-
how do i create a semi automatic system for weeding?
Hey guys,
I want to create a semi automatic system for weeding rolls of print and cut stickers. These will usually be square circles etc so easily weeded.
What I picture in my head is a take up spool you load the roll onto. On the other end you have two rolls one you have your excess vinyl taped onto and the other the weeded media.
My question is because the diameters of the take up excess and the clean media will vary how would you keep them turning at the same rate so its tensioned properly?
Can I use pulley’s or something in like a laminator?
Any ideas appreciated.
-
18 Replies
-
Sounds a bit complicated. What about something like this?
http://www.weedersheeter.com/productinfo/index.htm
They’ll weed a 50 metre roll in no time. Brilliant bit of kit.
-
I want one
-
Did you end up getting one of these John? I’ve looked at them but ideally
would like one 1220 wide to accommodate any width roll. I wonder if they
would make a custom one… -
What a load of carp that weeding machine is !!! Apart from the fact that it doesnt weed the centres of letters, which would be about the only real benefit of a weeding machine, watching the demo video on their site, it takes about 5 times longer than I can do a sheet by hand ( removing the main bulk of the waste like they are doing ).
Can also only see it really working on large letters and basic shapes, anything more complicated will see it struggle to remove the excess without lifting smaller parts of the design.
-
the weeder is a load of rubbish i think .
Does anyone have it.
I quite like the sheeter though.
Do you think it could work as a cold laminator too.
-
Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it guys. 😀
No, of course the weeder doesn’t take out the middles of letters, and yes it does have limitations, despite what the video implies. You also need to get the blade pressure in your cutter right to get the full benefit.
Mike, you are talking about weeding sheets, and in that case you might be right due to the minute or two it takes to set up and you will more than likely able to weed a sheet faster than the machine. However, stick a fifty metre roll of cut vinyl in there and see how fast one of my girls can run it through, including running it backwards slowly to get the middles out. That incidentally also puts it neatly back onto it’s roll for storage until we are ready to tape it.
It’s just the same as any other tool – you have to use it on the right type of work before it comes into it’s own. We wouldn’t want to be without ours. It saves me a fortune in labour costs. It probably earned it’s purchase cost in a couple of weeks.
Another benefit is that waste vinyl is neatly stored on the take up roll and is a nice small tightly wound eco-friendly package to dispose of. Compare that to the armfuls of vinyl you get doing it by hand, which you then have to jump up and down on in your bin to compress it.
Jamie, I’d be interested in buying a 1220 if they will run some off.
-
hi just worry it looks great weeding cast vinyl with a high pressure on the blade. BUt in a real world you will be using an economy vinyl and it will take you 5 times longer.
I like the look of the application tape machine. I can see the sense in that.
Still its very diffrent when you have to do it yourself. I dont have that privilege of weeding things so maybe im not the right person to ask. I pay somebody else to have the hassle.
-
quote DaneRead:hi just worry it looks great weeding cast vinyl with a high pressure on the blade. BUt in a real world you will be using an economy vinyl and it will take you 5 times longer.
The lowest we go is an 80 micron polymeric, usually Avery 700 series, and it works fine with that. I will agree that some of the cheaper, more brittle vinyls will have trouble with smaller letters.
quote DaneRead:Still its very diffrent when you have to do it yourself. I dont have that privilege of weeding things so maybe im not the right person to ask. I pay somebody else to have the hassle.So do I, and if they can get it done quicker, then it saves me money. And labour costs are far and away my biggest expense.
-
Hey John,
That looks good. The only thing it doesn’t do is wind it back up onto a roll.
I’m going to play around with our laminator. It basically does what I need it to do.
But I’m going to try it the other way around. So instead of winding up the backing paper it should tape up the weeded vinyl.
Just need to test the tension to see if it will stretch the weeded vinyl too far.
I’d like something a bit more automatic. Hopefully to speed up our sticker production.
-
Hey John,
I used our laminator to weed about 20 metres of vinyl.
I only had my phone so the quality is crap of this video but you get the idea.
http://www.mediapoint.com.au/mov00098.wmv
I’m happy with this setup it works and its quick.
-
You’re only weeding simple printed rectangles, but that’s fine because that’s all you wanted originally. It seems to work well.
I meant to mention it earlier but forgot, however, from the video, you seem to have sussed that if the take-up roller is the one doing the driving, and the feed roller is just freewheeling, the speed difference due to differing diameters is immaterial. There was never any need to have them both driven. 😀
-
Hey John,
Yeh that’s right. We don’t do cut vinyl here really that much. Its mainly print and cut and usually the shapes are simple and fully closed so this method works.
The difference in the rolls is compensated by the pulleys slipping acting like a clutch.
This will save us a lot of time.
-
About the Weeder / Sheeter tools, are they available in Europe?
Gr. Theo
-
quote TheoK:About the Weeder / Sheeter tools, are they available in Europe?
No.
But they will ship them anywhere.
-
John,
"…the armfuls of vinyl you get doing it by hand, which you then have to jump up and down on in your bin to compress it."
That’s my favourite part of the day!
-
quote Gareth Lewis:“…the armfuls of vinyl you get doing it by hand, which you then have to jump up and down on in your bin to compress it.”
That’s my favourite part of the day!
I understand that Gareth. And it probably helps compact it more if you are a "tubby taffy", as I was reading on another thread. 😀
Seriously though, when we used to do that, sometimes our bin contained one big homologous mass of material that stuck to the sides, and the binmen had a hell of a job to get it to fall out into their truck. On occasion they had to send the smallest and youngest of their number up into the upturned bin to coax it out. Now we compact the waste the bales just fall out with a satisfying thump and the binmen are much happier.
Happy binmen are co-operative binmen. 😀
-
I jump on my lumps of compacted waste vinyl then roll around the carpet with them until they are covered in fluff. Anyway enough of my private habits, back to the topic….
-
Hey Gareth you can reduce about ten armfuls to something the size of a small football using yer heatgun, obviously you have to be really bored to do it, but takes up less space in the bin 😉
Log in to reply.