Weeding/small lettering/can it be done?

[Harry Cleary]

If they are hard to contact when you want to give them money what are they gonna be like when you want something of them? 😀

I bought my Graphtec off R. Horne in Belfast. Good enough company to deal with.

As to the 1/8” letters, I would look for a demo if possible, not sure what these smaller cutters are like.

[Graeme Harrold]

Small letters are down to the font in some cases. With the blade off-set and start finish point on the letter you can end up with minute vinyl bridges. Trial and error coupled with editing the font to get a cut overlap coupled with reverse weeding can be a solution with the small stuff….

[Ewan Evans]

I just took the plunge and bought a ce5000 there, would say they are 100% worth the money compared to my chinese Creation PCut…the graphtec cuts much smoother with it’s servo motors and I had it cutting 1mm text flawlessly on clothing vinyl, probably could have went even smaller. I deal with mdp in Grangemouth and they are decent enough but Harry at Edward Mathias gets my vote of who you should speak to regarding these machines.

[Lola Mala]

quote Ewan Evans:

I just took the plunge and bought a ce5000 there, would say they are 100% worth the money compared to my chinese Creation PCut…the graphtec cuts much smoother with it’s servo motors and I had it cutting 1mm text flawlessly on clothing vinyl, probably could have went even smaller. I deal with mdp in Grangemouth and they are decent enough but Harry at Edward Mathias gets my vote of who you should speak to regarding these machines.

Seriously, that small? Wow… this could change everything for me! Are small letters easy to weed? (I only learnt that word today, ha!)

[Lola Mala]

quote Ewan Evans:

I just took the plunge and bought a ce5000 there, would say they are 100% worth the money compared to my chinese Creation PCut…the graphtec cuts much smoother with it’s servo motors and I had it cutting 1mm text flawlessly on clothing vinyl, probably could have went even smaller. I deal with mdp in Grangemouth and they are decent enough but Harry at Edward Mathias gets my vote of who you should speak to regarding these machines.

….. I don’t need that size machine, so do Graphtec do a smaller version, but same quality of output?

[Ewan Evans]

Yes but clothing vinyl has a very sticky backing sheet so weeding is easier. Worst case senario you can do what Harry told me and reverse weed, that is a very good technique for small text. I’m sure the ce6000 comes in a 400mm version but mines is the 600mm one. I would speak to Harry and see what he can do for you. He is very helpful and nice to talk to.

[Lola Mala]

quote Ewan Evans:

Yes but clothing vinyl has a very sticky backing sheet so weeding is easier. Worst case senario you can do what Harry told me and reverse weed, that is a very good technique for small text. I’m sure the ce6000 comes in a 400mm version but mines is the 600mm one. I would speak to Harry and see what he can do for you. He is very helpful and nice to talk to.

Gotcha, thanks. I don’t get the difference between the 5000 and 6000, but I’m sure the info’s out there. What do you recommend as material/where do you get yours from then? (This won’t be for clothing, but sticky is good if it means easier weeding)

[Ewan Evans]

The 6000 is the newer version, slightly faster, greater cut force, easier to use. If you buying brand new then it will be a 6000. There’s lot’s of places to get vinyl. Robert Horne, William Smith, MDP, Grafityp etc, depends what you want. I personally like Oracle for van lettering and signage but that’s just what I’m used to.

[Chris Wool]

Weeding textile vinyl is different from standard vinyls not a fair comparison.
Can not see the problem with a full size sticker or as said direct uv printing. Do similar things and can be finished in many ways.
Cheap small letting that will not leave you wanting to jump off the bridge is lettraset then clear over

[Harry Cleary]

quote Ewan Evans:

cutting 1mm text flawlessly

1mm?? (?) Typo surely?

[Chris Wool]

I just put that down to the enthusiasm for his new machine 😉

[Harry Cleary]

quote Chris Wool:

I just put that down to the enthusiasm for his new machine 😉

😀 😀 A roll of vinyl would last a while! 😀

[Ewan Evans]

Yes 1mm and it was enthusiasm 😀 not sure if it would weed on normal vinyl but defo on Grafityp’s clothing vinyl

[John O'Sullivan]

mdp in northern ireland have a ce6000 and a cameo in there reception area
set up for demo why not call with a file on a memory key and try them out,also a new machine will have better tolerances than a 2nd hand machine with unknown use.

[Lola Mala]

quote Chris Wool:

Weeding textile vinyl is different from standard vinyls not a fair comparison.
Can not see the problem with a full size sticker or as said direct uv printing. Do similar things and can be finished in many ways.
Cheap small letting that will not leave you wanting to jump off the bridge is lettraset then clear over

So would textile vinyl give me smaller cuts? Could I use it on other (metal, for example) surfaces? I’ll be lacquering over the final thing – something like this :

http://www.ubersonic.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Double-Dealer-web-small.jpg

Letraset is not really an option for me, due to specific fonts I want, etc….

