[Andrew Blackett]

I used to use some lay flat stuff from John Adams Sign Supplies, it had a slight textured finish.

Was really competitively priced too. Big issue I used to find was that consistency on the cheapo stuff was all over the place but the stuff from John Adams was decent stuff.

Our contact was David Leinster.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Seconding what david said, perhaps suggest a solution that can be reused by any new tennant. Angle for trays or panatrim frame? Also means they can have uniformity across all the units in terms of size and position of each sign.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Used to use dpi print for our big banners.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

All going grand thanks Kev mate.

Our plinths are from morans wood components Neil – speak to phil or matt.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

We always used to get our tray signs and plate and post stuff from ashby as they packed really safely. We just unpacked carefully keeping all the bits and then reused when sending the goods out.

Would agree with corex and bubble wrap for custom items but it is time consumimg.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Or tradesignz they do really heavy duty ones

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

If my memory serves me Dan I’m sure ultima display do sign stands and possibly Plex display.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Havent updated my thoughts on this but having had it for a while at my previous employment here are my findings;

Scratch and durability were never an issue however maintenance was a nightmare – we had to do far more manual cleans on the machine before we could print as the ink would quite often not fire at all. Of late we even had to use ink renew a couple of times to resolve the issue.

Calibration was a nightmare too as the indicator lines were curved rather than straight – even our engineer couldn’t sort this. It appeared the ink was either the wrong viscosity or just different as we never had a problem to begin with.

The principal of the light bar is great but I do feel it needs some fettling to get it right.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

I use that very same technique after watching that video Gary – it works a treat.

We use a "snitty" cutter to cut the backing paper and leave the laminate intact.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Mastergrave hire them by the week;
http://mastergrave.co.uk/catalogue/brow … ory_ID=142

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

We use high speed for all our roller banners, using max flat type medias on our lightbar converted RE640.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

We’ve always just used generic banner or pvc banner and they look fine. Would also second md5 as an option as it seems to give good results on most stuff.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Any suggestions on supplier who can deliver a tray that big?

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

You’ll love it Steve honestly! One tip put some dust sheets down around the machine and move media away from the machine, when the ink lines are removed they can flick flush about and contaminate media.

Carts are really well priced too, even better with our uksb discounts! – Nice one Rob!!

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Its in!

Ashley and Jason arrived yesterday at about 1pm and worked through till 6pm flushing, fitting new lines, mounting the lightbar and testing etc. We did a test print before and after and both were perfect (and the same!)

Positives:
This definately does what it claims, prints are instantly dry and have good scratch resistance. I couldn’t believe the chemical resistance too; A soaked swab was wiped over a 24 hour old ecosol max print and had predictable results. A soaked swab was wiped over the uv print literally as it passed out of the lightbar and it wouldnt budge!

We’ve done a 4m x 1.5m banner and were able to trim, hem and finish it within 5 minutes of it coming off the machine (5 minutes as we had to clear the bench) a roller banner print too, again instantly dry and another good side was that it was near impossible to leave greasy finger prints in heavy ink areas. Both materials were less soft and flimsy too which has always been an issue on ecosolmax making handling much easier.

Profiling is fantastic, all our medias print beautifully and even vinyl which has always been a bit mottley is now perfect (with some tweaking of profiles)

Setup:
I dont think the media "wasted" at the beginning is going to be an issue, our roller banner material went straight through as did pvc banner – we have an old reverse wound banner which was more problematic but it was teased through with the end of a swab from underneath – I could of taped more on but didnt notice the problem until it was running through.

End of print drying:
As mentioned above its just a small file which you send down after the last print in a batch, this just gets the machine to push the actual print through the lightbar at the given rate. Even this blank media isnt wasted as we just cut the print off under the lightbar (which is better as there isnt as much to wind on the take up so less chance of damage/contamination) and wind the blank back on the roll from the back of the machine.

Smell:
I cant lie, it does have a smell, not a noxious heady solvent smell at all – just different to ecosol. We’ve used ecosol for about 8 years so I reckon we’ll get used to this too.

