[Adam McMonagle]

Hi mate, give me a call

[Adam McMonagle]

Hi David, depending on location that seems to be pretty normal. In my recent experience I think part of the problem is that most people looking for work rely on agencies whose model is to get the highest wage for their commision, thus increasing the rates of pay. Agencies used to contact me with “this highly experienced operator is looking for a new position and wants ££££££” 🙄

[Adam McMonagle]

Try http://www.pexels.com, they are free and good for stock photos

[Adam McMonagle]

Hi Jeff

I used to run production at Macroart, we produced the Home Bargains and many other flex face prints seen on retail parks. We never coated them, they are just UV printed, sometimes with a blockout layer using three layers of black/white/colour so that only partial illumination is shown at night. Fading was never a problem. In the old days they were printed on solvent machines and these had to be laquered, by hand using a roller. The Burkle liquid laminator is sometimes used for this and also to coat large ACM panels as it is quick and drys in seconds.

[Adam McMonagle]

Just my two pence worth, I took a punt on a VW T5 a few years ago and there is nothing I cant get in it unless you are doing more than 8×4 sheets. I can get a good 3 metres of printed material in if I pass it through the gap between the two front seats. Bonus is it looks cool and I can use it for going away. Oh and it holds value well.

[Adam McMonagle]

Top man, I’ll check it out 👍

[Adam McMonagle]

Always a compromise with these machines, it will do most stuff well but you wont get the benefit of the vacuum of a true flatbed so if a board is slightly warped it wont hold down. With rolll to roll its usually tension thats the problem but I would say it will do most substrates ok. If you want to get into board printing it is a gateway but you will have problems with head strikes if the board is not flat (in my experience, Vutek LX)

[Adam McMonagle]

Blackman and White are a UK company and they specialise in laser cnc machines

[Adam McMonagle]

Well I have learned something from this, I was unaware of Thunderbolt screws, I always use Anchor bolts, this requires precision drilling and you cant remove them once in, well not easily.

[Adam McMonagle]

Well, as promised here are the results, the gold leaf and enamel paint looked fantastic, it was the best decision 😎

[Adam McMonagle]

Hi Leslie

Outsource them, better to have welded hems and metal eyelets, you can buy them for less than you can make them if you know where to go 👍

• This reply was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by  Adam McMonagle.

[Adam McMonagle]

Thanks for all of your suggestions guys, with everything in mind it was pretty obvious that I needed to go down the gilding route so had a chat with the client and they love the idea and have not flinched at the extra cost. I am partnering with a local expert so this will now be a bit of a collaboration but we will document it for the client and it will make for a nice little story to add to the shops history. 😎

[Adam McMonagle]

Thanks Kevin, that was a thought and possibly a solution but as we have never got into wraps I’m not familiar with what would be a good product or where best to get it from, I probably need 4 metres max and that includes extra for mess ups/wastage!

[Adam McMonagle]

Thanks for the feedback so far, the land is owned by the client, its just that it is very close to the road

[Adam McMonagle]

I have the same issue and allow for waste in the price but if you want to save on laminate on smaller jobs you could use a foamex sled through the laminator, that way you can cut the exact size of laminate leaving a little extra to nip the rollers at the start.

[Adam McMonagle]

Have you tried saving as PDF-X, in this format the outside areas of a pdf page are deleted

[Adam McMonagle]

That does not surprise me at all, I once interviewed a guy who was really good, had not met him before and he was recomended by someone he used to work with. I took him on and a few months later I got a bill from a recruitment agency for a lot of money relating to hiring him. I phoned them quite angry and they said that one of my previous managers had interviewed him 11 months ago, so under their conditions we were in their pocket! I put a few F’s into them but ended up having to pay it or go to court. So I’m not a big fan. After that I did an experiment by advertising only in the local papers, directories and Indeed, we didn’t get any responses for the job, so goes to show that anyone looking was only using recruitment agencies.🙄

[Adam McMonagle]

Cheers Graham

I have heard a lot of people do this with the LUS170 inks without a problem, I get your point as its better if it is on solvent/latex. I’m just curious what material/manufacturer people are using with UV cast for wrapping. Lets see if anyone else does it 👍

[Adam McMonagle]

Hi Simon, the container was fully insulated, it was 30degrees inside but frozen on the outside 😬

I used a heat gun and lots of patience 😁

[Adam McMonagle]

Thanks Dave, that sounds like a good idea

[Adam McMonagle]

Thanks Gary, am going to use an Avery cast, was considering air free but that may not hold long term?

[Adam McMonagle]

Thanks Kev, but no, all o the outside and no heat apart from a heat gun, I was wondering if air free cast would be better?

[Adam McMonagle]

😎

[Adam McMonagle]

Its great isn’t it and I plan to upgrade at some point to a T6, might be T7 by the time I can afford one 🙂

[Adam McMonagle]

SyQuest were my favourite 🙂 we used to charge £90 for an A4 proof (matchprint)

The basic part of sign and display has definitely gone that way, I think I prefer doing the specialist/bespoke work anyway, a greater sense of satisfaction and margins are better 👍

[Adam McMonagle]

Roller/Pull up banners are a good example of trade prices being offered to the general public. I saw this first happening in the 90s when I worked in Litho printing. Once digital machines arrived, the price of leaflets and stationary plummeted, we used to sell stationary for good margins but now you can get 500 business cards with lamination for a tenner. Large format machines exploded in the early 2000’s and prices for display graphics have gone down to unprofitable levels (unless you are a volume supplier). If my client wants to buy them cheaper online thats ok, I would rather spend time on jobs that are profitable.