[Alex Crosbie]

All of the examples you’ve shown have been printed using a direct to substrate process. Either screen printing or uv printing etc.

There’s a very good reason why! I very much doubt any other. Process will give you the results you’re looking for.

If you don’t want to invest 20k in a machine to do the job to give satisfactory results then I would say the best thing to do would be to get someone that has one of these direct to substrate printers to print each one for you. No setup cost, no learning curve for new technology, no hassle!

I don’t for a minute thinking summa tangential cutter would cut the sort of lettering you want and the summa is widely regarded as the best cutter available. Even if it could cut it you’ll spend many hours swearing whilst trying to weed it.

Hope that helps

Alex

[David Rogers]

Agree with Alex above. If you want a job doing right – do it the right way.

There are no cheap & easy shortcuts to get what you want to a satisfactory degree. If there were everybody would be doing it!

Cheap cutters REALLY struggle to give nicely cut text at 5mm and under. Top end (SUMMA) stuff will do 2.5-3mm perfectly formed…that’s CAPS in a basic font. Weeding it out is another thing entirely. Weeding on the panel (lay the whole lot then peel / pick) is an option – done this many times in the past but it takes an eternity and extreme care must be taken.

So either a full printed panel, lasered, engraved or…get out with the DYMO labeller. 😉

The time & effort you’ll expend trying to do it cheaply and ultimately look cheap, would honestly be better spent passing the job off to a company that is already set up to do it…then you can simply supply the details & go collect your panel.

NOT trying to discourage you from doing your own work – but sometimes if you can’t do it, there’s no shame in getting somebody else to do it….or walk away from it.

Dave[/u]

[Lola Mala]

quote DavidRogers:

Agree with Alex above. If you want a job doing right – do it the right way.

There are no cheap & easy shortcuts to get what you want to a satisfactory degree. If there were everybody would be doing it!

Cheap cutters REALLY struggle to give nicely cut text at 5mm and under. Top end (SUMMA) stuff will do 2.5-3mm perfectly formed…that’s CAPS in a basic font. Weeding it out is another thing entirely. Weeding on the panel (lay the whole lot then peel / pick) is an option – done this many times in the past but it takes an eternity and extreme care must be taken.

So either a full printed panel, lasered, engraved or…get out with the DYMO labeller. 😉

The time & effort you’ll expend trying to do it cheaply and ultimately look cheap, would honestly be better spent passing the job off to a company that is already set up to do it…then you can simply supply the details & go collect your panel.

NOT trying to discourage you from doing your own work – but sometimes if you can’t do it, there’s no shame in getting somebody else to do it….or walk away from it.

Dave[/u]

Yeah, sigh…
Not sure on direct to substrate, in that it means awkward shaped panels, me posting off panels, postage costs each way, etc.

I’ve considered silk screening, but I’m a complete novice with that kind of thing.
I’d still like to consider one of those mini Graphtecs for t-shirts though. Has anyone tried one of those Silhouette Cameos for that kind of thing?

[Karen McGinty]

quote Lola Mala:

quote DavidRogers:

Agree with Alex above. If you want a job doing right – do it the right way.

There are no cheap & easy shortcuts to get what you want to a satisfactory degree. If there were everybody would be doing it!

Cheap cutters REALLY struggle to give nicely cut text at 5mm and under. Top end (SUMMA) stuff will do 2.5-3mm perfectly formed…that’s CAPS in a basic font. Weeding it out is another thing entirely. Weeding on the panel (lay the whole lot then peel / pick) is an option – done this many times in the past but it takes an eternity and extreme care must be taken.

So either a full printed panel, lasered, engraved or…get out with the DYMO labeller. 😉

The time & effort you’ll expend trying to do it cheaply and ultimately look cheap, would honestly be better spent passing the job off to a company that is already set up to do it…then you can simply supply the details & go collect your panel.

NOT trying to discourage you from doing your own work – but sometimes if you can’t do it, there’s no shame in getting somebody else to do it….or walk away from it.

Dave[/u]

Yeah, sigh…
Not sure on direct to substrate, in that it means awkward shaped panels, me posting off panels, postage costs each way, etc.

I’ve considered silk screening, but I’m a complete novice with that kind of thing.
I’d still like to consider one of those mini Graphtecs for t-shirts though. Has anyone tried one of those Silhouette Cameos for that kind of thing?

Hi All. I only ever use my Sillhouette for cutting my garment vinyl! I am now thinking of upgrading to the bigger cameo! It gives great results every time, but I do recommend you use the double cut setting if cutting the metalic or sparkle vinyl to ensure it weeds properly!

Cheers K x x