[David Mitchell]

Confidence, everything else can be learned on the hop, if your work is good it will sell.

What’s the worst that can happen!

[David Mitchell]

I felt like this through the autumn/winter. At the end of the day you can only do so much, I’m a one man band and I’m split 60/40 with more embroidery and printing now, I try my best to keep on top of things but there’s only so much you can do,

Someone told me "always remember you don’t need to do every job" sounds mental but i then realised I was in the habit of saying yes to every enquiry putting myself under crazy pressure,

Also everyone likes to advise, take on staff and grow, what is so wrong with staying small?

[David Mitchell]

not everyone can get the original vinyl guys etc to do them, and would amaze you how often guys that get a works van home, and prang it, would try n get it fixed without the boss ever knowing,

amazing what you can achieve with a bit of bodyfiller and a spray gun

[David Mitchell]

seen it done = told to do it by my tradesman 😆

basicly u would run 2" masking tape over the lettering and trace round the letters with a blade, can be pretty effective place to hide a "join" in the paint as if u coloured the full panel to the edge it would never match the panel next to it, so probably hide the colour in amongst the lettering and clear coat the full panel,

remember the body shop guys gig is fixing the van for that customer at that time, not taking into account what may happen in the future,

actually had a van in last week with the exact same thing, and i did immediately think WTF do painters do such a thing 😆 😆

[David Mitchell]

Last time someone dropped off a dirty van they got phoned and told to take it away, and brink it back once it was clean, peoplemjst constantly try and take the piss.

[David Mitchell]

That’s been a body shop paint repair, painters masked up the signwriting, and painted round it, rough as toast but seen it done in my painting days,

[David Mitchell]

I use Creative Drawings 6,

I do all my digitising in house, generally have logos in vector format for cutting vinyl etc anyway, so a quick copy and paste few adjustments and your good to go,

As said it’s cheap to outsource digitising, but I can set up logos in 5 minutes this way.

[David Mitchell]

Wow! Rob that’s amazin!! I’m pretty sure Mani had an auction of stuff at end of last year, guitars and Amps etc

[David Mitchell]

I wouldn’t worry to be honest, pure re sellers will get on fine until problems occur, customers ain’t gonna be happy when they go back to the reseller who will have no knowledge of how it happened, how it can Be prevented, etc.

Quality I’ll always win in the long game, and for prices to be driven low, corners need to be cut somewhere,

[David Mitchell]

as far as my understanding goes,

if u have an image @300dpi at a given size

blow that up to double the size and it would half the resolution

so if its at 300dpi at 250mm high your blowing it up by X10 almost making the resolution 30dpi?

i think.

[David Mitchell]

Double Bubble Colin, 😉 I often do trucks through the night so they don’t miss a day’s work, guys are delighted with the arrangement and it’s very worthwhile ££

[David Mitchell]

That patisserie one for example I’d have personally done the two words separate, far easier to handle

[David Mitchell]

I just bought a second machine, single head brother pr655 to go with pr600 they barely stop, it’s pretty easy to make £20 an hour from one of these machines with minimal input, not long paying the £180 odd a month for 4year lease, if uve went to the hassle of vectorin a logo for a van, sign flyer etc 2 minutes digitises it for embroidery.

[David Mitchell]

Thank you Chris, il throw them an email,

Thank you, much appreciated.

[David Mitchell]

Hi Chris, BN-20 has 5′. Can You tell me what films u use?

I use easy print from xpress, but find it’s a little heavy, prett scared after initial results to try anything else if I’m honest

[David Mitchell]

Far too polite Phil, he would have been told to f off very early in the conversation, I have zero tolerance for this sort of thing, 2 or 3 times I’ve been in a similar situation and I wasn’t long telling them,

We don’t run our own businesses to be talked to like something a dog may leave behind, best feeling is when they come back and u have enough work on as tell them " no thanks you would be better buying that online" 😆

[David Mitchell]

Last time i had issues i changed cutting strip , new blades etc n it seemed to work, but i wondered if it was reallyjust a faulty roll,

i use Oracal 651 mostly and ive had rolls of same colour with different textures etc.

if it helps, im in ayrshire, stick a piece in the post and i can run it through, would either dictate a machine problem, or a vinyl problem, and then you can get some ££ back

[David Mitchell]

my take on the old " And if your good, there a lot of work here in the future i can send your way"

i usually reply, "well when all that work starts rolling in il give you some proper discounts"

every week theres the promises,. sometimes it comes , sometimes it doesnt

[David Mitchell]

Wrap it round the back and some 10mm strips of vinyl to hold in place,

or trim it 2mm shy of the edge if u don’t think a wee white edge will get you in trouble

[David Mitchell]

If you think it’s only a cheap way to take on staff and that you may feel you are a little under paid at times, or asked to do a little much now and again.