"Issues":
Only one "issue" is that the main power switch is underneath the unit and impossible to see unless you crawl on the floor. I’m going to sort a new switch and mount it on the side so this should only be an "issue" till I get two ticks to resolve it!

Genuinely over the moon, it is very early days but the initial feeling is very positive – naturally I’ll let you know if this changes 😮

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

You get sorted in the end Adam?

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

That I couldn’t be certain on. They certainly offer them so would imagine so but worth a call first.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

How about Granthams in Preston; http://www.graphicdiscount.co.uk/contact.php

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Not as yet Barry, its not getting installed till Thursday, reading above though Rob has done a fair bit of it without issues.

You can only get the inks from colorific but they seem to think as the ink becomes more known more agents will jump on the band wagon and stock it.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Will do Adrian. Although that said the majority of our work on this machine is exhibition stuff and short term banners so the convenience of drying time and processing speed is more a concern than unlaminated outdoor durability.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote Barry Dok:

Ordered a lightbar for my vp540i, install in the next 2-3weeks,

George: I think the normal price is £2495+vat, I got a show deal, you might still get it if you are quick!

Rob: how’s the scratch resistance on the prints? Vinyl? Banner?

Barry…

Hi Barry,

I’ve got a sample done on metamark vinyl and I’ve scratched it relentlessly and its not budging. Sample on mesh will scratch after a good while but I think that’s more the material itself than the ink.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Just had it confirmed that install will be on Thursday this week, running until Friday morning. Really looking forward to this.

If anyone is interested in this make sure you message rob first as there are some special uksb discounts in place.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Best of luck Kev

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

So pleased to hear a real life success story Lorraine, we’ve placed our order this afternoon for the RE640 conversion. Just waiting for the installation date.

The lads were printing metres and metres of metamark vinyl on your machine at the show and it looked beautiful (I’ve got some samples on my desk too!) I seriously dont think you’ll have any problems at all.

Andy

quote Lorraine Clinch:

Last week I was printing posters to blue-backed paper, and they took an age to dry, totally stuck to themselves on the take-up, and ruined 3 metres of print.
Today I am printing the same job, in a 12.5 metre run, onto the take-up, and they are bone dry as they emerge from under the Lightbar. I am VERY impressed so far.
I have never dared to do a long run before, but am feeling quietly confident now.
As there are only a few UV profiles for Versaworks at present, I did try using the normal GPPM profile for matt paper, but the colours were not great, so I trialled the UV ‘light banner’, assuming this would be for matt material, and the colours are good, perhaps not quite so vibrant as off the Versacamm, but then there was a heck of a lot of ink on those posters to take so long to dry off (overnight).

Next job – vinyl!

Lorraine

[Andrew Blackett]

Hi Harpreet,

Take a look on grandstands.eu they do loads of different styles.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

I looked at it whilst I was there, looking at it on the re-640 I was really impressed with the quality.

Definately seemed to do exactly what it’s claiming to.

ROB – do you find it ok on the thicker materials like frontlit and stay flat banner?

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote Stafford Cox:

Yep, Colin Tupman. Based in Gateshead I believe. 07759472729.

A definite thumbs up for colin from me too, you will not be disappointed.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

It’s my understanding that it changes as the roll weight reduces. A 50m roll of banner will offer far more resistance than a 5m one.

As I say we tend to do it each time we put a different roll on the machine.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote shane binding:

i was told when i brought the printer that when you load the media the 1st thing you do is calibrate so that you have the right settings and you can see if your going to get banding etc but of course every time you calibrate your wasting media. So i was going to make a chart when i use different medias so i know what setting it needs to be on

My understanding is that this setting adjusts for the differences when media feeds. A full roll of vinyl will cause more resistance than a 5m roll end. The wrong setting will either show white gaps or dark overlaps depending on which way its set. We tend to do this each time we load a roll onto the machine. I don’t think it’s a waste of media though as we tend to feed the first 150mm or so through to make sure any finger prints or muck from storage are well through before we start to print.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Have used eyecatchers.co.uk before they offer trade pricing on these kind of things. If small numbers mega sublimation do some double sided blank credit cards that might fit the bill too.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Try bumping the heaters right up and this softens the vinyl more so it’s a bit easier to cut. Thanks to Harry the blade from Edward Matthias for this little gem. We were struggling to cut some motocross laminate and this saved the day.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Pantograph Services is who we use Kev;

http://www.pantograph.co.uk/pdfs/plate_holders.pdf

[Andrew Blackett]

