[Joe McNamara]

SOLD SOLD SOLD !!!!! – Many Thanks

[Joe McNamara]

sadly missed….

To John, Cheers !

[Joe McNamara]

Robert has answered this ~I think……
easiest and most economical way of doing it.

cheers
joe

[Joe McNamara]

Belated happy birthday from me.
You’re a man now lambie!
Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Thanks for all the kind words guys.

I’ve told Karen we’ve started this post re Peter’s passing.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

I’ve been in Ireland for the last couple of weeks, just got back and read this and I’m truly shocked by this – my deepest condolences to his family.

Chris was good craic and I’ve had the pleasure of a chat and a pint with him after the show at the ricoh in coventry.
A good bloke, who will be sadly missed.

RIP Chris.

[Joe McNamara]

I too have one of these non payers at the moment, who owes me £900 for the balance on the job.
Contrary to some advice offered, you can’t just go and take the sign down due to legal issues involved.
Court seems to be the only viable option.

[Joe McNamara]

Good to hear from you today Peter,
Speak soon.
Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Oh Jaysus, I thought this one was forgotten,
and funnily enough I was in Dublin yesterday subcontract fitting for a well respected sign company, but didn’t get a chance for a reunion with the little people…..smooth flight though

and it’s LEPRECHAUN, fer fecks sake 🙄

thanks Chris!

[Joe McNamara]

quote Peter Normington:

Phil,
aeronautical engineers used countersunk rivets on the spitfire to reduce drag,

Peter

Do you remember that from when you were a lad then Peter? :lol1:

[Joe McNamara]

try western sign systems in westbury, wiltshire – ask for Keith – he’ll be able to sort it for you I’m sure.
Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

I know someone who’ll have it for £500, and collect it if you’re interested…
Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

🙁
Absolute tragedy and a sad loss to his family and this community.

Like others, I can’t quite believe it.

Did some contract work for John last summer, and you couldn’t have asked for a better person to work with.
Nothing was too much trouble.

A true gentleman gone too soon.

[Joe McNamara]

Sent you a PM Jonathan.
Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

might have a buyer for this, Paul – if it’s still available….
Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Do a search of the boards Nicholas, it’s been well covered…..
Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Sorry Mate but I can top that…..

Mobile rang once at 1.30am – a Turkish kebab shop owner ringing to see if his stuff was ready – told him to F*** off!

Also had someone (existing customer who buys banners for her pub that’s just down the road from my shop) ring me at 11.45pm and left a voicemail to the tune of "It’s urgent that you ring me back tonight, whatever time, urgent urgent……"
In a panic, I thought my shop was burning down or something similar, and maybe she’d driven past and seen it (or some other similarly important reason to ring me at this hour).
Turns out her niece had made it through to the singing bit of the X-factor, and she wanted a banner doing for the next day.
She got the F*** off treatment as well, funnily enough! (:) (:)

Don’t give my mobile number to customers anymore now 😀

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

I’m going as well….
See you there.
Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

quote Peter Normington:

Joe

its an old machine, but then everything has a value, even for scrap!

Peter

Are you talking about the roland, or yereself there Peter :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

65 views and not a nibble !
Off to evilbay with it then.
Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

I took a quick look at that one james and thought £320, before I even read the rest……
Wouldn’t lose any sleep over some eejit doing it for £150.
If you find out who’s doing it for that, send him to Bristol, and he can do the vans we charge £320 for !! (for £150 to him obviously)

😀
Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

No Just need the actual logo

[Joe McNamara]

£73 from spandex, 2 carts last week.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

mactac 8900 matt works well…..

[Joe McNamara]

Versacamm VP540 here, and it’s a fantastic piece of kit, wouldn’t use anything else .
CheersJoe

[Joe McNamara]

quote Chris Wool:

joe you are a very experienced vinyl jockey what amazing technique have they come up with, and do you think it will make a difference.

chris

I might have a lot of experience with normal vinyl Chris, but not massive experience with wraps, but have been on the Roland course and done a few bits with James Deacon, so I’m certainly no expert when it comes to wrapping.

I have successfully wrapped doors, panels etc and even colour changed my old shogun to brimstone yellow with the (old and good) oracal 751, but I’m not sure this air release vinly is suited to recesses of any type.

Having used the intercoat over mild curves, I actually thought it was ok, and would still use it to wrap a car for example, but don’t think I’d use it on a recess.

As for the fitting technique – all that was suggested to me, was a slightly different way of doing the last 80 – 100mm round the recesses, so I will try that and see what happens.

I do feel for Karl as well though, very frustrating when a job doesn’t go like you planned it.

[Joe McNamara]

We have a van in at the moment that has similar issues but on a much smaller scale then Karl’s.

We are using the coloured variety of the wrap material though, not laminated.

My first port of call was to phone the supplier of the intercoat vinyl, who immediately offered to replace the vinyl or to give us a credit against our account.

I was also asked about prep and fitting techniques etc by the supplier, but at no time did I feel they were trying to get out of anything.

I have had a couple of calls today offering fitting advice and help from the supplier in question, and am going to try the techniques they suggested.

I have also spoken to James Deacon today who advised me that I may have been the cause of the failure due to the way I fitted, and he reminded me of his little secret for getting the last bit of vinyl to sit in the recesses.

I’m not sure about the causes of the popping in the recesses, but I have had more than adequate support from the supplier, who offered free replacement material and if wanted to go and buy some VWS or AVERY 900 or something similar, they have agreed to meet the cost of this without question (via credit against my account with them).

Last year, I didn’t get this much help from the UKSB preferred vinyl supplier when I had a problem with their material, that cost me a lot of money to put right – different story completely and a complete nightmare!

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

sorted it today, vectored it from scratch….will post a pic on monday.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Wow, that’s outstanding for a first effort… 😮 😮

Well done sir!

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Thanks Alan….. that Cutepdf did the trick – very useful little program!

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Hi gavin,

Just had a look at roland’s website and it seems it’s just for the vp300 and vp540 mate.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Just quoted for a very similar setup an a vivaro….£1500.
Customer went for partial wrap instead for £800.
cheers
joe

[Joe McNamara]

I have one for nearly a year now, best think I ever got !

Virtually maintenance free and prints well.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

very nice work.

cheers
joe

[Joe McNamara]

What type of file are you sending to versaworks?

I had the same problem when sending eps and sometimes pdfs with the VP-540.

Now I do everything as tiffs and haven’t had a problem since.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

😀 😀

That’s the one George….
Thanks mate,

Glad to hear you got released in the end :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Gary,

The signs are on a wall either side of the entrance to the factory.
It’s on the roundabout at the entrance to the brewery.

The letters are about 4-500mm high and are stood off the wall on brass locators, and the letters are only mounted about 800mm off the ground, so I guess they don’t have too much vandalism in clonmel.

I had a look lastnight online as well and gave up after an hour – I was amazed I couldn’t find any pictures, as it’s such a striking piece of work….

Hope this helps a bit more.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Hi,

Drove past it last christmas on the way from Rosslare to Galway, on my way home for christmas and had a look.
I think it was mirror polished stainless steel built up letters with green LED halo illumination.
Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Nice Andrew,

Where did you get the images?

Looks really good.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Someone must have that picture of paul back in the day with the policemans’ helmet……
welcome back Paul!
Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Saw the versa-art at Roland’s HQ in Bristol yesterday…..

Absolutely amazing piece of kit for the money, in my opinion

If I had the option of the versa art at the time I got my VP540, I’d have gone for the versa art.

They have some kind of new technology that puts down a small "filler" pass of ink that eliminates banding……

Giveaway price as well.

I expect there’ll be a waiting list for this machine soon.

Go and see it if you’re in the market for a printer.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Harry,
You just wasted 15 minutes of my life you big eejit !
What the hell is that horse question with the alphabet all about?

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Hi all,
Having just completed the vehicle wrap course last thursday and friday, I found it excellent !

James Deacon must be one of the most professional people I’ve met in the sign industry, and I found his training second to none.

I’ve been on other wrapping days and demos, but James takes a different approach in his training, and the techniques he uses are different from many others, because he’s put a lot of thought into what he’s doing, and has a massive amount of experience in vehicle wrapping.

All in all, I’d happily recommend the roland wrap course.

cheers
joe

[Joe McNamara]

I buy from europoint in Bristol, and they are often short on their measurements of part rolls of vinyl. ie getting 4.5m when you ordered 5m.

Someone at europoint needs to buy some decent measuring tapes!

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Is that yerself from dynasigns……..

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Nice Work Steve,

We’re just about to do some of these ourselves so need a bit of advice….

Where do you get the extrusion from, and do you get bar length or cut to size with the LEDs already installed?

Also what speeds/settings are you running the router at, and presuming you’re using a v-shaped bit, how deep are you cutting?

Sorry for all the questions but these are some of the best edgelits I’ve seen so I thought I’d pick your brain…….

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Neschen.

[Joe McNamara]

might be fixed to the outside of the machine at the back – on the right hand side as you look at it from behind…….

Anyone near you with a versa you can borrow a bracket from?

DONT move it without locking the head in position though , it’ll f3ck up the printer!! 😮 😮

Cheers
Joe

PS Roland parts can probably supply you with one if you get desperate.

[Joe McNamara]

Don’t forget to lock the head – if it’s a versacamm you should have a blue bracket to do this.

I’ve moved mine – back of a sprinter – plenty of strategically placed straps, and me in the back holding on to it!

Just make sure the driver is careful and do it when there’s not much traffic about!

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Hey Shaun,

Did a waybackmachine search for your old web pages and found this from 2000:

"How much will upgrades cost?

VinylMaster Pro is continually being improved and updated. Many minor improvements are placed on our web site ***.******-*. com in the downloads section for free download.

When major upgrades are released, they are priced at half RRP for existing users, allowing every one to have the latest version of the program."

…….so apologies, my mistake. 😳

Cheers
Joe

PS I have a demo cd for ver 2.5 already…..how do I do the upgrade (from 2.0)?

[Joe McNamara]

quote Fred Mc:

Is the foot pad hole of the router shroud quite large then?
If it is make a 3mm foamex one with a smaller hole and stick it to the
base of the shroud,should stop it sucking up small letter inserts.

The best ideas are always the simplest!

Thanks for that Fred – Feel daft I never thought of that….. 😳

I’ll do that straight away, and I’m sure that’ll sort it! 😀 😀 😀 😀

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Had a look at packstat…

Which tape to use??????

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

quote Dave Rowland:

is the acyrlic backing tape being removed both sides?

You taking the mickey now dave?

If you mean the double sided tape – (bully) …..signUK. :lol1: :lol1:

However if you mean the protective covering on the sheet itself, then no.
But this is not being pulled off either as it cuts the letters and sucks them up.

Where are you getting your D/S tape from dave?

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

quote Fred Mc:

Is it not just a lot easier using tape? 😮

No Fred, it’s not- tape’s doing my head in!
The extraction keeps sucking up the centre of a letter (this happens a lot with small letters where the centre of the letter has been missed by the tape)- this "lump" of material then catches on another letter or something else, and the router skips, then carries on.

The attached (quick) drawings sort of explains it better!

This causes the rest of the letters to be cut out of alignment/ over/ through the letters that are already done and leads to a lot of waste.

I find it impossible to tape everything down and usually use 50mm d/s tape, taped to the bed every 50-100mm depending on letter sizes.

Maybe you know a better way/ solution?

Cheers
Joe

---

Attachments:

[Joe McNamara]

Do a search, this has been well covered recently.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

quote shaunmorrell:

We even waived the V2.0 to V2.50 upgrade charge and only charged USD$20 for a CD set just to cover our costs… this has always been available to you and all V2.0 users.

I certainly wasn’t offered that when I enquired about my "free" upgrade.

Your software is still good value for money for what it does.

[Joe McNamara]

Nice to see you’re still around Shaun.

I use VMP version 2.0 for all my vinyl work.

I was one of the first to buy VMP in the UK i believe, back around 2000, and have used it ever since (had it sent over from the states as you didn’t have a UK distributor at the time).

When I bought it I was promised future upgrades to newer versions would be free, and the rip would be free as well when it was ready.

When I got back in touch a few years back to avail of the free upgrade to a newer version I was told that the free upgrade no longer applied and I would have to pay, which I declined.
I also know another signmaker who uses the software who had trouble getting his version 2.0 upgraded to 2.5, but he did in the end, but didn’t find it easy from your side.

Now don’t get me wrong, I like the software, and I used to recommend it to other sign people, but I don’t feel very happy about this and would not buy anything else from your company on the basis of this.

You can’t just change you policies to suit yourself at the expense of your customers.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

thanks for the help Barrett.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

some are 60mm and some are 350mm and some shapes as well!

[Joe McNamara]

Cool van, is that the chevy?

I want one …broom broom!

Cheers
Joe

Oh yeah…whats wrapped? the whole thing? (?)

[Joe McNamara]

Cool!
Where can we buy that media – roller blind stuff?

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Thanks for the info guys.
I see that reynobond/alcoa make it – now just need to find out who sells it….
Where’s Craig Brown when you need him ! :lol1: :lol1:

Cheers
Joe

PS Vinyl covering is a no go – it’s for a folded sign tray with fret cut acrylic letters.

[Joe McNamara]

a plumber……good.

stick an advert on gumtree in your area….plumber £12 per hour, no callout, parts at cost etc and his mobile number…..his phone will be off the hook

Then….. 👿 👿 👿
Put a couple of adverts in your local free ads paper.
Things like " 37" LCD tv for sale £180 – please ring after 11pm as I work nights" or "MGB GT, mot failure, needs welding, must go £220ono – please call between 6am – 6.30am as I start work at 7.

Then…… 👿 👿 👿 👿 👿 👿
Phantom book him – ring him (or get friends to do it so he won’t recognize your voice), and get him to come miles out of town to look at, and price up non existent jobs.

Note: All of the above have been told to me by customers, and they’ve done them!

But on a serious note there’s only one rule (and I have let this slide a bit myself) -50% deposit on everything – no exceptions, and I wonder if we can apply full invoice value to "no-shows"?
I know my dentist still charged me once when I forgot about an appointment and I had to pay it.
Cheers
Joe
🙄

[Joe McNamara]

Thank You Colin,
There’s a Righton in Bristol – I’ll call them tomorrow.
Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

What type of Biz is it Phil ?

[Joe McNamara]

*rofl* *rofl* *rofl* *rofl* *rofl* :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
you’re some eejit phil !
Great to have a laugh to start the day – nearly choked on me coffee.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Congrats Rob & Audrey!

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Cheers for the reply Rich.

Do you use a piece of angle to reinforce the corners as well or literally just fold the edges, tape ’em temporarily together and run some glue down the join?
What kind of glue you using mate?

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Maybe an edge lit clear acrylic panel with the "open" etched into it?

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

I had similar concerns with a similar job recently.

I phoned Penloc and the chap there said the same thing about the studs having a mould release contaminant on ’em.

He suggested the same as Gavin.

Have a piece of sandpaper taped to the bench and rub the studs along it to roughen them up (do the same to areas they are to be stuck to on the backs of the letters).

Penloc also suggested penloc solo for fitting locators to dibond letters.
This is a one part adhesive that won’t give dimples or pull marks on the faces of the letters. These are especially bad on mirror chrome or high gloss letters and are caused by the heat from the chemical reaction from 2 part adhesives.(like araldite!)
Give penloc a call – I think it’s about 9 quid a tube and it’s good stuff.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Clear your schedule for at least 4 hours……………………..

and ring Harry at Mathias :lol1:

He’ll put you right.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

got any pics of the type of thing you’re after ?

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Like the digital one…
good idea there.
Think I’ll have to break out the welder and get busy!
Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Hi Higgi,
Hexis definitely do it – about £7 a meter @610 wide.
Get some samples from them first as some colours are better than others with the effect!
Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Merry Christmas From Galway!

Hope you all have a great one and a prosperous new year.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Nice wallpaper!

I’m wondering how you get it to line up – cay you print to the edge of the material with your printer or do you cut the paper ?
If you cut it does it join up OK when you hang it on the wall?

I’ve had a sample sent to me and was wondering how I’m going to hang it on the wall and get it to line up perfectly if I have to cut it where my printer doesn’t print to the edge of the media.

Merry Christmas To All
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Hi Fred,
Yea, I’ve heard about having 5m & 6m sheets but know they are special order and lots of money.

What I’m trying to get across to my customer is that joins in panels, be it dibond trays or perspex panels, are a fact of life in the sign industry but he seems to think all signs are one piece items 🙄

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

thanks for the reply Gary.
Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

have a look at flickr.com – type in scenery or something similar.
cheers
joe

[Joe McNamara]

Chain something like this to a lamp post !
Job Done

Cheers
Joe
:lol1:

[Joe McNamara]

Hi Dave,

I have an older router – it’s the model that replaced the system 48, an AR-400 Gerber.
I find it brilliant and I use gerber artpath to run it, just import an ai file, select an inner or outer cut and off it goes, very simple to use.

I know you can still get some bits for these older machines but as far as I know, gerber don’t support them anymore.

If I was you, and it was really cheap (or you can swap it for basic signwork), I’d grab it – at worst you can sell it on ebay and put the funds towards a dimension 200 which is a really great little router / engraver.
Is the router a Perske or porter cable?
If it’s a porter cable you’ll need some good ear plugs! – you won’t want to be near it while it’s running – noisy bugger….if it’s a perske – that’ll be worth having just for the perske head.

(mod-edit)

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Easily the best job I’ve seen on here ever – well done!
I’m guessing 4.5k ish……?

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Superb work again mate.

Rich is an inspiration to the rest of us yet again.

Just one question…..why not do the locators and drilling in the workshop?

Keep posting those pics though – top notch!

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Try Andy at Alchemy in Bristol – really nice bloke!
Alchemy Lettering Co
17 Lawfords Gate
St Judes
Bristol
BS2 0DY
Avon
Tel: 0117 941 1800

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

😳
Yer spot on Kev,

The bigger one is 1500mm wide.

There is no 1370 wide.

Peter at ezytaper will wind me up about this I’m sure 😳 😳 🙄

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Hi,
The 1370 wide is available for £2350 plus VAT.
Worth every penny!
cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

I have a couple of them but I got about 10 at the initial launch from Paul, and have given most of them away to other sign people!

I’ll give paul a call to see if it’s OK to scan one and post it for members to download if that helps.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

The local radio station in bristol have had a "drumming monkey" popping up on roundabouts and busy junctions causing traffic chaos all last week with people stopping to take pics etc.

The chimp is a bit of a celeb in bristol now!

Here he is:

http://www.gwrfmbristol.co.uk/PhotoWall … 3&id=32343

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Got in this morning and changed the hard drives over, but now it won’t boot up.

It goes to a black screen that gives you the option of safe mode etc then I pick one, and it just goes off and on again and comes back to the same screen.

God, I hate computers sometimes.

Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Isn’t it a bit of a squeeze getting a router into a container mate (or maybe not?).

Love to see some pics if you have any as I’ve thought of doing this myself as well.

Cheers
joe

[Joe McNamara]

Might have to give that a go in the morning, Phil.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

No you’re not being stupid Phil, not at all mate.

I tried that as well but as the external drive is run through USB, it doesn’t show up in the BIOS boot options!

I’ve spent all day in the shop banging my head against a brick wall!!!!

I think I’ve tried nearly every option.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

The printer is an SP300V.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Thanks for the quick replies,

It’s running XP pro on the new PC.

Even if I could download VW from Roland’s site I still have the same problem.

The external drive has full versaworks 2.2 (whatever the latest one is) so if I download the program again onto this PC i’m using now (my laptop) I’d still have to transfer it via an external drive to the PC at work, which is pretty much where I’m at now anyway!

AAARRRGGGGGHHHH! F3ckin computers (hot) (hot) (hot) 👿

I think I might drag the crashed one behind the van for a couple of hours tomorrow !!! :lol1: :lol1:

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Psychedelic man!

Bet you used lots of application fluid …….. :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

[Joe McNamara]

Yea – dartzfilmz forgot about them …

Ask to speak to Billy and mention my name – he’ll do you a good deal.
His stuff is not bad and he might even do you some training.

PS window tinting is not as easy as it looks!

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Suntek is the best I’ve used.
You can get it from vinyl logistics in newark, Notts – google it- speak to Jayne or Richard and tell them I sent ya.

Cheers
joe

[Joe McNamara]

I think I’m going to be there doing the ezytaper demos with Peter again, like sign UK this year.

I see it’s open ’till 9pm though……

Should be stuck in a pub in temple bar by then :lol1:

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Thanks for posting that Craig, nice one mate.
I’ll fill it in tomorrow and send it in.

Cheers
Joe

[Joe McNamara]

Hi Gary,

I’ll give you a call tomorrow re ezytapers.

Cheers
Joe