First time making signs using vinyl?

[Peter Normington]

Hi
If the vinyl came with a heat press, is it “normal ” Vinyl, or for garments?
Or in other words is it sticky backed plastic. If so you can just cut it in your plotter, apply application tape and stick directly to the board.
Peter

[JaneGaul]

Hi, thanks for this, it is sticky backed. I had thought it had to be heat pressed!

We tried one sign, as you said, cut the wording out on the plotter, weeded it till just the letters were left, then covered with the tape and stuck down – but it took absolutely ages for a 6 word A4 sign!

Is there other sorts of vinyl which can be used for signs? Sorry for the ignorance, but any help much appreciated!

Is there any instruction manuals or any websites which offer guidance?

Many thanks

[Kevin.Beck]

i think you`ve already found the best site to help you out.

how long did it take you. what problems did you encounter?

it should only have taken you a matter of 10 mins max.

[Simon Kay]

I remember the first time my wife and I did a sign. It took forever – the sweat was dripping of us. It was SO hard we wondered if we were doing the right thing getting into this business.
You get used to it. You work out, by making mistakes, what works and what doesn’t. Persevere. It worth it.
Like Becky says, you’ve probably found the right site at the right time.
Good Luck. :lol1:

[Lynn Normington]

scozzie
I remember that as well thought what I am doing can’t do this it was a reveresed out window in the middle of winter now I sort of know what I’m doing after 6 + years and still love it, spect you and your wife do as well is it just the two of you working toghether? it is with us

Lynn

[Simon Kay]

Yeh Lynn just me and Di and the 4 year old ‘helping’ 😀

[Jayne Marsh]

JaneGaul,
If you look on the reverse of your vinyl ( the backing paper ) see if there is any wording (such as Mactac, KPMF etc) it might help in identifying what type of vinyl you have. It should only take you about 10 to 20 mins to make an A4 sign with 6 words on

[JaneGaul]

Hi, thanks for your replies, we’ll just have to keep trying!

The vinyl we have says Ri. Mark – it also has Ritrama, Ri-Mark Series L & M on it.

I keep reading that doing signs is much more profitable than printing t-shirts etc – so obviously we want to get into that if we can.

Where is the best place to get the typical sort of white board to put the vinyl into? Anyone got any recommendations?

By the way, we’re a husband and wife team, with a little help from our 11 year old!

Thanks

Jane

[Jayne Marsh]

Ritrama vinyl should be fine to use, however I dont know what grade it is, i.e. 2 year, 3 year life etc. Try contacting Pyramid displays on 0161 872 5666 or Cox plastics ( sorry haven’t got their no) You will need foamex or something similar, the suppliers will advise

[Ivan Morley]

From the Ritrama website:

L100 Series 3 year 70µ Sign Vinyl – Gloss Finish Permanent Acrylic 34 Medium term general sign applications 1.22 x 50m (some 1.0 x 50m also)

M300 Series 3 year 70µ Sign Vinyl – Matt Finish Semi-Permanent Acrylic 34 Medium term sign applications (indoor & outdoor use) – especially suited for exhibition use due to matt finish and semi-perm adhesive. 1.22 x 50m

It looks like upto 3 years outdoor vinyl. I boguht some via Ebay a couple of weeks ago.

Ivan

[Carrie Brown]

You could try Amari Plastics, Cox or Europoint for boarding and other materials …. its worth giving as many suppliers as possible a call and request samples , prices etc. I will try and track down contact details for them all. Victory Designs or Grafityp – who have an advert on the home page sell garment marking films and other sign making stuff too.

I dont want to state the obvious here or sound like a complete moomin, but after applying the taped up vinyl to the board … did you apply it with a squeegee or equivalent …. you didn’t just leave it to adhere itself? … sorry its just that I know someone who did this so thought I would just mention.

You are definitely in the right place for any help or advice …. don’t be worried about asking anything no matter how trivial or daft you think it might sound …. plenty of peeps here to help.

😀

[JaneGaul]

Oops … didn’t know we had to use a squeegee thingy! I think that would help a lot! Many thanks for that Carrie – really glad you mentioned it. We are total beginners re doing signs, so things like that would not have occured to us!

Also, re application tape, is that the same as the heat press tape, which we use to tape down vinyl onto t-shirts etc while pressing? Is there any special sort of tape then for vinyl signs?

Many thanks!

Jane

[Carrie Brown]

we dont use any application tape for our garment film …. we cut the mirrored image in the hotmark, weed and then apply to the garments … the backing paper it is adhered to protects it when its being pressed.

As with vinyl there are a lot of different application tapes on the market, different strengths low tack, high tack etc, clear for ease of alignment … although we dont work well with that … but every one has their own favourites.

If you are applying vinyl to any boarding or banner material etc you will need a squeegee or roller to apply it down to ensure it is stuck properly before pulling away the application tape.

There are some demos and a lot more info in some of the other members sections that would be of help to you … it may seem like a lot of pennies but it really is worthwhile upgrading to gain access to the other areas.

As I said you really need to contact suppliers and get as many samples, brochures etc as you can and then you will know whats what … and of course just keep asking here … you can never ask too many questions.

Boarding types … again there are a lot of different substrates out there for different applications … you have the lightweight correx or euroflute boarding … this is what is usually used for estate agent boards … you can get it in different thicknesses though suitable for for site boards etc. You have foamex which is used mainly for temporary or indoor use or for small signage as it can be prone to warping in weather conditions, if you have to use it outside 10mm is the better option. You then move up to your more suitable materials such as dibond/reynobond which is ideal for exterior signage but is does cost more … but is worth it. Then you get into the acrylics, stainless steel, brass … anything you want to have a go at really.

Banners are another good line to get into …. You need to use the banner vinyl though not standard vinyl if you can help it. Bannerbox, Boldscan, General Banners are a few suppliers of the banners … made ready to go … you just apply your graphics to them.

I hope this info is of some use to you … Ive gone blank now … will add more as I think of it … or just ask away if you need to know anything else in particular??

😀 babble babbble 😛

[Carrie Brown]

Here are a few links for you … not in any particular order … so you can contact them for samples, brochures etc.

http://www.amariplastics.com/amari/

http://www.coxplastics.co.uk/CP/company_info.asp

Victory Designs – Tel: 01246 570771

http://www.grafityp.co.uk

http://www.paperco.co.uk

http://www.boldscan.com/

😀