RIPC will help minimise banding so that would be the better one to try (in my opinion anyway)

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote Gary Birch:

Try Metamark md5 profile … We find it solves most problems

Cheers

Gary

Would agree with Gary, used this on our older SP540 running compatible inks and it made a massive improvement in colour reproduction and general quality.

[Andrew Blackett]

I doubt anybody would expect much different to be honest!

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote Paul.Gadsdon:

First off all I would like to point out stuff that I am sure everyone is aware of the pitfalls of buying off ebay.

Great seller, really friendly and lots of help, however I realized after that I am missing my Media Flanges and the printer only has 2 pinch rollers and I think it should have 6 😮

Anyway I have some questions

1. Should I ask Graphityp for the profiles for each of my media types?
2. Should I ask for the printer setups for each vinyl type? As drying times, heater settings and media thickness is going to be different for each vinyl.
3. Is there an Illustrator plugin for the versacamm? My Graphtec one is great
4.Am I being a geek?
5.I have Versaworks 5 and loads of the profiles have (RIPC), before them, what the chuff does this mean?
6. I have the Roland colour library swatch in Illustrator and metamark suggest that this should be used in conjunction with the colour management setting “Sign and Display” for vivid logo colours – Correct or not? Should I stick to Pre-Press US?
7. Is that too many questions?

Many Many thanks for everyone’s help

1) You are "meant" to have a profile for each media but as others have suggested you’ll probably find a couple which cover all bases
2) Heaters on our SP tend to be set to 40/45 and just left alone to be honest
3) Sorry dont know
4) Yes but arent we all at heart
5) "Roland Intelligent Pass Control" – helps to reduce banding on certain medias/speeds etc. Probably worth some exploration as these might give the best results.
6) We use pre-press for 99% of our stuff but on the odd occasion use "max impact" to make the colours really pop
7) No, I suspect you probably have more in reality but thought it polite to keep it under 10 😉

Pinch rollers – as I mentioned you can get them seperately but make sure you get the right ones. On 1370mm we run 4 or 5 normally.

Flanges – pain in the bum in my opinion, they can cause more issues than you’d imagine!!

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote Chris Wool:

As far as I know only the VS range has removable pinch rollers

The SP ones come out too Chris.

There are replacement ones here: http://www.digiprint-supplies.com/sp-54 … 01500.html

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Have to say we have never been charged delivery on a robert horne order. That said they have brought in some new policies and become a little more strict in the last few weeks.

Its a matter of common sense though, if you’re delivering a few rolls of media and various boards etc a few times a week then yes free delivery is a given. Put yourself in their place though, if you order 5m of vinyl and two felt squeegees is it really worth sending a driver specially?

Think its the same with the cutting charge, if you order a sheet of £10 foam and want it cut in half, chances are they’d do it and not quibble. But if you want that same £10 sheet cut into 50 little pieces then is it worth the hassle of standing a guy in front of the saw for an hour then packaging it specially? I wouldn’t do that for nothing so why should they?

Dont get me wrong I’ve had issues in the past but they really have pulled their act together, pricing is better than its ever been and we’ve never had a wrong delivery in ages. Their new owners probably just want the company to run more effectively and to cut out some of the "pointless" jobs – isn’t that what we all want in reality?

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

We print on the paper graphics 200gsm satin and it dries almost instantly. For particularly dark prints (black and the like) we pop a pedestal fan in front and let it gently blow over the print as it exits – works a treat.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote Harry Cleary:

Dunno if it’s just me Andy, but all I can see in dockers (X3) is ‘link manager’ and I can’t see a way of getting it activated, the docker is blank when open and no matter what I highlight or click it remains blank with no options. If that makes sense.

