[Dan Piddington]

I would say a day and a half with cleaning, trimming, post heating.

[Dan Piddington]

You’re welcome Peter.

Delivery can take a few days but they’re my go to for posts, sign channel, caps and clips.

Thanks Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Hi Peter,

Try: http://www.signtradesupplies.co.uk

Good luck

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Try Furnells – speak to Wes 0208 880 2771 http://www.furnells.com

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks David,

That’s the kind of company I’m looking for, someone who at least makes the effort to understand what we need
and can advise accordingly.

We’re in Buckinghamshire so probably a bit far for your mate.

Picked up an old thread that mentioned NFU Mutual – anyone using them?

[Dan Piddington]

Great – Thanks Rob.

Cheers

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Hi Rob,

I received a letter from Europoint this morning – as many others have I’m sure.

The 4th paragraph states ‘All previous credit account terms and conditions of trade remain unchanged and the data
regarding your account has been transferred to Europoint’

Simply – Does this mean we will continue to receive UKSG discounts?

Apologies if this has already been discuss elsewhere.

Thanks

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

We have had the same problem with IJ380 applied with a gold squeegee (with felt edge)
3m surface prep before hand and plenty of pressure when applying.
As it’s not air release you have to treat it like normal cast vinyl and apply carefully to avoid bubbles.

However, we applied a printed part wrap full length to a merc vito and luckily it was a busy printed image
because it was covered in tiny bubbles, looked awful but then a week later – no sign of bubbles!

We’ve been spoilt with air release so maybe are technique needs refreshing but still for the price
you pay and then the customer pays for IJ380 it’s a little demoralizing seeing these tiny bubbles and then
trying to convince the customer that they will soon disappear!

It is great vinyl for staying in recesses though and the only one we dare to use for this application.

3M Wrap course maybe? – I’ll start saving now 🙂

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Phill.

[Dan Piddington]

Ewan,

I would use someone like Blackburn Metals, Cherwell Sign Supplies or possibly Ashby.

They would usually stock silver anodized, white and black posts and possibly some standard RAL colours. Depends what colour you want really, most suppliers will accept a RAL colour reference and spray paint or powder coat the posts for you.

Hope that helps

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Shane,

Gave them a call and got the same deal…….great!

Cheers

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

We went today also hoping to see suppliers wrapping super cars and showing off new wrap films, maybe even some chrome wrapping but as Warren said there was absolutely nothing 🙄 apart from that bloke with the bonnet….

Also wanted to buy the latest Impact Graphics Solutions vehicle outlines as they usually do a special show price but they weren’t there either.

Drooled over the new Mimaki flatbed printer and had an in depth demo of the
Clarity pro software so not all bad.

[Dan Piddington]

Portland Lighting for us too, although make sure they package the lights well. On 2 occasions we have had lights turn up with smashed tubes – might just have been the Tuffnels delivery driver though, one marked fragile had a foot print on it!

[Dan Piddington]

Contact details for non UKSB members:

07833638352
dan@signscopedesign.co.uk

Aylesbury based Signs and Graphics company Signscope Design are looking for a committed and experienced Sign Maker / Fitter to join and help grow this ambitious business.

The successful candidate will have previous experience in all aspects of sign making and fitting with a good knowledge of vehicle graphic application and ideally some wrapping experience.

The successful candidate will be hard working, positive, self motivated with an enthusiastic approach to work. You will be expected to work under pressure to tight deadlines while maintaining quality output and following all health and safety
procedures.

This is a permanent position, 40 hours a week with overtime evenings and weekends as and when required.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone to grow and mature with the business as it expands.

Salary dependent on experience and reviewed after a 3 month trial period.

Please pm me if interested and I’ll send over full job spec.

Also interested to hear from Freelancers.

Thanks

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Hi John,

I’ve had quotes from these guys before but not actually placed
an order with them. They were very helpful so might be worth a look.

http://www.sign-maker.net

Regards

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Great, good luck.

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Morning Ian,

Amari Plastics is just up the road from ealing.

