Weeding Vinyl Question

[Jill Marie Welsh]

What type of vinyl are you using?
Just out of curiosity.
Are you using enough pressure? Do you need a new blade?
The only color I sometimes have trouble with is non-Oracal white because it’s hard to see.
Oracal white has a blue liner paper.
Sometimes I’ve noticed that the cast is harder to weed than calendered.
Love….Jill

[John Cooper]

You could try applying a lo-tac application tape before weeding.

John

[Tim Painter]

Had the same lately with black…….possibly due to recent heat.

[Warren Beard]

quote Jillbeans:

What type of vinyl are you using?
Just out of curiosity.
Are you using enough pressure? Do you need a new blade?
The only color I sometimes have trouble with is non-Oracal white because it’s hard to see.
Oracal white has a blue liner paper.
Sometimes I’ve noticed that the cast is harder to weed than calendered.
Love….Jill

Just to point out something I learned a short while ago, I buy my vinyl fro Metamark but always bought white Oracal because of the blue liner, you can get blue striped liner in Metamark 7 series white but you MUST ask for it otherwise you get white liner 😕

Sorry for the hi-jack.

As for your problem I also get it on the black, all other colours seem fine, I actually fine that sometimes the faster you weed it the better it is as not lifting letters, also I put cut boxes around each strip of text, make sure the backing stays down on the table and then weed off the strips quickly.

You just have to keep trying different techniques to find what works best in your environment.

cheers

Warren

[Craig Ross]

Thank you everyone for your info and tips. Think its possibly trial and error. OR "Never do small lettering for customers" 😛

[Robert Lambie]

you could try….

Do NOT weed any of it. just trim a neat border by hand around the meed border and take it away leaving the weed box with all the text still in place.

tape the whole thing up in one go and then apply it to the sign as it is.

remove the application tape and NOW start weeding it. just dog ear a corner and with small sharp tugs from top right corner down to the left hand bottom corner begin to weed. it will come away pretty effortlessly and leave all the letters stuck in place…

its not something i do, but it does work if you have lots of small signs to letter and trying to speed up production.

personally i find a nice sharp blade with a couple of cut tests to get the blade pressure just right works a treat every time.

Also… If your cutter has the "tangental cutting mode" set it in Tangental and set it cutting. you will get far better, more accurate cuts in small text in tangental mode, which helps with weeding etc also.

Always weed from the top right pulling away the weeded vinyl down to the left corner.

hope this helps.

[Craig Ross]

Cheers Rob. This actual job is a job I’m sending off in the post to a client so no can do on that… Thanks for help though.

[Chris Wool]

some vinyls can suffer from the glue joining its self back together after cutting. pain with small letters.
if it weeds easy immediately after cutting but poor after being left a little while. likely above problem.
presuming that the letters are cut properly.

chris

[Lynn Normington]

I just did a test black metamark 10mm text not an ordinary text weeded like a dream,tried 5mm bit tricky needed care but still ok ariel rounded would have been ok I guess.

Lynn

[Lorraine Clinch]

quote Chris Wool:

some vinyls can suffer from the glue joining its self back together after cutting. pain with small letters.
if it weeds easy immediately after cutting but poor after being left a little while. likely above problem.
presuming that the letters are cut properly.

chris

Hey Chris, after 6 years you still learn new tricks/experiences, thanks for that advice, makes much sense, and something I would never have thought of!

Lorraine

[Stuart Miller]

Another method I have used in the past is to place a weed line through the center of the text. Weld it to the text and you end up being able to weed the text in two halves.
In Flexi-sign the line through the text needs to be a completed path, (i.e. a rectangle with negligible height)

[Lorraine Clinch]

quote Stuart Miller:

Another method I have used in the past is to place a weed line through the center of the text. Weld it to the text and you end up being able to weed the text in two halves.
In Flexi-sign the line through the text needs to be a completed path, (i.e. a rectangle with negligible height)

Now that is a very clever idea, and one I am going to try on small text for sure. I loath Times New Roman in small text, I always loose all of one type of letter, last time it was the ‘a’s! (hot)

Lorraine

[Dan Piddington]

Put a box around the text before cutting then weed out the surrounding vinyl so your left with the box and the text.

Then apply application tape to the box and text ( i use clear app tape for this but standard should work)

Peel off from the backing paper and position sticky side up on your work
surface. Masking tape left and right to hold it in place, then
weed out the box leaving the letters. The letters stay stuck to the tape!

Then either apply straight to the sign or (in this case) back onto the backing paper.

Job done – it is a bit fiddly though and your probably get stuck to the app
tape a few times.

Has worked for me with very small cut letters.

Cheers

Dan

[Graeme Harrold]

quote Stuart Miller:

Another method I have used in the past is to place a weed line through the center of the text. Weld it to the text and you end up being able to weed the text in two halves.
In Flexi-sign the line through the text needs to be a completed path, (i.e. a rectangle with negligible height)

Just done it in Corel……………..it is amazing and cuts and weeds like a dream

THANK YOU…. 😀

[Jan Storgaard]

Heh! Nice inputs on small letters.
BUT if you have to do it by hand in illustrator – i dont have flexi ;o( –
so heres one way (of many) to make a weedbox split the hard way.

http://www.screencast.com/t/MzU3YWFk

[Andy Lamb]

When weeding, folding the waste vinyl right back so it is touching the surface can help too, then just pulling slowly and flicking any letters that want to lift with a scalpul blade to pop them back down. Just be sure to not let it catch and stick to the unweeded letters.
Just out of intrest, do you use a blade or tweezers to weed? Personally i never use tweezers.
Andy

[Graeme Harrold]

quote Andy Lamb:

When weeding, folding the waste vinyl right back so it is touching the surface can help too, then just pulling slowly and flicking any letters that want to lift with a scalpul blade to pop them back down. Just be sure to not let it catch and stick to the unweeded letters.
Just out of intrest, do you use a blade or tweezers to weed? Personally i never use tweezers.
Andy

I use a home made weeder…………..a propelling pencil with a needle glued in the end, works a treat. Down side is I have stabbed myself several times when Ive stupidly stowed it behind my ear….. 😳