Sorry Harry, slightly different in X3 (didnt realise!) Theres a guide for X3 here;

http://coreldesigner.wordpress.com/2008 … raw%C2%AE/

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Try "Dockers" – "Links and bookmarks"

In a nutshell; click an object to select it – now click the button in the docker window for "new link" type in the address and thats it. Works on images and shapes as well as text.

Keep your eyes open when you publish to pdf though as not all versions of pdf allow hyperlinks, you need to ensure this is ticked otherwise they dont get sent out of corel.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Nope its not just you – its always been bloody terrible!

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Will all come down to monomeric or polymeric Danny. Monomeric is generally cheaper and wont last quite as long.

If its correx and short term stuff then a monomeric grade might be fine for your use. I used to use Oracal 3164 which is a nice film, or try an LG 3911 which is polymeric but you can get some good deals if you haggle hard enough.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Hi Danny,

You’ll get them all on http://download.rolanddg.jp/en/3rdmedia … index.html

Another useful tip is if you cant find the profile you want (if you wanted a specific one) then try the 54" model as they are in essence the same, in your example they would be the SP540i ones.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

The generic vinyl one is terrible for overloading the material with ink.

I always use the "Oracal 3164" profile on our SP540v machine – gives a much better finish. Failing that try metamark md5

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote Chris Windebank:

no laminate, no sun. Correct file. Will do a complete new and see if that helps.

bugger!

Pinch roller in line with optical mark? We’ve had this – machine cant sense the mark if the pinch wheel gets in the way.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote Stuart Davies:

http://www.dtpsupplies.com/
stu

+1 for DTP – John Preston is a top bloke, cannot recommend them highly enough

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote Joe Wigzell:

for the price you may be better off updating your art-work software?

Doesn’t really answer the question for those of those that are printing from client supplied pdf files. We dont include any artwork charges on our products if they supply their own files.

For me it would be better to have a system (or solution) that handles client files without a major headache, without the expense of wasted materials and more importantly time.

My temporary solution printing from acrobat directly to versaworks (as a bitmap) seems to be working for us. I am looking into alternatives and will report my findings on here in due course.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote Adrian Hewson:

We use wasatch but have versaworks as well, from customers pdf we always create an eps otherwise you gonna get problems, I think latest version of the rips have solved this problem

Sorry Adrian do you mean the latest versions dont require a seperate eps file to be made?? I’ve been printing from acrobat using the steps above which has worked well today but I’ve not really had anything too complicated to test it fully.

Incidentally neither wasatch (head office)or onyx (perfect colours) have bothered to get in touch following my initial contact 🙄

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Been striving to find a resolution (at least a temporary fix if nothing else)

I’ve used a few of the suggestions listed and cobbled together with something I googled.

Open the client supplied pdf artwork in acrobat
File – Print – Choose Versaworks Virtual Printer
Click Advanced on acrobat screen and tick "print as image"

File magically appears in versaworks queue and doesnt exhibit the fault that I have been struggling with using "File – add to queue"

Whilst I’ve only tried this with one single file it does seem to have fixed the immediate fault. It does seem to be something to do with overprinting of objects

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

We dont have illustrator unfortunately

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Printed the pdf file from within acrobat Alex

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Have managed to install the "print direct method" but the file exhibits the same fault as before (dropping some text out)

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote John Hughes:

Andy, we’ve been having the same issue recently !!

As with you, we prefer not to mess with the customers PDF sent and put it straight in the RIP (versaworks).

We also use X6 but opening/re saving can cause loads of problems.

Recently we’ve also had text dropping out. I wonder if this is a new problem with versaworks because it’s never happened before.

John

So pleased its not just me then!! Just need to get to the bottom of it 😕

[Andrew Blackett]

quote alexc40:

Versaworks uses an eps rip rather than a PDF rip so there will always be issues.
I’ve tried other rip software but versaworks is the one I always come back to.
The easiest way I’ve found to faultlessly print PDFs is to open in illustrator and export as an eps or print directly to the print queue.

Preflight checking in acrobat reader can be problematic as it doesn’t always show hidden issues. Just something to bear in mind if you’re planning on preflighting in reader and then putting it straight to the rip for printing.