Go self employed, fly solo, it won’t take long to appreciate what you had, how easy it was, how little responsibilities you actually have being an employee,

people think it’s tough, that their boss works them hard, Wait until your the guy footing the bills, calling all the shots, making it work and keeping it together,

£7-£10 an hour for showing up, doing your job, and heading home , that’s easy street.

[David Mitchell]

it was always a space issue, it does a great job of what i need it to, but wanna take things a wee bit further.

will try xpress where i bought it from and printmax since theyve been recomended here, cheers guys,

54" this time. if theres any particular m,achines anyone would recomend, or any reasons against roland sp540.?

[David Mitchell]

Moved house on Friday which is mid renovation, the garage is nearly finished, my new workshop, still considering heading down for the day to get away from it all!

[David Mitchell]

Give him another chance! make the offer and see if hes keen, final written warning, as you said he can do the basics,

i know i was a lazy arse when i was an apprentice spray painter, could work more than the best of them nowadays,

probably out blazing all weekend with his mates, and has the fear today!

the man who never made a mistake, never made anything.

[David Mitchell]

Thanks rob I already done so by message, but will get email details to,

In your business do You ever check or is it really not the signamkers place

[David Mitchell]

I like to,post pics of my work on Facebook!! And the customer shared it,

[David Mitchell]

100:80:0:20. Is what I use

[David Mitchell]

Yeah understand where your coming from rob, in my spray painting days I was weary when asked to paint helmets in fact I never did, solvent based paints onto thin plastic shell that had been keyed, didn’t sound a rear idea, but these ice hockey players goalies especially love a sprayjob, pros are even having theirs wrapped, the gear is abused, I play myself, if go pro etc sell m sticky pads for mounting etc il worry once they stop.

[David Mitchell]

I’ve no idea who manufactured that engine, but I served my apprenticeship in a local place that built them, google "emergency one U.K." Someone in the office would probably be able to help,

[David Mitchell]

Surely that will destroy the cutting strip and blade in seconds cutting right through?

Shouldn’t a digital cutting table or the likes be used for such a job?

[David Mitchell]

I’m in the same boat, but for now as I’ve got so busy I outsource mine, found a girl who’s about 50 miles away, jst graduated from university, but still doing non design related jobs , so I take the brief and pass it onto her, I’m basicly the middle man and add a few ££ on, then I get the vehicle graphics and embroidery and printing work ,

Design is something I want to be good at but I’m not in all honesty, so better to pass it on and stick to what your good at, but I still buy books and try and learn and will continue to do so

[David Mitchell]

Il be keepin her chappin right through, one man band and more time off means less money, took delivery of a cnc laser last week so plenty time to play with it, nice few jobs to do between Xmas and new year to pay the bills.

I used to think my old man was strange never taking days off telling me he enjoyed working, I think I’m turning into him!!

[David Mitchell]

Where you based Chris? I’ve got samples of other vinyls I jst haven’t had time to dry, print quality and durability is spot on , on the easy print, it’s just a bit thick on t shirts

[David Mitchell]

i work from a 2×5 m office in garden, everyone always saying you need a bigger place, but immaking good money, and theres no rush,

i have an arrangemnent with three local mechanics that i can use a corner of their garage to fit vinyl on vans etcm, slip them £20 or so and there delighted,

the haullage company , i use there garage, wash bay even the feed store!! to do their work, they are happy though as i do their stuff out of hours so their vehicles dont miss a shift.

unffortunately the local industrial estate is a bit of a mess and the units their are not that great, so im happy with where i am. for now!

the good local industrial estate with the good units, has a sign guy and a seperate embroidery place, dunno how id fit in there!!

