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Wrap tools, what are your views on these?
Posted by Tim Hobbs on September 12, 2020 at 8:20 amHey guys
Has anyone tried the Wrap-u-Ezee mirror tool. At £30 I’m really tempted to get one of those. Looks like a real time saver.
Also the Sassercut Pro. Although that is a more expensive tool.
Love to get your thoughts on either.
Sat here on my Sat off looking at wrap tools. Am I sad or what? No need to answer that one.
Tim Hobbs replied 4 years, 5 months ago 4 Members · 10 Replies -
10 Replies
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Don’t feel bad Tim I’m here on a Saturday too reading your post lol. Seen these before and was definately tempted to try one. I normally use whats known as the “Pre-stretch” technique – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FY8tHiQDq0
This video shows the tool it in action – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlGvITjN3hk
For £30 it might be worth a try. If it doesn’t suit stick it on eBay
The Sassercut looks ggos but I’m pretty certain I can do just as good a job with a NT-Cutter A-553P knife
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Thanks David.
I reckon it’s worth a punt.
Knife wise I’m pretty competent with my 10a bladed scalpel. Just liked in particular the video where the guy uses the cutter around a fuel cap. On colour changes I often do that in two parts.
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The Sasser cut pro is a nice tool. Saw it in vegas at the sign expo on the Yello Tools stand. Yello Tools has a European division which you can buy from direct. everyone else is just buying from them and selling on. YELLOTOOLS
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Wrap-u-ezee is a bit different. as you see it really helps using it like its shown. but it doesn’t apply to all mirrors and I think it could be arguably not using the right amount of vinyl.
I made something like this about 4 years ago from a 10mm foamex. it really helps in some instances but I kinda prefer another I made, this time a fixed circle, where I push the mirror into it allowing me to guide the stretch easier/better. no matter which one I use, or even the wrap-u-ezee, you still have to cut away the vinyl and work with it by hand.
try cutting yourself some circles from 10+mm foamex. vary the size of circles and you will see by increasing the circle diametre the less resistance. but obviously its important to heat it well.
obviously you are not limited to a circle, i just prefer that as there isn’t a shape to conform to then if you have a rectangle or whatever to confirm the mirror into.
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Thanks Rob
I knew you’d give me food for thought. The size of the vinyl was something I was pondering. I always use a much lager piece so that the tension is taken away from the actual mirror. I’d decided myself to have a go at cutting one from 10mm foamex. Hadn’t thought of the circle idea. I assume you mean a ring? Might try a few shapes. I guess a frame could work for the more squared mirrors. I’d liked the look because the mirror shape in the demo was virtually the same as the job I had a couple of weeks ago.
The Sassercut does look good. Just seemed a little pricey for a tool that may end up in a drawer coz you’ve got a knife in your pocket.
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Another thought is that the part of the mirror wrap that this tool mainly deals with is actually the easiest part of the wrap. It’s as you get down to the edge where you want to trim that the skills come in. That part still needs to be done manually. If you’ve given yourself less vinyl, as you’ve pointed out, then it’s easier to over stretch and cause shrink back.
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I have the sassercut pro. Great idea, but the result is not that great. The cut itself is a bit ragged. Turns out you get a much better result hooking into one side or the other of the door gap with a 9mm blade. Or maybe its just me. The result is improved if a fine spray of water is applied to the vinyl to lubricate the blade, and the blade has to be spot on sharp.
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Yello Tools do charge a lot for what you are buying, I agree.
I “think” it may be because they are most likely subbing out the fabrication of most of the devices. which I would imagine would be expensive without being in large volume. I’m guessing, of course, it could be their just coining it in!I think they do a great job and very innovative. I spent a good while on their stand in Vegas just looking at how they use their products. They have some great products, as well as very over-engineered products that kinda made me smile watching demos being done. but what the heck, if you don’t like the product you just don’t buy it.
Around 8 years ago I came up with a device “I used” for stripping vinyl wraps large rigid sided trucks. but again, when in vegas I saw the one yello tools had created, (as much as it was very limited) they had a far better device than the one I came up with and actually had it made. so hats off to them!
circle / ring
yes, that’s correct Tim. we have a CNC router so it’s quick and easy to cut them. but a jigsaw and template of a circle would do the same job.
As you know, reducing the tension near the edges of the mirror is crucial to prevent any pull-back. so that bit extra vinyl to be able to handle and relax where possible is very important. the yello tools one is a bit neat for my liking. -
Pre-Stretching
I have never been a fan of warm pre-stretching. this came about in 2013 because I remember clearly people coming onto my wrap training truck inside Fespa excel London halls and asking have I see the new way to do pre-stretching? there was a buzz about it and some even showed me them doing it on the truck.
I also have seen it demonstrated by 3M in Bracknell headquarters and told them the same, “in theory, yes, but it is fraught with danger and should not be being taught as the way to wrap”.By that I do not mean “don’t show people” but they, 3M, nor anyone that spoke to about it truly got the overall principle of what was happening. all they saw was a clever way to, as they said, reverse shrinkwrap!
If we take the 3M wrap video above. which is the same way 3M showed me and others present. they stretch and pull down about 30% of the length of the vinyl. Then reverse shrink wrap it.
So you think… “looks impressive and if they say it, it must be right” right?!1, what about a digital print? do you stretch and distort that to create some stress relief in the hope that “their vinyl” will not fail?
2, What about 3D wrap film, carbon, brushed metal etc. do you stretch and distort that to help prevent the edges lifting?
3, even solid colours. they shouldn’t, but some will colour shift, so become more transparent in the middle of the mirror and darker towards the edges. i.e. wrapping a black car yellow!
4, they are pre-stretching 30% in “one direction” when a wrapping films stretch performance ability is based 360 degrees of stretch. So you are probably overstretching by the recommended amount right away. Yes there will be arguments both sides of the fence but to be trying to teach this as an industry standard is like the blind leading the blind.about a year and a half ago or so, I saw Justin Pate post online how the Japanese wrapper (can’t spell his name) has invented cold-pre stretch! I quickly replied to him stating that he was wrong! and that UKSG has been teaching cold stretch from around 2012 via my training unit all around the UK. (he did not respond to me)
I am NOT saying now that “I invented it” because I don’t see it as anything more than a technique that anyone that truly understands what’s happening to the vinyl starts to use when they apply it.
I discovered I could easily teach “cold application” (not cold pre-stretch) not long after we created the training room itself. because I had it made specifically with the perfect temperature-controlled room environment, also with the vinyl stored in same. that some (not all) vinyl required little to zero heat to wrap with. only once it became too difficult/complex/demanding areas would heat be used.
When I asked our students to wrap like this, they found it easier and they did not use or overuse the heat gun which is the first thing they normally go to if the vinyl isn’t going to plan. instead, they would lift and manipulate the vinyl cold. which gave them a better understanding of how to handle the vinyl and when heat should/shouldn’t be used.anyway, I could go on, but my point is, warm pre-stretching is good to know how it is possible to manipulate the vinyl. it is not what I class as a method that should be taught as a standard way to wrap things.
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All true Rob. I tried the pe-stretch with heat method when it was buzzing around a few years back and couldn’t get it at all. I have always used the less heat approach without realising I was using a particular method. LOL. Just what I thought worked. I’ve always disliked the word “stretch anyway. I prefer manipulate or guide.
Just watched that Justin Pate video for the first time and impressive as it is I would say that the vinyl is key there. Dead easy to do that with repositionable Avery Supreme. Not so much with the grabbier medias. Oracal 970 or Arlon. Or is that just me?
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