help please with flood coating recessed panels

[Chris Wool]

quote :

Is there a special knack to this?

yes james its called practice sorry

cutting curves takes a lot of it, some times laying a pin strip line down then cutting to the edge

chris

[James Martin]

Dont suppose you fancy coming up and doing one for me Chris……..na………..ok.

Could you point me in the right direction for buying in some template paper?

Could it come on a roll that I could use the plotter pen on?

cheers.

[Phill Fenton]

James

I would use application tape to fill the entire recess area and then some. Then trace onto the tape the outline of the recess. Remove from van. Put the tape onto your vinyl, then cut it out by hand. I use this method to get the shapes of back windows when covering them in vinyl.

[Chris Wool]

james big roll of brown masking paper body shop suppliers.
or orical do plotting paper fair price

phill tried that my paper distorts by the time i get on to vinyl i like the idea but i cant get it to work.

chris

[James Martin]

thanks Guys will probably give both methods a go

Got to build those brain synapses…… 😉

[Steve Morgan]

James,
If you need some paper quickly, buy some white lining paper, from a wallpaper shop, it comes in several weights (thicknesses) and it’s quite cheap.
And to give you a third way of doing it, similar to both Chris and Phil, tape the paper onto the side of the van and with a dar crayon or stick of chalk do a ‘rubbing’ as in brass rubbing of the panel. With a bit of practice, as always, you can achieve a very accurate line. If it’s an inside curve then cut the paper parallel to the inside or outside of your line.
As Chris says there’s no easy way it just needs practice

Steve

[Kevin Flowers]

Hi
who wants to do the six panels i’ve got to do tomorrow, i use the waste backing from the laminator or the waste backing off the vinyl. Cut roughly to shape so it can be pushed into the recess easier without creasing everything up then draw round with a pencil. Try back in the recess trim where needed.If its silicone paper a slight spray mist of water will hold it to your vinyl while you cut round it

Kev

[John Harding]

id apply the vinyl to the panels oversize then run masking tape around the perimeter and then use this tape edge to help guide a nice fresh scapel blade works a treat

John

[James Martin]

that’s the way i can imagine doing it at some point down the line John when I’m super confident.

how about this though:

If you could get something like the blade and holder thats in your plotter you could set the depth to almost go right through without contacting with the paintwork underneath.

It would be safer than using a scapel.

In fact I’m toying with the idea of just taking the blade holder out my graphtec giving it the few microns of recession and having a go zipping round the inside curve like a bob sleigh.

What does anyone think?

Will it go back to doing its usual job ok?

[Chris Wool]

quote :

In fact I’m toying with the idea of just taking the blade holder out my graphtec giving it the few microns of recession and having a go zipping round the inside curve like a bob sleigh.

that aint so daft.

the trick is not to cut all the way through when cutting on the vehicle i practiced on a scrap wing.
a new Craft knife and stroke the vinyl rather than cut it if you see what i mean.

chris

[John Harding]

James I think youre being over cautious its not too hard I promise – stick a bit of vinyl on your own vehicle and have a go, it doesnt even matter if you lightly touch the paint Im sure you know that superficial scratches T cut out – you just need to ensure you dont go down to the layers below, the fact that youre concerned means you are contentious enough to get it right unlike some of the cowboy stories we have had on here of removing vinyl to find deep cut lines in the paint from the previous applicators trimming efforts. 😕

John

[David Glen]

Reminds me of a time I was dealing with a Chemex rep in a LWB sprinter.
Very complicated diagonal graphics had been applied some 2 years back and the whole van was covered in thin criss cross rust lines. OOPS!
The sort of thing that could come back to haunt you if they decided to claim for the damage.

[Kevin Flowers]

James
the knife holder does work excellent because you can set the depth, depending on the holder & the recess it gives a border 2-3mm away from the corner. However it does leave a nice straight contoured edge to the panel that you are fitting. I used a new Summa holder now redundant from my machines because i use smart knives.

Kev

[James Martin]

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