which vinyl can i use to cut small lettering?

[Robert Lambie]

hi steve
have you tried reverse weeding mate?
basically, cut your vinyl as normal but dont weed. tape it up and apply it dry. remove app tape and begin weeding, you wont loose a letter 😉

[Peter Normington]

or, you can do as rob says, put the app tape on, remove the backing, turn over and weed, Although this is a pain, it does work. We use a graphtec and cutting and weeding small letters does not seem to be a problem.
peter

[steve geary]

I usually do about 50 each of two or three colors on an order, Cut weed, tape and cut apart by hand. then give to the customer and they apply them.
I usually limit to the design to about 1/2 inch letters and although i don’t make a killing, it’s worth the time to do. I can get about 1.05 @
Recently a customer asked for some with small checkerd flags on them… one color, would be weeding half of the squares on the flag…

[Peter Normington]

For chequered steve use Race font, the squares are slightly ofset and when you weed them they come out in one piece.
your first post said 3mil, was this the height of the font? I know you guys rarely use metric, so have I misread?
Peter

[steve geary]

sorry..
I was refereing to 3 mil Thick Calendered vinyl as opposed to 2mil Thick Cast Vinyl.

[Peter Normington]

Steve
You guys in the states must really try and go metric, 3mil is like almost a 1/8 of an inch, that’s thick vinyl!
peter

[Peter Normington]

try this site to convert
http://www.onlineconversion.com/
Peter

[Marekdlux]

quote Peter Normington:

Steve
You guys in the states must really try and go metric, 3mil is like almost a 1/4 of an inch, that’s thick vinyl!
peter

And you guys should drive on the right side of the road. :tongue:
Just kidding. I really wish we were metric, it would make life a whole lot easier.
-Marek

[steve geary]

peter sorry for the barrier.
Here the vinyl thickness as well as paint is measured as a mil, not millimeter.

One mil is .001 or One one thousandth of an Inch.
(don’t know why it’s not called a Thou)

Cast Vinyl is typically .002 or .0026 of an inch. Calendered is .003 of an inch.
I’m going post some pics of what i’m referring to in the s.u.y.s forum

[Peter Normington]

Sorry steve, its called a thou over here.
And your gallon is smaller than ours!
P

[Iain Gordon]

Looks like the start of an East/West divide…. 😀

Seen the pics you posted and the graphtec should do these easily, just be careful weeding fonts with serifs

Iain

[Nicola McIntosh]

quote Peter Normington:

You guys in the states must really try and go metric

what bugs me in this country..i wish they could decide which one to use full stop. 😀

nik

[Andy Gorman]

Looking at your pics in the other thread Steve, I wouldn’t have a problem cutting that in cast or calendered. 1/2 inch will weed comfortably. It’s all down to getting the right setup on your plotter. I have found that if the cut is too deep it scores the liner too much and makes lifting the app tape difficult.

If you ever have problems with small letters refusing to lift off the liner, try warming it first. Not only does this make the tape stick to the tiny letters better, but it also helps to prevent the tape curling up on larger stuff. I think the glue on the tape softens a bit under heat and bonds a little better when it cools.

[steve geary]

Thanks G…
Good Tips, as Always! :thumbsup:

[Dave Springate]

Hi Any chance of posting that “race” font?

Dave