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Vehicle Graphics: barostic cobber
Ok its not 100 vans like John but it was 6 window perf jobs.
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21 Replies
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OK, it’s not a hundred, but your signs are better than mine. 😀
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Lol dont worry if all goes to plan there might be 200 of them to do. Joy. Anyone want to help out 😛
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I’ll do it for nothing but there will be expenses to consider…. :lol1:
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Nice one Jason. I bet you were cursing those bloody wipers by the sixth one!
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Andy,
I took most of them off. Only one was rusted and I worked around it. Had to make a cut and overlap but the wiper hides it abit 😛
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David down here we pay our staff with slabs 😛 only kidding. We will see if we get the bigger job. I was spending more time trimming and edge sealing then applying the vinyl.
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Nice job Jason, never heard of them tho. A Vic company then?
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Hey Drew,
The company I think is international they do stock feed I think. Were just dealing with the Victorian office. My brother knows more about it his the mouth and I’m the muscle.
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jason thanks for sundays help.
are those window perf laminated ? if so with what please
i have never been happy with standard print no lam
chris -
The material we use is a generic imported 4 year material and the over laminate we use is the Avery DOL4000.
No issues with the laminate, goes on easily through the laminator. The laminate is ‘optically clear’ and there isn’t much difference I think visually of having this laminate than no laminate besides the fact that color is enhanced more due to some gloss in the sun. We don’t bother using any other laminate as we think this is the best.
Jason will slap me around if I have said anything wrong in the above but I am the mouth and the extra pair of hands.
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No problem glad you got your network going. I hate having pc/network problems.
Yep Avery DOL 4000. We edge seal as well by cutting everything back around 5-10mm and applying a thin strip right around it. Stops it from lifting at the edges.
Yes my brother was good today.
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quote Jason Xuereb:Yep Avery DOL 4000. We edge seal as well by cutting everything back around 5-10mm and applying a thin strip right around it. Stops it from lifting at the edges.
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I’ve never used a laminate of the one way vision, thats interesting what you say though.
I only do the cut back edge and seal if I’ve done a full black print up to the edge. Never had a drama with other situations, but I’ve found if you push the envelope and try and get it fitted before its fully dry, the darker print areas will curl up on the edge.
I usually leave a one way vision print to dry for a couple of days at least though, to prevent the problem in the first place.
I’ve got to redo my van window soon, so I might give the overlaminate a go then. Do you have to buy the DOL in a roll or can you buy by the metre Jason?
Did you fit them dry?
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We buy our laminate by the meter as we have only done 7 vehicles at the moment so it isn’t feesable to buy a whole roll. However if we do get a big job of say 30+ vehicles we will buy a roll as it is good to have extra laminate as you do waste a meter or 2 in the laminator and our one-way vision material is much much cheaper on the roll.
With our material laminated its a lot more rigid and easy to install however it can only be done dry as I believe the water has no where to escape to. However Jason has become a pro at applying, no creases or anything like that even on curvy windows. He just works the material a few mm’s at a time.
Yesterday we were applying those windows in 15-20 mins (aligning and putting it down) but then it took a lot longer to trim, cut it down and edge seal it.
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Thanks Jamie,
are you buying the one way vision from SAS in Melbourne? Its about the cheapest out there at the moment,
I’m assuming fitting it dry, you use a heat gun to conform to the window, like a cast application?
I fit my non laminated stuff wet, because it is very quick and easier to line up text and match graphics, but 15-20 minutes for a dry application is impressive all the same.
Well done
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Nah at the moment we buy all of our material from Conect Enterprises. We trust that they bring in the best materials. For example they stopped bringing in a 3 year one-way vision material and started bringing in a higher quality 4 year material for about the same price.
We have a good relationship with those guys and they have tested their laminates on those materials to ensure they match.
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Drew,
Be careful when you heat one way vision. Reason being it will stretch no problems like a cast material. But what happens is you distort the vinyl in a way that the circles become ovals and it makes the print look funny as though there is a problem with it.
I try and manipulate the vinyl in a way that I won’t require a heat gun and I’m not overly stretching it. I also talk Jamie through which way I’m going to tackle the window and which ways I’m going to manipulate the vinyl so he can position the sheet so its usually flat where I’m applying it. That tends to stop any creases developing. When the window curves on both axis you can never hold the sheet so the vinyl won’t gather up. Basically on your down stroke the sheet has to be shifted slightly lower. When your going up it has to be a bit higher. This is if your using a center vertical hinge method.
With the edge sealing the guy who trained me was adamant that you should seal the edges. I think it has something to do with glass expansion due to heat etc. I guess it comes down to how long the print is to stay on. If its a short time I guess it isn’t a major issue. I think it also helps if the rear window has a wiper that keeps going over the print.
I haven’t apply one way vision without laminate so I can’t comment in regards to that. But I have read on a us forum that without the laminate you have to be careful you don’t tear through the one way with your squeegee.
If anyone wants me to draw some diagrams to show how I try and work let me know.
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Thanks for that mate.
I use the Oracal one way vision and have never had an issue to be honest.
When applying it wet. I lay the material as flat as I can, with the least amount of peaks that I can, then I heat it up. Always use a felt squeegee with a wet edge.
The heat will shrink the peaks, without distorting the holes, and because your not pulling the film, you don’t have the distortion issues either.
I’ve not seen any sealed edges on my opposition jobs either locally, so it must be your teachers own ‘thing’ :lol1: but when I was shown how to do it, edging was a no no because it took away from the end result. 🙄
As I say, my own van has been done over 2 years now, no laminate and no lifting either. Damaged by the wiper blade tho, because I forget about the damn thing automatically going on when in reverse on a rainy day 😳
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Does having it not laminated affect the visibility in the rain? I know it doesn’t rain that much up your way but I read the water stays in the holes and makes it a nightmare to see out of.
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quote Jason Xuereb:Does having it not laminated affect the visibility in the rain? I know it doesn’t rain that much up your way but I read the water stays in the holes and makes it a nightmare to see out of.
yes, makes the whole window opaque. I explain that to clients, and will only do it if they have two outside mirrors. Most will opt for the unlaminated print v a laminated one if it means a saving in cost. 90% of my rear window work is vans anyway, and most drivers are comfortable with having no back window vision anyway (if it rains).
As you say, rain is not that big an issue here lately 🙁 either
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Thanks mate,
I was speaking to someone from the states last night about the edge sealing thing and he basically said this.
If your not laminating the print you don’t really need to edge seal it. Reason being even if water did get under the one way vision would have holes to allow it to come out from. If its laminated theres no where to go and it will start lifting the whole print. Down here in Melb it rains a fair bit.
Also he said when your laminating you’ve got two layers. If you don’t edge seal he said there will be pockets along the top of the print where some of the holes in the one way vision are half cut thus creating a pocket. Water dust etc can get trapped in there and might cause problems down the track. Again not a major problem without the laminate.
Maybe that makes a bit more sense. When we get out place I’m going to do a test and apply laminated unsealed, sealed and unlaminated and leave it outdoors in the elements and see how they hold up. Might put some of these theories to bed.
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That makes sense Jason. Thanks for the clarification.
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