Amari Plastics West London (Park Royal)
2 Cumberland Avenue
Park Royal
London
NW10 7RL

T: 020 8961 1961

They sell Mactac vinyl but can’t guarantee they would have etch vinyl.

Failing that All Print Supplies is 35 – 40 mins away in slough.

Hope you find some

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Hi Alex,

Thanks for your thoughts and experience with the polarsign.

I took the plunge and went for the easymount 1400SH in the end from
Signmaster 🙂 being delivered next week so can’t wait to start using it.

I fear there will be a few wasted prints though while I’m getting to grips
with it!

Thanks again

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Billy,

Talk to The Magic Touch
http://www.themagictouch.co.uk
01582 671444

They sell material and very robust good quality heat presses.
We have the swing head press from them, always calling them up for tips
and advice which they are always happy to give.

Absolute Apparel for clothing.

Hope this helps

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

I’ve used Hampshire Flag in the past.

http://www.hampshireflag.co.uk

[Dan Piddington]

This has now gone to a new home.

Thanks

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Hi Baz,

Closest I’ve found is Mactac 9800 Series Luminous Cyan.

All print supplies stock it 01753 696977

Did have a fluorescent blue in stock a while back but can’t recall where I got it
from…..maybe metamark, can’t be sure.

Good luck

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Good luck Hugh, looks great, all the best.

[Dan Piddington]

I’ve been thinking about bringing this in house for a while now. I’ve got some
good suppliers that I sub out to but need to have more control on quality, consistency and turnaround.

Warren – Would you mind telling me what set up you have? I appreciate you may not want to.

This topic is definitely on my mind allot, interesting subject.

Cheers Dan

[Dan Piddington]

I did wonder about the corners, I’ll try and get a frame
before making the signs.

Thanks again

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Cheers Hugh, Chris,

Thanks for the advice, correx it is!

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Hi Hugh, sorry for the late reply,

It’s 700mm x 700mm x 700mm

I haven’t used it for a long time but it was working fine and has a spare black drum plus instruction manual. It is very heavy, 2 people to lift it although we can help load it
into a van or estate car.

Cheers

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Hi all,

This is now taking up space so free to anyone who can collect

Currently prints black and white with black drum installed, individual
colour drums can still be purchased for this machine.

Thanks

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Hi Jim,

I’ve used a Hi-Tac white vinyl from Metamark for some static awnings.
Only small cut text though 150mm high x 700mm wide.

The vinyl I applied has been in place for over 2 years without peeling / failing. I could not offer the customer any guarantee for the work though but they were still happy to proceed.

I also looked into S/A vinyl for sailing numbers, a company sent me some hi-tac samples but again I can’t point you in the exact direction. If you google self adhesive sailing numbers you may get somewhere.

Cheers, Dan.

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Steve,

Looks good

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Rob,

An interesting read.

The search goes on……

[Dan Piddington]

Hi Rob, thanks for the reply.

I’ve not seen candy apple red vinyl anywhere let alone the UK.
I’ve just got a customer keen to achieve this finish who wants
to know if it’s possible using wrap vinyl.

Not familiar with the Chinese brand and wouldn’t want to use
anything less than a descent cast.

Thanks

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Hi everybody…..again.

I’ve now been asked to supply and install the attached to the 2 x
shop windows.

How would you guys go about doing this? I’ve applied plenty of
window graphics before, but nothing of this size.

My initial thoughts are to print reverse onto clear in 3 drops and back
up with white leaving a small gap around the edges, or should I print
the lot on poster paper and tape to the window?

Your thoughts and experience as always would be very much appreciated

Ta

---

Attachments:

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks for all the advice

Very helpfull

🙂

[Dan Piddington]

Recently attended a Hexis wrapping course and they
used dewalt and Steinel.

http://hexis.co.uk/Hexis/Whats_New_Steinel.html

I currently use a Black & Decker KX2000K

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Martin O

I’ve done exactly that after the same suggestion from a supplier.