[Adam McMonagle]

Hi Robert

Thanks, I used my Mimaki UCJV 160-300 with the white inkset, nice to be able to use it properly for a change. It really is tricky to see the edge of the vinyl, i’m guessing most people would’nt and its a hell of a lot easier than weeding out the shape 😬

And yes, thanks to Colin for recommending the vinyl, it worked a treat and is a good example of this forum being a great help for each of us as we all have our own unique experience 😎

[Adam McMonagle]

Thanks Robert, I am looking at alternative heating so will check out the storage heaters as an option. I know there is no magic wand for saving costs but its interesting to hear what others are up to and consolidating stock is a great one, it’s sometimes seems a good idea to agree a job on unusual materials and then be left with excess that you may only use once in a blue moon. Minimum order values too, although if not busy smaller jobs can fill a void.

[Adam McMonagle]

I get you on the small jobs, low profit, I find that spending time quoting is a difficult one as sometimes you know you will be too expensive for certain new customers who wont give you a budget, this can be a time waster for all involved so I am looking to create some documentation with average size letters, boards, illuminated etc. with prices, hoping this will save some time before quoting (many of you may already do this 😁). Vans are probably a good investment, a dealer told me I could probably get 3-4 grand more than I paid three years ago for mine 😎.

[Adam McMonagle]

Very true David, material costs are not ridiculous and I have very low overheads already. I was ready to push the button on a larger unit but have backed out until things settle down. I know of some people who took the BBLs and are now driving around in new Range Rovers 🙄

[Adam McMonagle]

Covid did push businesses to cut back so there may be many that are already at their leanest, good tip on the generators, as long as ventilation is not an issue.

[Adam McMonagle]

Hi Peter, sorry for the delay, yes it has white ink as a middle layer so CMYK/White/CMYK. Tales longer to print but worth it not to have washed out colours with a single layer.

[Adam McMonagle]

Metal pins, used these recently on metal letters, as Duncan said, it’s pretty easy, the wall I installed on was like a rock face, worse than it looks, probably a 10-20mm difference in height in some areas.

[Adam McMonagle]

Thanks Karen, Just used the MDCRV from Metamark and it is really nice, very clear for windows. Three layer print, colour, white, colour 👍

[Adam McMonagle]

Just thinking, are the glass panels already in place? if not a cwt or similar mounting table, softer rollers. Would probably work if they are not already mounted.

[Adam McMonagle]

Hi Robert,

the solutions you describe are exactly what I was trying to achieve, Kevins acrylic solution would be great if it wasn’t for the shadow, the client wants an old school look as the shop is 100 years old. It’s frustrating that the gold vinyl is mostly short term but I think if I can laminate the gold and offer a refurb after 4 years then maybe that could work. I have found 3M™ Scotchcal Mirror Graphic Film Series 7755SE that is specifically for outdoor use but still only guaranteed for 4 years, If I laminate this then we could be looking good, this then brings in the question of what laminate to use!

[Adam McMonagle]

Hi Kevin, I think this would work if we did not have the need for a gold shadow, the problem would be that the acrylic gold would cast a natural shadow over the top of the metallic gold (false) shadow. See attached, this is small version I have produced with mirror and matt vinyl. (note I have reverse mounted this onto acrylic so I can place it over different colour backgrounds, hence the edge where the two vinyls meet, this would not happen when mounting on the face)

[Adam McMonagle]

Thanks Kevin, Ill check it out, the acrylic option could work although it will need fixing onto a oval metal double sided panel 👍

[Adam McMonagle]

Cheers Peter, I think I can get the client to move it in to another area so hopefully wont need to worry about it being too close to traffic, love the bent road sign 👍

[Adam McMonagle]

Forgive my crude drawing, basically use the foamex board as a carrier for the print. This way you can cut laminate to just larger than the print size and use the laminator to lay it down (without webbing up the laminator and wasting loads). You will sacrifice the foamex sheet but it will be good for quite a few jobs as long as you strip off the excess. I think this is your wobble board David 😁

[Adam McMonagle]

Agreed 😎

[Adam McMonagle]

If I had more time I might 😁

[Adam McMonagle]

Thanks Robert, After sleeping on it I am going to price it for print and bubble cut, as there are four of them at various sizes I can see the cut and weed option being a drain on time. I love the feedback on here, ill let you know how it goes if he accepts my price 😎

[Adam McMonagle]

Thanks, only problem is that there will be four of them in total, I do have white ink, and it would be easier, just mark it up, he has been quoted £1800 at the highest and £350 lowest 😅

[Adam McMonagle]

Thanks John, seems like the easiest option, in your opinion what would be the best material and lam to use? I could use a matt poly laminate and then laminate it with itself but never tried it?

[Adam McMonagle]

Thanks Tim, that may well be the option, it is a hand sprayed matt finish so not great

[Adam McMonagle]

Thanks David, am I being lazy or would you attempt to cut the attached out of white?

• This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by  Adam McMonagle.

[Adam McMonagle]

😎

[Adam McMonagle]

Thanks Peter, the images are exactly the same as the one I am quoting. From what you are saying would a polymeric vehicle vinyl be best? what did you use?