Next question then how do I print direct, cant see a print driver installed on the system. We’re running two printers from one versaworks install. Any ideas?

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

I dont have photoshop but have been using a website called, http://pdf2jpg.net/

Which does what I think photoshop does, opens it and renders it as a jpg before offering a link for download.

Whilst this works its just another step before pressing print which I’d rather do away with. The flipside of the software is that if something goes wrong with it the client will be blaming me as I flattened it.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Using Corel X6, I’ve found opening the pdf in draw can cause additional problems.

Just tried it again with a particular file, theres one line of text that gets dropped when I add it to the queue. I’ve saved as an EPS and it still does the same!?!

Andy

quote Joe Wigzell:

Hi Andy,

Even if the artwork is submitted by a client how come you cannot open and save in a different format? What artwork software do you use?

Flattening transparencies as you mentioned should help, also changing your transparency settings when exporting/saving (deselect the ‘convert all strokes to outlines box’).
Using spot colours can help, and keeping CMYK, white and special colour data on separate layers.

[Andrew Blackett]

Tends to be things like odd coloured boxes around images (which I suspect is to do with transparency, even when flattened this is evident)

Had a problem file last week, green text was dropped and printed as white. We preflighted the file and saved as x1a but it still did it.

We just need to solve this as its costing us a bit on time and materials. These are generally files submitted by my client so we dont have the option to resave as other formats.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Unfortunately this is generally all customer supplied pdf files so I dont have the option to open/edit/re-save.

I have ran preflight and even tried flattening transparencies in acrobat but the results are still screwy to say the least. We save all files as x1a compliant so I’m stumped.

I’ve emailed both wasatch and onyx and I’ll report back with findings. I’m also keeping a catalogue of the problematic files so I can test any new software with the same.

Andy

quote Alan Drury:

The guy I use uses Versaworks but he always exports from Draw as an eps. He says the files are much bigger but the results are more reliable especially anything with transparencies and lenses.
If you want to continue with pdf then export as PDFX!a set with all colours to cmyk
alan d

[Andrew Blackett]

Was it http://www.grandstands.eu you saw them on?

Had an email from them and I’m sure they do these

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

All great thanks Kev – even better now machine is firing on all cylinders.

Why didn’t I think to ring roland first?!? – dope!

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote Dave Rowland:

I heard that a NEW big change has happened… new CEO… he’s been reshaping contracts etc. big things changing

They are good with prices with us, however we finding we are putting more and more with them… never really let us down

It would all add up Dave to be honest – am delighted at the moment!
Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote Hugh Potter:

1) I’ve seen a business card / card cutter than seems to be automatic and works on cut lines or reg marks, German machine if I recall, either way, anyone know what I mean or, have suggestions for a half decent card cutting machine that can work with A4 / A3+ or bigger and cut A7/6/5 & other sizes of flyer/card???

Is it the duplo dc machines, automatic cutting, creasing and other bits and pieces; http://www.duplo.com/eng/products/folders/dc645.html

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Evening Billy,

Sorry only just saw your post, number is 01773 522040

Best wishes
Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote Steve Lomax:

Hi. I’m new to this so please be gentle!.
I would like to print negative lettering on the rear side of A3 glass to be viewed through the glass. I have a vinyl cutter, and tried vinyl, but the adhesive side of the vinyl is unacceptable. I can’t stick vinyl on the front of the glass. I have tried cutting a vinyl stencil and spray painting acrylic paint over, and this works well but is too time consuming. Is silk screen printing viable for a run of 10 at a time? Can I use my vinyl cutter to make a stencil for the screen?
Thanks

If its the mottly pattern in the adhesive when applied (if applied dry) then soak the acrylic in rapid tac II and it’ll be beautiful – you’d never be able to see the adhesive at all. We do this a fair bit with reverse printed vinyl and always looks fine in the end.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Morning Billy,

If you speak with Keramikos, they are a trade only supplier of mugs (they dont do anything else!)

Website is http://www.mugsgalore.com

Best wishes
Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Try Colin Tupman, CETech, he’s in Consett, County Durham.

