which vinyl does goes with the correct job?

[Andy Gorman]

I don’t know what samples they’ve sent you, but anyway….

You will hear of calendered vinyl which can be anywhere from 4-5 year life or 5-7 year, depending on manufacturer. This is good for general use, but will not conform into vehicle recesses etc. Well, it might a bit, but is usually only recommended for slightly curved surfaces or flat ones.

The other main type of vinyl is Cast. Much thinner than calendered and usually has a lifespan of 7-10 years. Dearer. This will conform into and around curves much better but is more difficult to work with if you are inexperienced.

Then of course, you have special purpose vinyl, like reflective, metallics, fluorescent, etch glass effect etc…..

I prefer Mactac 9800 for general sign work, including vehicles. Others have their own preferences.

[Peter Normington]

Lee,
I think you are really hyped up about signs, and to your credit you are asking all the right questions. But…slow down a bit, it is a long learning curve, you will not take it all in without hands on practise, just one step at a time….. like the phrase "to much information"

Get your plotter, then the software, try a few things, then ask more specific questions,

The guys and gals here will help, trust me, I make signs 😀

Peter

[Shane Drew]

Andy is spot on with this advice.

Only thing I’ll add is that some glues are water based (usually the cal vinyls) and others are solvent based.

If you are using the wet method as most beginners do, too much water with a water based glue will produce a white haze in the glue for a day or two, most noticable when you do it on glass. Best advice anyway is NOT to use any wet method on glass as it will take eons to cure/dry.

Try and learn the dry method as a priority, as this will be a quicker application everytime.

You can use water with either glue types though, just that a water based glue takes longer to cure or grab than a solvent based glue. Doesn’t mean much until you try and remove the application paper, then it will become apparent.

Also, most tapes should not be applied to a surface colder than 10 deg c, but your swatches should tell you that anyway.

Cheers

[Andy Gorman]

Good point Peter. Lee, you should be asking questions but all in good time.
If you want a general purpose vinyl that is OK for most signs, go for something with at least a 5 year lifespan. There are plenty of old posts on here discussing the pros and cons of different materials.

[Peter Shaw]

Lee, take note of the good advice thats been posted here. Most of us learned on-the-job, picking up information as we went along, learning from mistakes and expanding on ideas that worked.

There are loads of guides available from suppliers. For example on the software side you can usually get demo or restricted versions to try out and all the vinyl manufacturers publish guides to the vinyl types, application techniques, storage etc.

Why not consider asking another signmaker if you can work with them for a week to learn?

Get hold of the monthly sign magazines where you will discover who sells what, the materials that are available etc

Above all, as I think has already been posted, don’t get too hung up on on the gadgets. At the end of the day the best cutter, the best software and the best vinyl are not worth a light if you can’t sell your signs and you’re not likely to do that overnight. Therefore you’ve got time to learn.