That works for me.

[John Wilson]

quote Steve Underhill:

If its coloured,
theres some left,
if it looks like a brown cardboard tube, you need to get some more in.
That works for me.

Yup that works for me too :lol1:

[Scott.Evans]

WHEN YOU RE CUTTER TRYS TO EAT THE TUBE YOU KNOW IT TIME TO ORDER :nana:

IVE DONE THAT MORE THAN ONCE
:banghead:

[Lee Ballard]

Or when your printer has stopped 6" from completing a 72" print, you know it wasn’t quite enough!!

[Peter Dee]

I have done exactly what Hugh mentioned.
An Excel spreadsheet for 3 different widths with an average tube weight.
It has auto fill for supplier and a column for a particular job it might be used for.
Just measure a roll on basic kitchen scales and enter the grams on the sheet.
The length is immediately displayed and flags red if less than three meters.
I’ve set it up to err on the side of caution – generally always 2m left over and above the measurement.
I don’t tend to keep it up to date, more for checking a roll if needed.

[John Childs]

I can’t help thinking that some of these methods involve more trouble and effort than just unrolling the vinyl and measuring it. 😀

[Warren Beard]

quote John Childs:

I can’t help thinking that some of these methods involve more trouble and effort than just unrolling the vinyl and measuring it. 😀

That’s what I thought, if it looks like there is only a little left (which you can see by eye) then unroll it and measure it or as Lynn says run it through the plotter 😕 after all it’s going on anyway so you may as well just do the check on there before cutting 😕

Saying that I’m a bit of a git and sometimes think stuff it and take a chance, I bet you can guess what always happens :lol1:

or

you have just enough left over to complete the job and it’s for a window and you forget to flip the image over, or it gets jammed in the machine 👿 :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

[George Elsmore]

quote John Childs:

I can’t help thinking that some of these methods involve more trouble and effort than just unrolling the vinyl and measuring it. 😀

I agree with you John when you are down to the last so many metres and are unsure unroll and measure simple really 😀

[Peter Dee]

quote John Childs:

I can’t help thinking that some of these methods involve more trouble and effort than just unrolling the vinyl and measuring it. 😀

Some of my large commercial vehicle jobs have runs of 4m per side and need totals of 8m, 16m for 1 or 2 vehicles.
If I need 16m then it is far easier to weigh the roll than unroll that amount.
It might seem a hassle to make up the spreadsheet initially but there are certain times (not the odd few meters) where it is very handy.

[Michael Dunn]

quote Peter Dee:

quote John Childs:

I can’t help thinking that some of these methods involve more trouble and effort than just unrolling the vinyl and measuring it. 😀

Some of my large commercial vehicle jobs have runs of 4m per side and need totals of 8m, 16m for 1 or 2 vehicles.
If I need 16m then it is far easier to weigh the roll than unroll that amount.
It might seem a hassle to make up the spreadsheet initially but there are certain times (not the odd few meters) where it is very handy.

i see what a lot of you are saying about unrolling it and measuring it – but it was the scenario described by peter that i really was talking about.
after around 3-4 meters i can imagine it would become awkward.

is the spreadsheet fairly simple to put together?

[Peter Dee]

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[Stuart Hancock]

In this day and age of technology why can’t they just print down the side of the roll at intervals how much is on it. I am sure they can install something that marks the side of the roll with a measurement on it when they are winding it up to send out to clients.

[Hugh Potter]

quote Stuart Hancock:

In this day and age of technology why can’t they just print down the side of the roll at intervals how much is on it. I am sure they can install something that marks the side of the roll with a measurement on it when they are winding it up to send out to clients.

because if you buy 5 or 10 mtrs, they do it by hand, there’s no real way to mark it accurately, it’s would take too long i reckon, would be ok on 50m rolls, but then i only every buy them for black and white, and always have at least 1 full log.

[Nik_W]

I’m only doing very small jobs mainly for car enthusiasts, so I don’t have to keep a lot in stock at any one time. But I have given this some thought recently and decided an Excel worksheet would be best for me. Something that keeps a track on stock levels. I figured that I could have the worksheet set out so I can enter how many metres of vinyl I have then when I do a job I simply enter how much I used and it calculates how much is left. Obviously, I would have to ensure I do this every time I do something. And when I order more, I simply enter the new figures. Seems simple enough in theory 😉

[green]

You never get exactly the length you order. It can easily be out by a metre or two (as I found out on friday…)

[Steve Underhill]

Hopefully not with window etch, seeing as its a fiver + a metre.
3M stuff is considerably more.

[Stephen Morriss]

For short amounts I just unroll the vinyl and measure it, for longer amounts I count the layers measure the diameter half way through the vinyl X by PI and then X by the amount of layers

So say 10 layers, diameter 85mm. 85 X 3.14 = 267 X 10 = 2.67M.

Just an example as when there is only 2M left I unroll it. I also don’t bother being very accurate on the layer count, just get a scalpel and count the number of clicks as it goes over the edge of the vinyl.

I’ve fount it quick and quite accurate when your in the 5-10m range.

Steve

[Lorraine Clinch]

quote Lee Ballard:

Or when your printer has stopped 6″ from completing a 72″ print, you know it wasn’t quite enough!!

Exactly what happened to me on Friday, cutting out for a van, & out falls the vinyl, underguesstimated by about 14 inches! Doh!!!