Mobile is 07759 472729

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote Jamie Laird:

We used Simon at Lacco Laminates to troubleshoot and repair our 62″ seal-really nice guy, cheapest we found call out fee wise, and all round great service.

Laaco Ltd
28 Copperfield Road
Cheadle Hulme
Stockport SK8 7PN

Tel: 0161 285 9466
Fax Order Hotline: 0800 783 4263
Email: simon@laacolaminates.co.uk

Would fully agree with Jamie – we use Simon for our repairs and even training, top bloke

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

We do as Chris suggested quite a lot – it definitely works and having the white vinyl at the back acts as a "laminate" protecting the print from scratches etc.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Our sp540 is now second fiddle to our re640 – the versacamm prints one job every Thursday and sits idle for up to a week sometimes. Never ever had a problem with it drying out.

Just leave the sub power on and let it do its periodical self clean and I’m sure it’ll be fine.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote Martin:

Andy, is Rowmark ok on a cnc machine? I thought it was a laser engraving material. if it is where do you get it if you don’t mind me asking, looking for suppliers of different things at the moment.

Rowmark do make laser materials but also have a full range of mill engravable sheets too. That said you can mill the laser stuff, its just got a thinner cap thats all.

The textures, lacquers and heavy weights are the best for industrial stuff.

We get ours from Julie at CSI manufacturing;

07912 286513
julie@csionline.ie
http://www.csiuk-epilog.co.uk

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Hi Phil,

Most engraving laminates will be fine at that temperature. We use rowmark as it machines nicely. I can give you contact details if you need them.

Would suspect vinyl would be ok but a you pointed out what backing? How about stainless? Wouldn’t need to be too thick.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Hi Lynn,

We get our papers from Paper Graphics, website is papergraphics.co.uk

The 200gsm satin poster paper is very good for general poster work – they also stock a huge range of digital wallpapers too

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Hi Cheryl,

On our SP540 we purchased one of the "wind up" ones from ebay, it was ok but struggled with heavier loads as its only a slip clutch affair.

We then ripped the old motor off and replaced it with something more beefy on a fixed shaft and set it up with some infrared sensors near the floor. The motor only winds when media breaks the path of the beams.

On our RE640 we have a genuine roland take up system, it pains me to say but this is far far better than our home made affair! We set it up with a full roll of PVC banner on the back of the printer, it took a full 30m of 1600mm media without as much as a slip!

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Just don’t let the neighbours see you hoovering the walls – they’ll probably get you a white coat with particularly tight sleeves and bundle you off in a van!

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Cant help but feel like I’m trying to "teach grandma to suck eggs" here!!

If that was me Chris I’d start with bi directional test and adjustment, probably after a good clean round the head.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Looks like signlab font called slippery with the flicks extended out over

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Weird isn’t the word!!

Sounds a silly question but you haven’t got air con over the top of it? Or been spraying fly spray in the room?? Not sure what the temp requirements are for the machine but we have members in far sunnier climates so would presume not just temp related.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Hi Gareth,

Is it drops of unwanted ink in the print? If so probably just needs a manual clean around the head to get the gunk off.

Probably worth changing the squeegees too if they are curled.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote David Hammond:

I’ve just had an order in for 70 Roller Banners. 800mm.

Got a price from my usual supplier for the stands, at £8.50 each, which are a reasonable stand, not the really lightweight stands that have a habit of falling over.

Trouble is they’ve now told me they don’t stock 800’s and they’ll cost £11.00 each.

Can anyone recommend me a supplier, of a reasonable quality banner stand (similar to the Low Price Roll up from Easy Stands, or Pyramids premium stands)

The sooner the better as I need to get on with this asap.

Cheers
David

Speak to Zoe at Innotech Digital and Display David – we get our budget 800’s from her and the quality is fine (snap rail too) We use a maxflat material and dont have problems with the stand leaning.

Best wishes
Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Could you not fix a few stand off bases behind the sign across the middle of its surface? You wouldnt need to face fix through them but would help support the centre of it a bit more.

Just a thought….