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Hi Dan,

I would use meths or similar to clean the glass then mix a drop of
washing up liquid with some water to apply the frosted wet. Only a small
drop of washing up liquid or the frosted will slide all over the place and
slip down the window.

You can do the same with the vinyl, I’d then use a fluffy block squeegee,
mactac or similar as this won’t scratch the surface.

I prefer to cut the frosted oversize and cut on the window.

Vehicle prep – I’ve used meths for years and avery surface cleaner. Always a good
idea to test clean a small area of the vehicle if using meths, especially if your dealing with a fresh paint job.

Cherwell still sell meths 5ltr, can’t remember the cost though, BREWERS also sell meths + B&q etc although you may want to try a cleaner from Jag or grafityp, etc, etc so many out there.

Hope this helps

🙄

[Dan Piddington]

Hi Martin,

The suppliers are sending me some primer as well to prep the
surface for the tape, I’ll be interested to see how that works plus
a thicker size might not be a bad idea.

Thanks

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Martin,

I’ve been chatting with a few of the self adhesive tape
suppliers and they are sending me some samples to try
out.

Maybe a banner welder would be a good investment as I’ve
never been that good with a sewing machine!

Would rather not pay someone else to do it.

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Nigel, some more testing required I think.

Cheers again Chris, just spoke to someone at contender.
Very helpful + samples on the way.

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Martin, I’ll give the sample a try anyway but I fear you could be right.

Cheers Chris, I’ll give them a bell in the morning.

Thanks

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Gareth,

Quite possibly, APA have sent me a sample which I’m
going to test tomorrow, fingers crossed.

[Dan Piddington]

Hi Owen,

That does sound annoying, personally I’ve never been in that
situation so can’t really comment that much.

If you’ve put in so much work already and your customer really
likes the initial (agreed signs) can’t you offer them the option
of paying it off in installments.

Just my thoughts

Good luck

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Great work, very nice.

Would love to have been
traditionally trained.

Keep it up.

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Hugh,

True, if its gonna last then its worth the initial outlay.
I’ll shop around for some prices.

More suggestions most welcome.

Thanks

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Dave,

I’ll have a read over lunch.

Thanks Jason, glass would be great but I’m really looking
for a cheaper option, at present.

Ta

[Dan Piddington]

Hi Neil,

I’m going with ss21 inks and an extractor fan (DIY)

That’s pretty much my plan with the plotter, most of the
print and cut jobs I currently outsource can be cut on the
fc 7000 so that will suffice for now and then I’ll upgrade
to a larger machine if required.

Thanks

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Neil,

Glad to hear the FC7000-75 works well for print and cut.

I’ve just ordered a jv33-130 so all the cutting work will be down to the graphtec.

Thanks for the update Colin.

What inks do you guys use? ss21 or es3?

The printer is going to be pretty close to me so wondering if extraction will be required?

Thanks

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Hiya Chris,

I’ve got 2, think you gave them to me originally!

I’ll stick one in the post mate 😀

Hope you enjoyed the rest of the show.

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Robert, I appreciate your opinion.

Peter, I think the cjv can die cut as well but i’ll be talking to suppliers
again this morning so will check.

Colin, thanks very much for the in depth feedback, seems longer than 18 months ago that I picked up that risograph from you! sadly it doesn’t get used much so will probably be back on the boards soon.

I couldn’t remember whether you had the jv33 or cjv, I just remember your advice to go 1370 wide if my budget could stretch that far – which it now can

😀

Thanks Elena / A

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Peter,

So if I’ve got this right what your saying is that the
cjv is great for die cutting un-laminated and laminated
vinyl or are you referring to the separate plotter?

Apologies for the confusion.

If the cjv is going to give me the same quality print as the jv33
and be able to cut un-laminated or laminated stickers, decals with no
problem plus occasionally cut single colour vinyl @ 1230mm wide then
I’ll be happy

😀

[Dan Piddington]

Hi Dan, good to meet you too.