[David Mitchell]

where you based ? could try printing it on someone elses machine, would certainly rule out wether its ure printer or the file ?

[David Mitchell]

I once tried to print royal blue n it came out purple, on my BN 20 changed cmyk values to 100:70:0:18 n it works for me, double check the export to,eps settings, ? I kinda assume though that Roland might have thought of this before me tho so maybe I’m talkin guff

[David Mitchell]

would it be possible to enclose the design in a circle or oval, and using the negative ??

least then the grass detail etc u can pick out as opposed to trying to save

[David Mitchell]

ive recently picked up a lot of work with a haualge firm and a plant hire firm that operate out the same yard you could say, and dibond or pretty much anything wouldnt really last, it still annoys me the condition the vehicles get into after a few weeks work, but its all part of the job, speaking to the owners i would say " that must break your heart seiing that after a few weeks" but its just what happens.

i recently done a few Herron trailers, gave it a quick wipe down with panel wipe and the cloth was turning red, me being nieve but having a spraypainting background spoke to the boss and said this paints not very good on these, his words, have a look next week when your in and its done a few shifts, you would have thought someone had fired an automatic rifle at the thing.

[David Mitchell]

Beuatifull

[David Mitchell]

I think i understand dave,

how would you or anyone else advise on this sort of sign, where, they ask for a certain size of board, and due to the logo it will leave a lot of space either side? i’ve fell into the trap of making it as tall as possible to take up as much of the board as possible.

i have purchased the mike stevens layout book around 8 weeks ago it just hasnt arrived yet :O

Cheers everyone 🙂

[David Mitchell]

might make more sense now phil,.

---

Attachments:

[David Mitchell]

and you never posted a photo :O

hope yer alright 🙂

[David Mitchell]

David, yeah pretty much all simple cut vinyl, my BN-20 is 90% doing garment transfers!

although the Lugar football Badge and the Sports hub logo was print, cut laminated.

[David Mitchell]

machine mart . i got one from there for drying panels after spraypainting

[David Mitchell]

had the issue last week, designed in RGB and they couldnt send me the file to change it, then complained that what was meant to be royal blue was a touch ion the purple side, i knew straight away the problem but its not my fault.

[David Mitchell]

if they dont resolve it, a car body shop could fix it, or even perhaps try a PDR guy , there usually mobile.

[David Mitchell]

vinyl + app tape = £ +25%
+
cutting / weeding time = minutes (x hourly rate)

its hard cos you could have a complex 300 x 300 small text lots of weeding or some simple shapes etc, i try to use time a lot, same with my embroidery machine, time rather than stitch count, set my hourly rate for the embroidery machine, i do that with cutter.

[David Mitchell]

cheers Chris, i never even thoughto f that and iw as a spraypainter, printer effectively works the same way with overlap

[David Mitchell]

jesus kevin, thats wild! no wonder this country is in a bad way!!

[David Mitchell]

wow , handy!!!

[David Mitchell]

i think where davids saying the cost of gaining a cscs card is £2000+ and then people can leave,

and im hearing phill saying how large companies will take over, chareg more etc.

i think for instance if it goes that far and gets out of hand, supply only, surely theres a joiner already on site who can fire the signs up, rather than the companies being held to ransom paying a big firm over the odds, all because the little guys been blocked out.

half the bother is wee bow and courtsy to everything that gets put in front of us everyhwere in this country, and until we stand up to eejits in offices coming up with a load of rubbish just to keep themselves in a job its going to get worse.

health and safety of course its got its place, but who in there right mind would genuinely put themselves in danger anyway.

[David Mitchell]

think only you will know yourself phil.

i bought my BN-20 for t-shirt transfers mainly, as i was buying them in, got to a stage i was buying more & more in, done a few sums and pretty much figured that i could print them myself, pay the monthly on the machine and was making profit.

And having the machine lets you increase volume as you can turn the jobs round quicker.

think its a pretty much the same for any new machine regardless of the price, if its gonna make you money its good business.

just my tuppence worth.

[David Mitchell]

ewan pal, ye lost the machine haggling for a few hundred quid, that you would probably have made back by now had you just bought it! let it go, i very much doubt that a company the size of grafityp would sell a dodgy printer,

if i was selling something and someone was haggling price down and warranty up, and wee jimmy came along and offered me what i wanted for it, its a no brainer!