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Theres Simon at Laaco laminates, http://laacolaminates.co.uk/repairs.html He’s based in Stockport

Looks after our Seal machine and really knows his stuff, hopefully might be something he can advise over the phone for you.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Hi John,

I did this tutorial a while back:
https://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=43285

Hope this helps

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

or try Vista systems themselves.

Something more "traditional" is the interchangeable nameplate holders from pantograph services (www.pantograph.co.uk)

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Dan, just try cleaning it in situ. If you take a cleaning swab and bend it so the swab is pointing down.

Then just run it from left to right front and back – you’ll be amazed how much gunk comes off. Then do environment match when you’ve finished. Is the print out too or just cutting?

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Whessoe Road – right?

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Dave – isnt ALR something to do with Linda (previously of Armstrongs?) We used to use Armstrongs as a subcontractor when offering embroidery to our vet clients! 😛

Do you guys offer trade stuff at all as I do get asked from time to time.
Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Have you tried using the head cleaning pen thing (the one thats like a chisel marker shape) Might be you’ve just got a load of gunk stuck.

I had this on our old 600 and the same with the 50 before it.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Speak to Simon at Laaco as you might be able to get a second user Seal machine. He’ll recondition the rollers and set it up. We’ve got an image 600 – an absolute beast but rock solid and mega reliable.

http://www.laacolaminates.co.uk/

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

The smart pro doesn’t need to be cut at all. You press the print for a few seconds, cut a piece of smart pro bigger than the whole graphic. Press again – the smart pro only bonds to the print and not the garment. Peel cold

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote Chris Wool:

there is a protector film i have yet to try called smart pro from grafityp but only 250mm wide, designed to protect the ink in washes.

Its great Chris – I used it on our work shirts. There’s a large red CSL logo on the rear and a small one on the breast pocket.

We first did them with the Xpres film and within a few washes the logo faded badly to a pinky colour. The smartpro protected ones on the evolution film is exactly as it was when initially pressed, nice and bright!

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Thanks for that Doug – will come in handy I’m sure!

I have a nice random collection of favourites in my toolbar now!

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

quote Nicola McIntosh:

sharpen your felt squeegie with a guillotine, gets a nice clean edge 😀

Will definately be using this one – cheers Nicola 😀

[Andrew Blackett]

We mark a centre point on the laminate roll and centre it on the rear mandrel. We take a measurement from one of the sides of the machine to the centre point on the roll – mark a centre point on the vinyl and line this up with the same measurement from the same side of the machine.

Hope this makes sense. I do find that the machine will cope with some overrun, up to say 3mm.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Why not have your own made?

I’ve only ever seen those ones from indigo – draw up a design in corel and get them costed for an engineering company to laser cut them.

Wouldnt be too dear but definately cheaper than buying off another manufacturer.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Not these is it Andy;

http://www.indigocollartags.com/

Not ours and seem a bit pricey.

As I say to give me a call or email as I might be able to sort you one of the prototypes.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Hi Andrew,

We make Pet Tags (our boards are in most vet surgeries across the UK), our collar tag looks like;
http://www.pettags.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=24

We dont suggest these for "clip buckle" collars as there isnt too much clearance. We’re working on a new stainless steel one which can be fitted to any collar, buckle or open end. This will be launched shortly – its been designed to satisfy the dog agility and working dog markets.

We do have some prototype ones available in 25mm size – I cant post pictures at the moment as they are still under R&D and most of the other tags we’ve developed have been copied 👿

Maybe drop me an email or give me a call and I’ll see if I can help you out.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Hi Dan,

The other Andy is round ours now, he says most gloss vinyl doubled up is fine for sandblast – just test on a scrap piece obviously 😉

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Dan, I think my brother in law (another Andy) just uses double layer of vinyl as a sandblast mask, he carves down a good half inch on some items and it doesnt seem to move. Could just feed the cheapest vinyl through a laminator and bond 2 layers together before cutting.

Andy

[Andrew Blackett]

Does it not matter that the bottom of the letter isnt smooth then Dan? I always presumed (incorrectly obviously) that these had to be lasered.

Andy