I’m not sure it’s a better choice. Previous threads have equal opinions with some siding Mimaki and others Roland. The suppliers I spoke to selling both machines today said the vs 540 and mimaki cjv 130 were pretty evenly matched. Also the sp 540i is (as I’m sure many will agree) a great machine and was the machine I was going to buy when I walked through the door!

Damn sign show, there goes my holiday……….

Personally, the company I currently outsource to run a mimaki and I think the print quality is great so therefore offering the same quality in house seems like a no-brainer, I’m sure the vs would do the same but it’s a little bit more pricey.

Choices, choices.

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Steve,

Short on space and also have a graphtec fc7000-75 plotter / cutter which suits 90% of my single colour vinyl jobs.

I thought the 1370mm print and cut would be handy as a cutter for any larger single colour vinyl job that may come my way, but then also for printed vinyl, banner, canvas, etc, etc and labels stickers and decals which I’m outsourcing all the time.

Plus if I sell my graphtec (which I’d rather not do) I still need to find that extra few pounds for the printer and cutter bundle.

🙄

Could do with the change to upgrade the van to euro 4 before jan 2012

😮

[Dan Piddington]

Toyota Hiace LWB

8 X 4 Fits in the back no probs.

No wider than a large car and fits under most
height restriction barriers, so far anyway 😀

[Dan Piddington]

Just sent you an email.

Cheers

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Cheers Jus, thought it would work but
just needed some evidence 🙂

Thanks

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Put a box around the text before cutting then weed out the surrounding vinyl so your left with the box and the text.

Then apply application tape to the box and text ( i use clear app tape for this but standard should work)

Peel off from the backing paper and position sticky side up on your work
surface. Masking tape left and right to hold it in place, then
weed out the box leaving the letters. The letters stay stuck to the tape!

Then either apply straight to the sign or (in this case) back onto the backing paper.

Job done – it is a bit fiddly though and your probably get stuck to the app
tape a few times.

Has worked for me with very small cut letters.

Cheers

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Chris,

Just sent you the ‘Bread’ txt in outline form for the 3 suggested fonts.

I’m sure you’ll need more than just the word bread but might help anyway.

Cheers

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Chris,

If your running Signlab try

Berky – k
CARMB
HOLANDSM

No exact matches but with a few tweaks they might do 🙂

Cheers

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Matt

Sounds good to me, always helps to have that little bit more confidence
when replying to the customer 😀

Thanks Phil, was thinking of using the 451 bannercal + possibly the 751 cast as the 451 colours are bit limited for my current customers design.

Great book by the way 😀

Cheers guys

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Derek

Will check them out

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks John,

I can sit designing logo’s for hours so perhaps 2 options is a good idea
🙄

Cheers

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

mmm similar to John’s suggestion.

Vinyl for the V’s, shadow of the 2 and possibly the ‘ltd’

Flat cut lettering vhb’d straight to bg for the’voice
& voice’ + just imagine + ltd (if large enough)

Large ‘2’ flat cut and stood off with locators

Good luck

[Dan Piddington]

I’ve used these guys a couple of times and had good results 🙂

Self Adhesive Supplies Marsack Street, Caversham, Reading, Berkshire RG4 5AP 0118 948 3833‎

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Guys,

I’ve got some decent drill bits and there’s quite large gaps of mortar in between the flint so should be okay. I thought about putting up a frame, packed out to make it straight and then fitting the signpan / panatrim to that but might just fit straight to the wall 🙂 washers as packers sounds like a plan.

Cheers

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Stephen, spot on mate.

Cheers

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Peter,

I was just using the square as an example, the outline I have in illustrator is of a heart and needs to fit round an existing printed heart. So I’m adding a vinyl outline to a digi printed heart. Hope I’m making sense. Thanks.

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Derek

[Dan Piddington]

Hi Derek,

Sunny Buckinghamshire, stoke mandeville to be exact.

Thanks

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Dan – that’s very helpful advice 😀

Thanks Peter – more options the better.

Cheers

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Dan – What 3m dual lock tape do you use? just googled it and opened up a whole world of dual lock 🙄

cheers

[Dan Piddington]

Justin – yep a 3m drop – will do, cheers.

