Vinyl tunnelling.

[RobertLambie]

Hi Jeff

Tunnelling happens for a few reasons and the cold room “might” add to the possibility of it happening but in my experience, it is normally down to the shelf life of the material you are using. by that i mean, it’s wound on a core and sits there for X-amount of years. the material will shrink slightly, tighten on the core or whatever. you then roll it out flat to weed it, so just put it through your cutter and it starts to lift and separate from the lining paper.
Polyester films seem to be more prone to it maybe because they are not as soft a material as vinyl.
I remember “many” years ago everyone used chrome and gold chrome finish foil films before chrome polymeric and cast came about. they were a nightmare to work with and you would often get tunnelling.

anyway, the cold will stiffen the vinyl, and it may cause it for the first metre or so. try sitting the roll of vinyl next to a radiator and rotate the roll every 5 minutes and give that a go. ide lean more to the shelf life unless the workshop is very cold, but you never know.

[Jeff]

thanks rob. i tried your radiator tip and it actually helped with weeding the vinyl but the tunnelling was still an issue. you could be right on with the shelf life but how are we ever to really know? 🙄

thanks again

[RobertLambie]

Don’t get me started on “how are we meant to know?”.
My opinion is that the lining paper “at the very least” should have the manufacturing date.
It does not, it has a product reference code for the manufacturer. That tells “them” when the material was made, which supplier received it etc. etc.
This gives nothing for “us” to go by. we could be buying old stock for all we know.
e.g. Avery has zero on the rear of their supreme wrapping film. they have their reasons, but so do we for needing it!
Roll core stickers are pointless unless you are buying a full roll.
I have raised this issue many times and even spoken about it with manufacturers, that I think there should even be ghosting emblems on the face of all premium films. but as this will be a cost to them, it falls on deaf ears.

All sounds over the top, maybe! but wait until you have a fail and the hoops you must jump through to their attention. Even then, the maximum you will ever get compensated on is a replacement roll.

anyway, I’m ranting now. I could go on and on about this subject…