[David Mitchell]

Midnight blue it seams according to my mate google, cheers boys 🙂

[David Mitchell]

cheers lads , what i can find off the sample i have, dot matrix code

"792"

"ight Blue / Ref: 844080

[David Mitchell]

Wee update! machine stops printing and tells you cart is empty!!

also before you print it will give you a warning that "current ink levels may be insufficient to complete printing – Yellow"

Clever stuff 😀

[David Mitchell]

im still prettynew to solvent printing david, i just thought the good feeling was a perk of the job :d

[David Mitchell]

I have printed loads with eco-sol ink and im still alive!

[David Mitchell]

group101 i believe they are in the south of england and im in scotland, was no problem to them

[David Mitchell]

cheers guys, ive more ordered , but u dont wanna throw away upto 20% lol.

i think i may be panicking a little as i was trying to take it all in about not ruining print head etc, proper mainteneance and stuff.

i will double check with roland if the BN-20 has a warning when cartridge is empty, or if anyone on here runs anything, i just knew he mentioned something about drawing air.

best to be safe 😀

Thanks again for the replies guys.

[David Mitchell]

i think ye would be pretty mad not to just use the version that Rob done, most proffesional looking one on the post,

[David Mitchell]

sorry to take away from the original post, maybe i should brush up on my customer care skills,

but when someone says oh i can get vinyl on ebay or i know how much you can buy that for , your too expensive.

they get asked if they can do it so cheap why are they asking me to do it, i recently had it as MDP website displays all prices. the comment regarded the price of the vinyl, i told him, did u bother to look and see how much they sell the plotter, tools, application tape, impact software, computer software, a computer to run it all.

[David Mitchell]

i may be wrong, but at sign & digital im sure i saw an instalation company, that takes care of plannngpermission etc.

so might be worth looking into and supplying a sign to the customer, and advise an instalation company that she should speek to ,

you get paid for the sign, and any hassles regarding planning and instalation etc are the customers

[David Mitchell]

the gettysburg one james, is the acrylic engraved, and could u acheive a similar effect with frosted vinyl on edgelit acrylic ?

[David Mitchell]

Just ordered the mike stevens book , hoopefully i can learn from it 🙂

[David Mitchell]

i wouldnt say it’s your responsibility. and as hugh says, im not sure your actually allowed to recreate NICEIC logos gas safe etc, but everyone does it i think, well i do anyway.

at the end of the day, for all i know a customer could be using someone elses logos on their van, its not my duty to check wether there legitimate or not ?

Take the $$$ close your eyes n let it be

[David Mitchell]

looks like the solvent in the laquer attacking the vinyl.

i used to spraypaint and i know not everyone mixes laquer paint etc as per instruction.

i used to put extra thinner in it as i preferred the finish, additives also to help quick drying.

whenever i had bike parts to paint i always put decals back on top of the laquer as i was weary of the above happening.

although the bikes do come with laquer over the decals, who knows what they use on those places?

[David Mitchell]

Same as Hugh! quote them for a subby and a price for supply only. 😉

[David Mitchell]

kev that was me that had the trouble with inks, but found a media that works from xpres and its sound,

how many would u be looking for warren i can send u a sample print if that helps?

[David Mitchell]

i get the same when i try and continue with other work, i think its a combination of, me putting a longer usb cable in, running a pretty basic computer,

i was thinking of getting my old laptop and a shelf above the plotter, its a graphtec ce6000-60 it can be a pain at times

[David Mitchell]

http://www.trenddirectuk.com/alu-01×1-4tc.html

i bought one from here last month, and my first ever sign tray i made is proudly on the local main street 🙂

[David Mitchell]

helloprint.co.uk maybe wortha try

[David Mitchell]

whats a digital cutting table ? and its uses?

[David Mitchell]

cheers guys, appreciate it

[David Mitchell]

hugh for what its worth, i upgraded to win 10

versaworks for Bn-20 was fine, corel draw, cutting master etc all fine

only thing i had to do was reinstall sublimation printer, had some driver error thing after upgrade

[David Mitchell]

contour then to remove the little but, Araange > Shaping > boundary, gives outline, delete the rest

[David Mitchell]

i got an install with ecosol max 3 last month, my first big printer ( bn-30 😉 lol)

issue i had and was confirmed by xpres, that media they sold me for printing t shirt vinyls "solvent dark plus" wasn’t compatible, was fading very bad after first wash. also had same issue with stahls sportsfilm.

gave me "easyprint" works a treat.

i cant really offer any feedback regarding big prrinting etc i really only make small decals with it other than garment stuff.

[David Mitchell]

after the drive for printwear and promo, i decided to book return flight for the wednesday, 8 am out of glasgow, 8pm out of Birmingham.

now to persaude the good lady to collect me from airport :d

[David Mitchell]

i havent saw a layout yet, but i had in my head.

80 odd names with table names, text could get pretty small. likely to be a script font? so not sure how the fine detail would hold down to the mirror as a mask so when etch cream etc was applied would it be sharp,

the lass had saw some etch vinyls i had put on glass doors, originally she asked if it could be etch vinyl on the mirror.

[David Mitchell]

often do these offers hugh, they work well, especially with artwork already made up for example if you do there van,

[David Mitchell]

yeah i should have added that hoodies would be the exception, due to the fact that its pretty easy to achieve £20 for a hoodie.

polos £5 +25% – £6.25 + £4 –£10.25 then i round it up for ease.

Softshell £20 +25% – £25 +£4 — £29 again id jst take the £30

but maybe im too cheap at 25% i just had to try and start somewhere,

and sorry hugh, the printed vinyl part was for david, who i know from printing other work etc would be able to.

would also agree that textile vinyl will last longer, but generally again maybe me only, i find its joiners, builders, mechanics etc guys who clean stuff on their clothing lol garments usually done before print.

[David Mitchell]

i also only order everything in as i need it, rather than stock different colour films why dont you print t shirt vinyls, takes out multiple colours needing 3,4 presses etc

[David Mitchell]

i stick to using the same brands, like a set polo , hoodie etc

price of garment +25% mark up.

+

Print / Embroidery

Embroidery – left chest logos 100x100mm max (frame size) i like to try and get £16 per hour out of embroidery machine,
chest logos generally range between 10 – 20 minutes so i average at +£4 per garment

if they want the rear embroidered 250mm wide max – +£4 per garment

so roughly hit on £11 per embroidered polo

Printing

i price between 50p and £1 cheaper, , gives the customer an option , 9 times out of 10 they will opt for embroidery when suitable.

so garment already marked up 25% adding £3 for printed logo, we all know how many left chest or indeed full chest logos you can get from garment vinyl.

Please though if someone thinks im crazy or talking rubbish point me in the direction please !! im very new to all this still but it seams to work for me.

[David Mitchell]

bit of spraypainting background here.

if your goin to use a scotchbrite pad to key the surface make sure it is the fine silver/grey grade.

will polish back up with a fine cutting compound

[David Mitchell]

i use sawgrass inks in a ricoh sg3110

blacks coming out brown ? had that to start but hadnt set up the colour profile and driver correctly??

when u switch the press on leave an old mug in it, when u place ure ready to print mug the temp wont drop as far.

160 degrees for 90 seconds works perfect for me,

im sure ures is A3?? i have an A4 and the width of a4 seems to be perfect for full wrap, although i try to keep designs roughly 75mm in height away from the edges. as some mugs are not the most square and level, keepingit away from top and bottom edge prevents soft/ faded print.

i only use mugs and paper from xpres, tried cheaper paper before and it wasnt worth the hassle.

[David Mitchell]

hey guys thanks for everyones input.

the outcome,

i was sold media which is not compatible with "eco sol max 3" inks

the company gave me a refund on the media i purchased, and to compensate sent me media that appears to be performing well and holding its colour after washing.

[David Mitchell]

thanks guys, making slight progress, problem really seams o be with the red, other colours holding up not bad

[David Mitchell]

thank you both for your input, much appreciated, i will keep the post updated

[David Mitchell]

printer heater is fixed at 35 degrees on the bn 20 since found that out, which matches vinyl spec.

[David Mitchell]

yes denise was also left for 24 hours after pressing onto the shirt too.

i sent samples back to where i purchased it from, but as its the weekend they are closed.

i cant find anywhere to check the temperature kevin spoke of ?