Dan – can remove the velcro tape from the static surface?

Thanks.

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Liam,

I’ve used Velcro tape for this sort of thing before but never on a painted wooden surface. I need to remove the tape at the end of the day and can’t leave any sign of damage 😳

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Justin,

Velcro or sticky fixers could be an option. I’m just a little concerned of how much weight they can take. Granted I’m only using 3mm foam board so not that heavy but I need to show as few joins in the panels as possible so each section could be as large as 3m x 1m.

Cheers

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Mike – thanks, I’ve applied and removed vinyl to and from banners but only on blank areas of canvas and not the printed areas. Might just have to go with a yellow banner and add the printed elements.

Gary – damaging the print would not be good and I’m sure there would be some adhesive to clean off 🙁

Martin – This would work perfect if the banner was white. I gave the client the option of white, blue or yellow bg’s to match there logo – they went for yellow 😮

Peter – both possible options, think I’ll investigate further.

Thanks for all your help.

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Jill 🙂

and Thanks Phill – that’s the thread I found and read earlier.

Cheers

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Lorraine,

I don’t suppose you have any more details on the topic of the thread?
Would make an interesting read. I’ll have another search and see what I
can find.

Thanks for your help

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Chris,

I’ll give them a call 😀

[Dan Piddington]

Hi Chris, small qtys at the mo mate, 30 off to start and then maybe another 30 in a few months so not a massive job but a job none the less.

Thanks George, sounds like a printing job to me.

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Hi Rob,

Some interesting points, thanks for the help.

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Hi John,

I thought that might be the case. I tried to get the client to fit a tube or some down lighters just above the window as there’s a perfect space for some sort of brighter light source. He wasn’t buying it though 🙁

Maybe I’ll sell him a sign saying ‘Please don’t Knock on the window, we know your waiting and will be with you shortly!’

This however will not stop the staff feeling like there in a goldfish bowl.

Thanks

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Graeme,

I’ll have a search.

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Rob,

I didn’t think about a router table, maybe that’s the answer.

I not what you mean with regards to quality equipment as all my hand held power tools are dewalt and I use these alot so needed a quality tool, therefore cost was never an issue.

I’ll have a look at cost co but maybe I should fork out a bit more after all.

I’ll post my findings.

Cheers

Dan.

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Kev,

Looks interesting.

Cheers

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Rob,

That was my first thought as my sheet material suppliers already cut all my panels to size free of charge. When starting out in this trade the company I worked for used to have a table saw that could cut up to 8′ x 4′ sheets but was also great for cutting small panels which we then applied a bevel to, sanded down and flame polished.

I’ve accumulated various off cuts that I can use for these smaller jobs and just want to have a facility for cutting them myself. I can cut foamex, foam board and even dibond with a stanley but not acrylic, plexiglass, etc.

Previously I’ve used a hand held router for this but as I’m sure you can appreciate, when a panel gets quite small it becomes a bit tricky.

Thanks. Dan.

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks for the advice Martin.

[Dan Piddington]

I reckon it’s a shower cap with a cuddly toy in it! I could be wrong…… (?)

[Dan Piddington]

Blimey! free tea as well, any biscuits? chocolate hob nobs preferably 😉

[Dan Piddington]

If only you were just round the corner! Do you get the table and cutting mat
thrown in with the vinyl 😉

[Dan Piddington]

Hi Ian,

I’m not familiar with doming but just had a look at the site you recommended and it could be a possibility.

Thanks

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Hi Dan from Dan 😎

[Dan Piddington]

Not to worry Lorraine, the indian summers on its way!!! I know Burnham, a nice little area, unfortunately right next to slough (although fortunate if your constantly popping in and out for vinyl with All Print Supplies just down the road). Norfolks alot nicer though.

[Dan Piddington]

Hi everyone. Im based near the sleepy farming town of Princes Risborough Lorraine. Know it? In fact today its sleepy and very much rainy!!!!!

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Rob,

Some very helpful advice.

Dan

[Dan Piddington]

Thanks Craig.