need a little help….please

[Phill Fenton]

Try Grafityp:-
http://www.grafityp.co.uk
(Look under machinery – they have a range of Laser cutters)

Nigel Pugh is a member of these boards and would be able to advise.

[Derek Homer]

Thank you Phill, I will have a look now, I am only looking for a smallish one to start with till things take off.

[Derek Homer]

just had a quick look, all the machines are very nice but like I said I am new to this and just starting out and we are trying to open a new business what are other people using to cut stencils… any help will help me out here this is all very new to me.

there are a few on Ebay selling there cutters and pc’s there are a few Rolands on there too is this a better way to go

thanks

Derek

[Robert Lambie]

what is the purpose of the stencils?

can you not cut in an alternative adhesive backed vinyl?

an intro post in "say hello" forum and picture would be good too? 😀

[Derek Homer]

Hiya Robert,

Ok here is story, my main business was supplying the upholstery trade for 15+ years until the past few years in which they have taken me for a lot of money so I had to shut my company Foam Wizards down I restarted a new company last year supplying Shabby Chic people with signs and stencils which I am buying in from all over the place but the range isn’t really what people are asking for so I have found 3 artists who are designing me stencils which I willl be copy writing too I have 400 of my own stencils already designed ready to go, this is the start.

the purpose of the stencils is for shabby chic furniture, these are not my pictures

I am in a scooter club, mini club and a VW club and they want sings banners and stickers making but I feel the stencils will pay the rent to start with,

I will sort a picture out too Robert, sorry about that

[Martin Pearson]

Best advice I can give you is make yourself a cup of tea or coffee (in fact make a flask). Sit yourself down, get comfortable & phone Edward Mathias.

http://www.edwardmathias.com

You will be on the phone for a considerable length of time but you will come away knowing everything there is to know about plotters & the different media they cut. :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

[John O'Sullivan]

quote Martin:

Best advice I can give you is make yourself a cup of tea or coffee (in fact make a flask). Sit yourself down, get comfortable & phone Edward Mathias.

http://www.edwardmathias.com

You will be on the phone for a considerable length of time but you will come away knowing everything there is to know about plotters & the different media they cut. :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

derek must have made that call martin 😮 😮 thats why he’s not been back on to reply :lol1: should we send someone around to top up the flask :lol1: :lol1:

[Derek Homer]

I gave him a call yesterday, what a nice guy he gave me all the pros and cons of the cutters and I think I will be going for a Graphtec FC8600-60 this is just a starter machine, till I can get some money in and I will go for a much larger machine, thanks for all the help lads.

next on my list is to do my own signs outside my unit, I will search the forum for where to buy the correx or foamex foam sheets from.

thanks again

[Martin Pearson]

Do yourself a favour & forget correx & foamex for your signs, these materials aren’t really the way to go if you want to give the right impression. Buy a sheet of composite & use that for your signs. Plenty of suppliers, many of which will cut to size for you if you can’t cut it yourself.
The signmakers toolbar (if still available for download) will list suppliers you can contact.

[Jean Oakley]

Best advice I can give you is make yourself a cup of tea or coffee (in fact make a flask). Sit yourself down, get comfortable & phone Edward Mathias.

http://www.edwardmathias.com

You will be on the phone for a considerable length of time but you will come away knowing everything there is to know about plotters & the different media they cut.

god that made me laugh out loud and spill my coffee

[Derek Homer]

think I down loaded the wrong signmakers toolbar, computer crashed memory was always full once I ran AVG I got 2 trojans 3 virus and a worm? 6 hours later computer is working ok again is there a correct link for this signmakers toolbar

[Greg McCarthy]

Hi Derek,

I used to sell laser engraving machines until I saw the light.

Gravograph have the best build quality and if you can afford them Id go with them. They do a newer, cheaper version (with gl;ass tube) thats s’possed to be good.

C02 laser cutter will cut out stencils no problems in acrylic, card, paper, plastics (not PVC), wood, rubber and more.

Drop me a message if you want more info.

[Martin Pearson]

Not sure about the toolbar or where you downloaded it from but I have never had a problem downloading anything from the forum & I’ve been a member for a little while :lol1: Admin would be the best people to ask about downloading it.
To help get you started you could try Paperlink, Amari Plastics, Antalis for board, there are plenty of others depending on where you are in the Country but not all will deliver Nationwide. Sorry not got numbers to hand but a google search should throw up contact details.

Glad to hear you got the info you required, well worth speaking to them IMO as they give you all the info you are likely to need. You will also find you get a better response to questions if you take the time to introduce yourself in the hello forum & tell everyone a bit about yourself & what you do. Picture helps as well apparently although not so sure about mine :lol1: :lol1: