[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Jean,

Sorry to hear you have issues, if your supplier has a cut off for reporting issues with a delivery, they have the right to stand their ground, and the responsibility should lie with the receiver, goods should be checked on receipt as it only effects your business if it’s wrong. Having said that if you have a long term relationship with your supplier, I’m sure they could come up with a solution that suites you both. In the past I’ve offered customers a little more discount on future orders to help soften the blow to the value off the issue. That’s the benefit of having account managers, I’m note sure if you have one with the said company

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Pane,

Being an Avery re-seller, I would recommend Avery MPI 2006.
https://graphics.averydennison.eu/en/home.html

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Myles

You haven’t mentioned if the signage is interior or exterior. when discussing this subject it’s normally agreed that PVC and solvents are the products to switch out, Pyramid Display has worked on alternatives way before it became trendy to talk about it.

We have worked with some of our customers to offer closed-loop recycling.

We sold Bubble Board for a very large sporting event, it was then printed and used, then collected and sent back to the manufacturer for recycling into car rear shelves,

We favour Polypropylene for a PVC alternative and fibre-based products for short-term outdoor and longer-indoor applications.

Polypropylene is a lot friendlier to manufacture, consists of natural products and is recycled in the number 5 recycle waste stream. We supply it in

220 to 650 micron film thicknesses to replace semi-rigid PVC.

Polyline Foam produced in 2.5mm and 3.5mm Rigid sheets to replace Foam PVC (fun fact…it’s more rigid, with a harder surface and harder to damage than Foam PVC)

Correx we all know this one

Bubble board is again Polypropylene flatter and stiffer than correx and can be supplied with an FR centre. (Fun fact…We have a variation of bubble board that’s used for ply lining vehicles due to its strength and being a lot lighter than Ply especially useful for electric vans

Simply non PVC self-adhesive together with Matt and gloss matching laminates (fun fact…the gloss level on the laminate is super glossy and doubles as a dry wipe / anti-graffiti) and it’s around the same price as a decent polymeric vinyl. Will it suit every application? No

Polypropylene is a sellable waste product, last time I looked it was returning £30 a tonne

We supply paper products that can be used short term outside (6 months)

Most of the panels on bus advertising are cardboard

We have white card in 3mm and 4.5mm

All can go into the paper waste stream

Our Alupanel ACM has an 80% recycled LDPE centre and will be soon offering a closed-loop recycling scheme for customers producing large hoarding jobs and who want to return the waste. 20 tonnes collected foc, anything lass approx £80:a tonne (£0.88 per sheet based on 90 sheets)

Then there are polyester textiles that are easily recycled

We have Avery non PVC wrap films that are made of Polyurethane with matching gloss and Matt laminates.

We have non-pvc coloured plotter vinyl

The worst case scenario is our products go to landfills and Polypropylene and Paper will not kill the earth.

I’m off to see what impact waste Polyurethanes has on the earth, that one fought me out.

I’m not going to fix your problem but the above is a snapshot into what we’ve been working on for years.

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Martyn

Mactac is one of our best-selling wall films, mainly WW300 / WW100 it’s been on the market for around 15 years so well tried and tested. If you have a timber base of course any movement will affect any vinyl stuck to it. Paint manufacturers keep their formulas a secret therefore they don’t help vinyl manufacturers to come up with optimum adhesives. 3M recommend you do a bonding test with a small strip of vinyl before you start the job. Vinyls don’t like Matt paints, they don’t like low-VOC paints. You could prime the wall with PVA adhesive to act as a bonding layer. Please see the link for more information

https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/346473O/5-37-application-to-walls

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Iain

We have Simply Latex 300

I’ll send a price over

[Graham Scanlan]

Years before digital printing was invented sticker work was mainly screen printed onto sheets of plain old Monomeric vinyl usually in 1000 x 700 sheets. the important part was the adhesive and what the stickers are being stuck to. The options were Permanent – Removable – Hi Tack – Ultra Removable.

You need to be careful of one material that fits all, regardless of the face film as it may catch you out in the end if stuck to the wrong surface.

If the printer had an order for 5000 sheets of 1000 x 700 print vinyl, he would phone around his local stockists to secure the best price,

Now the sticker runs are smaller and thanks to technology there is room to use polymeric vinyl, On the whole, it’s not required but the adhesive is still the main factor.

Polypropylene is now available for wide-format UV and Latex printers, and this is one of the products used in roll label printing

[Graham Scanlan]

Totally agree Jeff, we supply printers / acm / Foam PVC, vinyls etc other than cutting panels down to size for customers we do not cross the line into sign fabrication or print, that’s our customers job. We have a few competitors in the Northwest that offer trays and cut out lettering. We like to think we’ve got it right, we don’t stand on anybody’s toes and our website is linked to our customers accounts so they see their own prices

Just takes a little more investment and thought

We actually have a local sign maker trying his hand at supplying the above materials while still making signs, and offering trade printing, routing.

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Leslie

Hexis is a good starting point here: HEXIS

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Simon

Sihl do a 240gsm Latex Printable Paper

Sihl 3454 PE240 1370 x 30 mtrs

Graham

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Paul,

This is just a consideration, this could be plasticiser migration in the face face film. Latex is especially sensitive to this.

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Adam,

Unless the Mimaki uv ink set has changed i understand that it’s not the best choice for vehicle wrapping. I think I’m correct in saying that UV in doesn’t stretch like Eco Solvent and latex. Also uv ink is not as smooth as eco solvent / latex therefor needing a laminate that has a slightly higher build up of adhesive to ensure a good ink key. I’m not aware of a cast laminate with this feature. I’ll watch this post with interest and good luck, if you want a great deal on a latex let me know

Graham

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Harry

That information is spot on, polycarbonate never stops gassing off, and this can cause small air pockets in the vinyl or lifting. If you need to lay vinyl onto polycarbonate they recommend using cast vinyl as that is porous. Alternatively switch out the polycarbonate to PET / PETG

[Graham Scanlan]

Just a consideration, these products can’t be recycled if using metal eyelets, so somebody would need to cut off the eyelets.

[Graham Scanlan]

We sent a price decrease. Letter out to our customers last month announcing a 7% de crease on our foamalite Foam PVC sheet and prices seem to as competitive as ever in the market place. Unfortunately Foam PVC is still in high demand in the industry despite how harmful it is to the environment and hopefully we will see a switch across to more environmentally friendly alternatives.

Internal work can easily be switched to display board (white cardboard). We now offer this in 3mm and 4.5 mm thickness, printed direct on mounted on to with PVC free print film

Short term external work can fluted polypropylene, or the above card (yes it’s weather proof)

Long term ACM, acrylic etc

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Paul,

These products tend to be for shorter term applications, your print will look great to start with but the more traffic goes over the media the ink on the peaks of the vinyl will wear off quickly and the remaining print will be in the trough of the media and the print will appear washed out.

The peak and trough is the description on the texture ( high and low points of the film that give the rough texture)

For the best job possible stick with a vinyl and laminate

Sorry guys just realised this post had loads of replies, and this was already covered

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi guys

Rob was correct recommending High Tack, but you need to consider the movement in the flex face, the Arlon product if for flat surfaces. You could consider

https://www.mactacgraphics.eu/en/product/jt-5826-p

Mactac JT5826 is a High Tack Vinyl for flexible pvc surfaces

[Graham Scanlan]

As David says, it depends who you have local and if their happy to do you a good deal, here in the northwest the trade is really spoiled for choice and all suppliers delivering on their own transport and offering a cutting service so it’s super competitive already. Ask for a price on a pallet to make it worth their while dropping the price.

[Graham Scanlan]

We supply Burger textiles, some of the range have coatings on both sides of the media. One side for eco solvent and latex and UV and the reverse side for dye sublimation.

Uv and latex will give better results than solvent and where a hard wearing print is required dye sub is the better option. For dye sub you will need the printer maybe HP Stitch and the heated press / laminater. HP latex and Uv are a preferred option if your business only does a small amount of textile printing

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Harry

Life’s too short, if your using your printer for quotes, buy a cheap inkjet printer and go from there and send your old printer gracefully into retirement

[Graham Scanlan]

Nu coat is a small coating company owned by Allprint- you would be suprised of how many of these coating companies exist in the uk, some manufacture for our industry and others are more specialised products,

[Graham Scanlan]

I’d like to add, any company promoting pvc free vinyl needs to have a word with themselves as Poly Vinyl Chloride (there’s a clue in the name) Vinyl is pvc

PVC free film describes it better

[Graham Scanlan]

As always, Well said Rob,

PVC based products have been great for this industry, they have been affordable, long lasting and readily available. However if you dig a little deeper and you have at least some compassion for future generations you will find that pvc is one of the worst products for the environment, regardless of being a pro eco person or not. PVC is manufactured in many stages and the early stages harm the environment the worst. We then buy, sell, manufacture rolls and sheets for in the scheme of things for a short period of time, sometimes even hours, 5 years is still short term taken that pvc never degrades it just breaks down into small pieces of pvc that eventually down to the microscopic level and lasting upto 800 years. The “C” in pvC is Chloride that leaches into the environment and eventually hits the water table.

When a customer next comes into your shop and asks for a printed 1000 x 1000 panel for a grand opening, the usual go to product of 5mm or 3mm Foam PVC with pvc printed self adhesive vinyl that you sell him for £60, this could easily go onto a 5mm cardboard alternative and printed onto a polypropylene self adhesive film, which would cost you equal to if not cheaper than the pvc and without nasties.

PVC is not easily recycled due to how many additives are added in the manufacture process for instance U-PVC Windows are the same as pvc vinyls but without plasticisers the U means un plasticised. This means when all the different types of pvc are made into alternative products they a very low grade products and can only be recycled once

If pvc goes to incineration the chloride gases need to be trapped and disposed of somehow as well as the contaminated ash.

Then there’s how much waste is produced when cutting out vinyl letters sometimes more than 50% goes straight in the bin.

We’ve recently launched a polypropylene alternative to pvc self adhesive vinyl. Polypropylene is easier and cleaner to manufacture, consists mainly carbon and hydrogen both natural to the environment. PP is easily recycled in the number 5 recycling stream along with correx, bubble board and polyline Foam And unlike pvc can be made into grade a products again

Our simply non pvc is a 4 year self adhesive in gloss and Matt

60 micron air free adhesive or 100 micron non air free, both films are the same spec just thicker,

Matching polypropylene laminates in Matt and gloss (Drywipe as standard)

Available for latex and UV plus newly launched Eco solvent

On average you will pay the same if not less than your standard polymeric and maybe £10 a roll above your cheaper Monomeric, the laminates around your polymeric price

I’m not here to promote my product just highlight that change is easier than you think and you can change some things without being asked.

[Graham Scanlan]

How about a digital printable self adhesive wall paper? After all paper has been used on walls for decades and easily removed. I think we are all conditioned to think of vinyl 1st

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi the most popular used is a Snitty Knife

https://www.amazon.co.uk

[Graham Scanlan]

Fascinating post, air release adhesives as we all know use a channel to let the air release, there is a potential problem with cad cut vinyl as edges of the vinyl with the air channel exposed to the elements can allow moister or water ingress and a potential for a fail. Especially in winter months. If water gets behind the vinyl and then freezes problems can appear. It’s only a problem when it’s a problem.

[Graham Scanlan]

Google Lecterns

https://www.xldisplays.co.uk

[Graham Scanlan]

Fingers crossed multi shield should be back in stock with us at the end of this month

[Graham Scanlan]

Not to forget Swedboard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Iy0bGqkius

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Warren,

Not sure what you’ve already tried to eliminate the issue, if it’s vinyl your using

1. Print the vinyl.

2. Allow gassing off time to eliminate trapped solvent

3. Laminate

3. Allow a standing time to allow print media and laminate to get to know each other

4. Apply drop 1, remember to clean the edge of the media you’ve been touching then apply drop 2, clean the edge of the media you’ve been touching then drop 3 etc

Vinyl should have no problem sticking to itself, as long as it’s gassed off and it’s a clean surface

Unless of course you’ve used a textured laminate and in that case a rethink is needed.

If you’ve done all the above, in my opinion the vinyl shouldn’t fail. Of course there’s a possibility it will fail over time as the vinyl starts to shrink back, but this could take years

If it’s another media let me know

• This reply was modified 2 years ago by  Graham Scanlan.

[Graham Scanlan]

I feel for you Kev, I’ve had a few conversations with Harry over the years but try and stay away from calling for obvious reasons. When I have a customer with a blade problem we explore every Avenue possible and if all else fails the dreaded call needs to be made, and if my customer is female, I don’t even mention EM. Harry knows his stuff and he’s sure is a one off

[Graham Scanlan]

As it’s a new brand name, I did a bit of research (it’s the way I roll) I’m sure it’s a great bit of kit with great support

a company incorporated 24 August 2020, with a bit of a past Uvtech was struck off in 2011 and quantum uv 2014 I hope it all works out well for you m8. I’ve no axe to grind and I’m sure your deal is solid but it was a new name and a quick jump on companies house pulled it up, I think I may have a touch of OCD

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Helen

I’ve been selling Nazdar ink for Mimaki printers for many years and my customers have been pleased with the results and the savings. I don’t have any experience with your ink set and can only base my opinions based on the Mimaki. Why not hot swop 1 colour and see how you get on, then if your not happy go back to oem

[Graham Scanlan]

I was discussing the vinyl shortages yesterday with a large manufacturer and the shortage of resin is the reason behind the problem. And more price increases are on their way maybe mid summer. A quick internet search pulled this up.

Resin

Though resin producers have recovered from weather-generated shutdowns and planned plant turnarounds, demand remains strong, and prices continue to settle or increase slightly. Supply issues remain, so expect to see continued force majeures and sales allocation through 2022. Some inventories are beginning to grow, but additive shortages continue to impact availability. Overall, prices have bottomed out, but price increases will continue due to logistics and staffing issues and energy cost increases.

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Tim,

As Rob mentioned, we all need to find away to work around the situation, I’ve been on leave last week but will check Pyramid’s stock tomorrow for you, I’m telling my customers if they have guaranteed work to ensure they order enough material in advance and then put more on back order. I know of a very large customer who prints most of their wrap colours on their Latex printers to get around the problem. With the Russian and Ukrain conflict things may get worse before it gets better

[Graham Scanlan]

I’m there for the 3 days, head over to the Pyramid stand and come and say hello

[Graham Scanlan]

I’ll be at Sign Uk on the Pyramid Display stand, come over and have a chat and see if the numbers add up,

Regards

Graham

[Graham Scanlan]

I pulled this straight from the Roland website, saying the prints are ready to apply in 6 hours, I’d be putting a complaint into Roland m8 as it sounds like something isn’t right.

TR2 Ink Featuring Orange Ink Printing

• Super-accurate colour matching for logo and corporate branding projects and bold, vivid graphics with the winning combination of TR2 inks, VF2 printers and VG2 printers/cutters. Certified by industry-leading media manufacturers. Prints are ready to apply in just 6 hours for true same-day installation.
• TR2 Ink Featuring Orange Ink Printing Super-accurate colour matching for logo and corporate branding projects and bold, vivid graphics with the winning combination of TR2 inks, VF2 printers and VG2 printers/cutters.

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Mariusz

Of course this is my biased opinion, I’ve been around large format printers before solvent printers were invented. Both Roland and Mimaki have been the market leaders for many years. HP have been on a journey with their latex offering, getting a mostly water based ink to do the same or better job than eco solvent takes some doing. This is why there are mixed reviews mainly online. With every model the technology has got better, and heat required has got less. The 700 and 800 models are amazing machines, find your local distributor and book a demo and see for your self. I think I’m correct that these machines plug in the wall

How HP deal with their white option is impressive, normally white ink is a pain to run unless you use it daily, with the 700W and 800W, you take out the white head and place it into a compartment in the machine where the printer takes care of it, it also flushes the pipes with distilled water.

The latex inks come in around £100 a litre, so ink saving is a consideration, the ink also comes in boxes and pouches so no plastic waste

The over coat option is another plus, this adds even more protection to the prints and on some jobs could save you laminating

The 700W and 800w seem to print onto more eco friendly non pvc products so well aligned for the future of non pvc

The Latex have always had the edge when it comes wrapping for reasons we all know about. One of the largest fleet livery companies only have latex machines and even print colour changes

I won’t go into any more details, I think the ones above will get you started

The above is a one sided opinion I know, but best to share the knowledge

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Lain,

I didn’t have any need to add a comment until you mentioned how much direct sunlight the fascia is exposed to, ACM will still be susceptible to thermal expansion so ensure you fix with some space for movement. If the panel is fixed without being able to move there’s a chance that the stress could cause de lamination

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Peter

I trust your well m8, long time no hear…

I’ve passed on your number to my lad, he’s based in Runcorn covering Warrington and chester

Hopefully he’ll drop you a line

Graham

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Dave

I may have a customer of mine who maybe interested based in Runcorn, do you have a ball park

Price in mind?

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Martyn

Your formula is as old as the hills and won’t react with your adhesive

A tiny drop of rubbish brand washing up liquid changes the surface tension of the water and a small drop of solvent helps the water to flash off, back in the day it used to be methylated spirit but ipa will do the job. Just follow the recommendation for the vinyls application and storage.

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Pane,

If it is a mirror brushed your after, Aslan produce a 2 year and a 5 year. From memory Aslan Cal30 is the 5 year, the range are polyesters with a bubble free adhesive. Hope this helps

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi David,

What gassing off method do you use?

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Martyn

I’d always suggest to my customers to go new, buying a second user machine is ideal if you want to dip your toe in the water to see if digital printing is profitable for you. I think your gone incredibly well from your investment and hopefully earned plenty of profit from it.

Why not finance a new machine and spread the cost over a period of years and let the printer pay for itself, all you need to do is keep it printing.

I’d also consider the future and price of solvent and eco solvent inks based on environmentally friendliness and the direction the world is going. Latex or UV maybe the way to go.

In the case of most of my customers, wide format digital printing plays a main part of their business, therefore that’s where the investment should go.

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi John,

Our best selling product for walls is Mactac WW300, it’s been around for over 12 years. Like rob had indicated, using a hinge method should make installation easier for you. Also take a look at this installation guide

https://youtu.be/PpDoqFx5USY

Graham

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Charlotte

Over the years if seen a lot of 3rd party inks come and go, however Nazdar compatible inks have a great reputation and should cost £55 / £60 a cartridge. They are matched to oem inks so all colours should be the same. Speak to QPS in Burscough. Chris sells brand new mimaki printers with the nazdar option

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi David,

When looking at fixing acm you need to keep in mind thermal expansion. You need to allow the sheet to expand and contract. There are industrial fixing systems that put down a very thick strip of adhesive and this allows movement. I’ve seen many a delaminated panel due wrong fixings

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi David,

Nice to hear you are back on your feet.

Kernow coatings produce a good backlit film (front print). I’m not sure who sells it in your neck of the woods.

Just looking, print solutions supply a Folex backlit film

http://www.printsolutions.ie

• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by  Graham Scanlan.

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Leslie

It depends on where the banner is being fitted and for how long. A simple birthday banner could be produced without hemming however something that’s intended to last in the elements for a number of months would. Like David says they could be re enforced with cross weave tape, the tapes cheap and quick to fit. There are tapes marketed for this application but tend to be over priced

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Leslie

As Martyn says, price in the waste. The banner market is one of the most difficult to compete in. Mainly due to the type of printers that are around. You can’t compete with someone that has a grand format 3.2 mtr wide running at 100 plus m2 an hour, and has digital finishing and High frequency welding. That why they can offer £10 – £15 a m2, plus they buy their banner by the pallet or even container.

Whats your most common width of banner you produce? I only ask because

You can buy 970mm / 1100mm / 1370mm / 1600mm will any of these sizes give you a better yield ?

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Wayne

After a little research I can help you part of the way with the temperature, in not sure if it changes with different brands of transfer paper, and welcome to the world of textiles, you may want to look at soft home furnishing as it’s a growing market

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Stuart,

It’s not my area of expertise but have you cleaner the sensor strip?

Graham

[Graham Scanlan]

Give Gareth a call

http://www.a2online.co.uk/contact.html

[Graham Scanlan]

Your right Rob at saying thermal transfer, the gerber edge is still a machine used today.

I know a company called JG Markland based in Newton Le Willows still operate a few edge machines, John is the contact there

[Graham Scanlan]

Well said David and Rob, the first step is accepting that we are all in the same boat, we all have our regular customers who we don’t want to let down, so bulk stocking on the products that keep your business alive. If at this stage your relying on the just in time principle you may run into problems regardless of how many suppliers you ring especially if your a new customer to them. No point in a supplier waiting 12 weeks for a delivery only to sell it cheap to customers they have never dealt with. We all look after our regular customers. Like Rob said turn yourself into a lean mean fighting machine, analyse your usage on essential stock and plan as far forward as you can for the business you have. Eventually I’m positive we will get back to normal eventually

[Graham Scanlan]

I’ve been watching this post with interest and you guys have a great attitude to waste / reuse. But Kevin mentioned the magic word PVC. Our industry has used PVC for years. Foam PVC is still a go to product for a lot of people, for indoor and outdoor short term application, sometimes just for a one off event. For the people that are unaware PVC is the worst off all plastics when it comes to the environment, it’s harmful when it’s manufactured and even worse at the end of its life. Please see below from worst case to best case scenario

Landfill – one of the selling points of PVC is that its long lasting, unfortunately too long. PVC never degrades it just breaks down into smaller pieces of PVC and this can take hundreds of years and the C bit is Chloride which is poisoners and leaches into the environment

Recycled – PVC is difficult to recycle due to its additives, not all pvc has the same makeup. I can be ground down and recycled into a very low grade product, but after that it’s usefulness is over and needs to be disposed of.

Incineration – PVC can be incinerated although the Chloride still needs to be trapped and disposed of and the ash that’s left behind still has nasties in it.

So next time some one calls in for a sign or print for short term or internal use there are now plenty of alternatives that are simply not pvc and do the job just as good and a far more friendly than PVC. For example

Cardboard for internal and short term outdoor (unto 5mm thick)

Polypropylene based products made from hydrogen and carbon , Correx, bubble board, polyline Foam (this looks and feels like Foam PVC but it’s polypropylene) and polypropylene banner media

Polystyrene products such as forex smart which is lightweight strong and available in 5 / 10 / 19mm thickness

If you have a latex or uv printer you can now even replace that pvc self adhesive vinyl for a pvc free alternative. Just think of how much pvc goes into your own waste bin, then think of its journey when it leaves you.

I’m not a tree hugger in anyway but I see common sense quickly. Hope you found the above worth reading and it’s food for thought

[Graham Scanlan]

Also Robert, take into consideration that using 3rd party inks can cause complications.

All the versaworks media profiles are only built around the Roland printer >versaworks>original inks>branded media

[Graham Scanlan]

Can’t beat a bit of second life,

[Graham Scanlan]

I know of well looked after easymount 1400SH for around £2k based in north Wales

If of interest please let me know. It’s only redundant due to update 1600SH

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Vincent,

If your looking for someone to assist you in installing give Tony at KLF a call he maybe able to help

http://www.klfgraphics.com/

Or Jamie at CoSign

https://www.signmakerswinsford.co.uk/

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Richard

Try here

https://www.sasl.co.uk

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Martyn

Avery own Mactac so both brands are based on quality and although I don’t actually print, I do sell plenty of digital rolls of both brands to my customers the Mactac products are high quality and you should have no issues moving over to that brand. I can’t comment on the Arlon I’m afraid

[Graham Scanlan]

I envisage products that lie heavy on the environmental will eventually price themselves out of the market leaving the more friendly products to be the only option. The sign and print market is lead by the manufacturers and resellers of these products and there’s a big swing towards eco friendly products

[Graham Scanlan]

@RobertLambie non pvc options have been around a while, mainly for large retail as recycling plays a big part of their business. As soft signage and pvc free banner alternatives are becoming more popular I think more people should look towards the clear eyelets.

I understand that you can’t recycle a pvc banner unless the metal eyelets are taken off. And as a result probably ends up straight to landfill. Where the pvc last for hundreds of year and when the chloride (the c in the pvc) releases into the environment to poison the water table

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Peter,

I don’t use clear eyelets but I sell plenty of them, the main advantages are they don’t rust, you can see the print through them and also if used with non pvc banner they can be recycled without being stripped off the banner

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Peter,

Have you tried LinkedIn? This seems to be a poplar platform for finding staff, I’m not sure how successful it is, but I see post daily asking for staff,

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Karen,

Keep to the margins that sustain your business even if it means price increases, anything less is commercial suicide

At present distributers are being hit hard by manufacturers price increases due to Covid restrictions, a shortage of raw material especially pvc polymer and add to this transport and import issues.

Oil based products have been the hardest hit, which means big price movements on

Self adhesive pvc, Foam PVC, inks etc. Other plastics like Polypropylene that are not oil based have still been impacted but not as heavily

Hopefully these increases may force our industry to look at the pvc alternatives, as pvc waste can last upto 800 years and the “C” in pvc poisons the earth if it’s sent to landfill

I predict that non pvc products will become more popular very quickly and aligning the correct products that suite the project Will be essential e.g if a customer requires an internal print or short term out door print / graphic, instead of the usual Foam PVC there are now paper based alternatives including water resistant out door and some of these products show a cost saving

And polypropylene based self adhesive products replacing the usual monomeric/ polymeric pvc we have at present

Take a look here to see what work we’ve been putting into looking for pvc alternatives

https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/ysRJCq2rzi1nx1tZ6MBZ?domain=vimeo.com

• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by  Graham Scanlan.

[Graham Scanlan]

Avery offer you a printed and unprinted warranty although you need to use the correct inks, profiles and nearly all the others offer only unprinted warranties

Also to take into consideration is vertical and horizontal exposures, horizontal surfaces half the life expectancy of wrap vinyls for instance so I’m guessing it can do the same to inks

[Graham Scanlan]

@KarenWhite yes Karen, All owned by Vink who also own CEF it’s seems there after world domination. To be fair for the time being they all compete against each other

[Graham Scanlan]

Rob we have loads of black 8 x 4 and 10 x 5 sheets in stock Alupanel Smart

We do use outside transport for deliveries outside our delivery area, maybe if you guys bundle orders together it will be worth looking at the costs

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Chris,

I can reassure you that there’s nothing wrong with the Alupanel sheet, it’s from a good British manufacturer. You need to find your nearest distributor of ACM for delivery purposes,I know the northwest sign and graphics paternity are spoilt by the amount of suppliers they have available on their doorstep

There are many challenges just now for manufactures and re sellers of ACM, the next challenge to watch out for will be Foam PVC sheet, due to a shortage of pvc resin watch this space

Blackburns,

Rightons,

Amari

Antalis

PDL

Premier Paper

[Graham Scanlan]

Is this printer still for sales ?

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Peter,

These machines are bastardised Roland printers, they where grey imports that where converted to 3rd party inks, painted blue and sold under the market price, the company has now long gone but I’m sure parts are still available I think this is a Roland SP540

• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by  Graham Scanlan.

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Brian,

Bonnets and roofs have compound curves so I recommend you go down the cast route with bubble free adhesive and maybe Slidable, this way you can get the job done quicker and less hassle.

Avery MPI 1104ea or MPI 1105ears with matching Lam, Oracal 3951RA, Arlon SLX

You should be able to buy in small Kits, we offer 10 mtr / 25 mtr / 50 mtr kits so it’s easier on the pocket

Remember you can go down the cheap vinyl path but your time is the most expensive part of the job, if it takes longer to fit it’s false economy

• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by  Graham Scanlan.

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Dan,

I’ll watch this post with interest, I’m assuming your digitally printing the boards. In the days of screenprinting boards the more boards printed meant the cost would reduce due to the setup cost being spread over the volume. with digital, the costs remain constant, in fact the more boards you do the more work is involved. It will be down to how much margin you want to give away,

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Warren,

In another life I used to sell Sloan LED’s there not the cheapest but they are backed up with great warranties. I’m sure you can google to find a distributor. You buy by the box so I would suggest you make your tray depth universal so you can utilise a single type of module to suit the depth of tray. With the Sloan range you also can buy the Modules / drivers / wire / even the self sealing connectors and what ever tools you need, also when I was selling them we organised one day training courses. Hope this helps

[Graham Scanlan]

Thanks Rob,

This prompted me to compare the Pyramid Website to the competitions and I’ve got to say the Pyramid’s site looks very usable in comparison. And with more features coming at the end of the year

[Graham Scanlan]

For coloured Correx Fluted Board sheet material CLICK HERE

[Graham Scanlan]

Is the badge in the post?

[Graham Scanlan]

Even looks like I know what I’m doing…..time does fly Rob, over 30 years in this industry. I was just in time to catch the sign writing era, then watched digital mature into what it is today.

[Graham Scanlan]

Avery do this also, but the colour on a screen isn’t the actual colour

[Graham Scanlan]

Suppliers usually pay for the swatches from the manufacturer. When margins where good, swatches where plentiful, as with any business, as margins get squeezed so do marketing budgets. If business is guaranteed from the Signmaker a free swatch shouldn’t be a problem, but just to get put into a bottom draw just in case it’s needed is a waste, colour cards are cheap as chips so they should be easy to get.

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Paul

Sorry it went ages ago, where in North wales are you?

Graham

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Colin, I agree, pvc vinyl and adhesives do not like cold weather. PVC becomes brittle and adhesive doesn’t want to stick. The question is will the customer pay for any reprints if they get damaged in application.

[Graham Scanlan]

I’m sure the date got corrected quickly

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Richard,

Paper needs a less technical adhesive due to its stability, it doesn’t stretch or shrink like vinyl does. After all, wall paper paste is a water based adhesive. Most papers are aimed at the latex or uv printer market therefor offering a tough finish and easy application, eco solvent would need a coated paper as to stop the ink soaking into the paper and keep the print vibrant and in this case may suffer from durability issues on application. Eco solvent inks love pvc

[Graham Scanlan]

Warren,

Is the media smooth or textured ?

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Rob,

Since it was the first show after COVID, It went as expected, day one was busy, day two wasn’t as busy as it should have been but still good for us, and day three was steady but dropped off early. We were lucky enough to have the only HP 800W at the show so plenty of interest and plenty of takers. We’re already down for next year,

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Rob,

There are 2 different types of liner

1. Kraft Clay Coated

1. P.E Coated

Hope that helps

[Graham Scanlan]

I’ve sold Rolands and Mimaki and HP Latex, I personally think the advantages of the HP are well worth mentioning, and like the post below this one the HP 700 or 800W are amazing machines and that ink cost can’t be sniffed at, £80 for a litre of ink, plus the ink comes in a cardboard box and an ink pouch so no plastic cartridges.

[Graham Scanlan]

The heads are a consumable on the latex printers, but don’t need changing enough to cause harm to your pocket. Changing the heads yourself ensures the printer prints the same quality from when you buy the machine to when you trade it in. Also latex inks are cheaper than oem eco solvent inks, so a nice saving there, 775ml for the price of 440ml. With latex you’ve ticked a massive eco friendly box. The latex printers are front loading and can save you space, inks don’t need to gas’s off the same as eco solvent, and latex inks are very tough and have a hi level of scratch resistance

Just a few points to consider

The machines can cost from around £10,000 HP315 to £30,000 HP800W and a lot of choice in between

• This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by  Graham Scanlan.

[Graham Scanlan]

Great machine Colin 👍

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Karen

If your looking for an alternative supplier try Tennants, reflective is their business

https://www.tennantsuk.com/reflective-solutions/

Graham

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Wayne

Great news, and I’m glad I could help, send my your details and I’ll pop one in the post for you

Graham.scanlan@pyramid-display.co.Uk

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Wayne,

I work for Pyramid Display Materials we’re suppliers of vinyls/sheet plastic and board products/hp printers/textiles etc. I’ve been in the industry since I was a young lad, so now being 55 I’ve seen in grow into what it is today. I’m always happy to share some of my gained knowledge,

[Graham Scanlan]

Here you go Wayne

https://youtu.be/is8Xrw-AYbA

[Graham Scanlan]

Hi Joe,

Definitely the industry is going down the eco route, if you want true eco friendly printer, Latex is the way to go, the ink is 70% water it’s got more eco certifications than any other ink on the market, which is a great selling point. Uv is better than solvent, but not as eco friendly as latex

[Graham Scanlan]

Updating Customers swatches is a nightmare to manage based on the amount of businesses suppliers trade with, together with contacts moving, businesses closing etc. If your lucky enough to have an account manager and you give them business, free swatches shouldn’t be a problem, I go over and above for my customers and in return I get their loyalty

On another note guys, I heard today a major supplier have run out of ACM and Foam PVC today so keep an eye on your stock levels as this maybe the tip of the iceberg

• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by  Graham Scanlan.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by  Graham Scanlan.

[Graham Scanlan]

Who on earth reads the small print?

On a visit to Avery’s labs I was shown their uv accelerator weather test chamber in which Im sure they have 3 of them, this is where the vinyls are tested, I can’t remember the accelerated ageing time but let’s say for every month in the chamber was like 6 months real world. And of course the conditions can be varied depending on the zone their testing

• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by  Graham Scanlan.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by  Graham Scanlan.