[David Mitchell]

thanks kevin, i have been looking at the laminate that siser do.

one problem is, i was buying transfers in and been supplying that same logo for a year with no problem, until i print my own and they are terrible after a wash 🙁 at my wits end

[David Mitchell]

Hi sean, it was for an elcetrical company who decided they would save ££ lighting it themselves, i couldnt be bothered arguing the case, they intend to do it with led’s.

fitting is very simple, aluminium angle top and bottom, these were also supplied by james, fitting in 1 hour 30 mins or so but im not known to rush!!!

james sent the sign fret cut , with acrylic in place i only had to mount the flatcut letters and apply the vinyl along the bottom,

Cannot thank james and group 101 enough, the service is fantastic and makes it possible for a small one man band, working from home, to supply signage like this.

[David Mitchell]

my first time going!

[David Mitchell]

wouldn’t get too hung up on the car mod scene Mark. it changes so very very often.

here today gone tomorrow kinda thing.

ive been driving 11 years, when max power magazine was still on the go and it was all crazy bodykits, then it was fast and furious style graphics, then came house of kolor paints with all there special effects etc, then the euro style scene where everything was smoothed etc. now it seems everyone keeps there cars as original as possible and its all uprated engine parts etc.

most of the folk still doing the crazy modifying will be the new drivers, young folks with there first car, i wouldnt imagine to many would have the money to pay for good work from you.

i honestly think wrapping as a car thing will die off, a fad if you like,

where as it may be worth concentrating on commercial vehicles where it has lifespan?

there are the rally and track day guys though? but generally they offer you to put your name on and do the job for free .

[David Mitchell]

i went full time with the business beginning of December 2015, so really still settling in hours wise.

Previously it was , 3am – 11am at the bakery then 12 noon til 7pm with the business

now i try and start between 5 am and 7 am. and finish 5pm

the luxury i have is i can do a bit of running around and start and finish when needed within reason, i do not have a shop/unit to run as i work from home office, so its not as if the general public see me open one day not the next etc.

i also put in extra hours if and when required, sat mornings, sun mornings, when the wife and kid are still sleeping, just keeps things ticking over.

Although i agree with phil. people thinking you are self employed they can come and yap away for ages, i park my car round the corner, close the gate and pretend im out if they ring and say they are looking for me.

[David Mitchell]

your the boss mate , and make sure he knows it, yeah customers always right bla bla bla, but there is that certain breed of folk that think they can talk to you and treat you like crap, even though they want you to do a job for them , that clearly they cant do themselves.

make sure they know that you call the shots, and basically they can like it , or lump it.
some will accept it and have respect for you. the ones who don’t are not the kind of humans you want to be dealing with and let them go annoy someone else.

[David Mitchell]

i do not charge set up fee for embroidery or designing logos, there for the files are not their property.

9 times out of 10 if they want a banner, some business cards etc i source it out.

the twice ive been asked to email another supplier a file, i invoice the customer for an hour or so..

[David Mitchell]

that is pretty cool phil, how long does it take to print a letter ?

[David Mitchell]

u wouldnt go wrong with group101 although as rob said not up here in west of scotland but service is second to none

[David Mitchell]

i use a white board, different colour pens for "quotes" "things to order" "to be designed" "embroidery tasks" "plotter tasks" etc

as basic as basic can be but it keeps me in line.

very handy if u need to quickly scribble something down, but i work alone and its probably only me that understands it!

[David Mitchell]

i work from a home office, 2m x 5m , regularly people say to me that i will have to move out soon as space is so tight,

why would i want to give myself the headache of monthly rent, more bills etc, then employees i see as a headache, you end up taking on work just to keep them in a job, and the majority of them will leave u up the creek pulling sickies when you need them.

silly internet stuff has made you money so far, dont diss it. look at your experience of commercial contracts, they can dissapear in 24 hours as u say.

i am steadily gaining a wider customer base of local businesses, i would rather work for them than have a massive company who havent paid me for 30 days go bust.

thats just my opinion, best advice from me, do what makes you happy, happiness is key to everything, would rather be happy with a tenner in my pocket than miserable witha twenty!