[John Simpson]

Hi everyone, i see Shane beat me to it !!!!
I have been very fortunate to have met many people on here who have turned out to be good friends because of Rob & his brainchild (Uk Signboards) As Shane has already said my wife & i are on holiday (5 weeks) over here in Oz with my wife doing the organizing of where to go. My only stipulation was that i wanted to meet up with Australia’s No 2 son Shane Drew…… (No 1 being Steve Irwin) which i have also done only today.

Shane was just as good a friend in real life as he has always been on the boards & by email. We spent 1 day with Shane & then the 2nd day with his family & we got on like a house on fire, as if we had been friends in real life for years.
Thanks a lot Shane, it was worth the trip here if only to meet up with you.
John.

[John Simpson]

As some of you will know i took early retirement 2 & half years ago so that i could move over here to paradise island off the coast of Malaysia.
John & i often discussed this over the phone before i left the UK & have kept in touch since by email, i cannot believe this gentle kind friend has gone before he could except my invite to come here for his holidays.

John & i 1st met as many of us have, at one of the sign UK shows, we struck up a good friendship which had lasted till now even though we couldn’t meet up with each other we always kept in touch……… a valued friend who will sorely be missed. Such a sad moment in time.

[John Simpson]

Hi John, will pm you as well.

[John Simpson]

Hi Shane, yes have been busy settling in over here……… will pm you now.
John.

[John Simpson]

Thanks for the link Dave, i have home premium Nick & it works fine except i am stuck with satellite broadband (slow) over here in Malaysia so cannot get continuous feeds. other than that it’s good.

sorry to but in, i will return to my retirement. 😳
John

[John Simpson]

quote David Glen:

It also comes with a glass cutter head.

that glass cutter is brilliant at cutting 1.5 mm & 2 mm pvc sheet that we use for such as safety signs.

Chris, try changing the standard stanley blades for the quite expensive ones that are usually coloured blue or gold. they are a lot stronger & don’t wander.
Also when cutting such as gloss hard foamboards such as "Foamalux" turn the board around so that the blade is cutting through the back of the board.
John.

[John Simpson]

nice one John, keeps you out of mischief.

[John Simpson]

Just glad we could be of some help. ….Julie not John (hows that)

[John Simpson]

Thanks for going to the trouble Glen / Jamie. that’s saved us a lot of time.
John

[John Simpson]

Hi Jamie, Sorry but is there any chance you can send it as an eps file as i cannot open this one.
Thanks Julie

[John Simpson]

Dave….Just gently cut round the steel badge not the paintwork.
Julie

[John Simpson]

Cheers Ian, I am back now. 😳
john

[John Simpson]

Hi, The curves were a bit of a nightmare, but with a bit of perseverance we got there in the end.
Julie

[John Simpson]

Thanks Marcella………Fred, yes the black on 1st then the orange on top in situ.
Julie

[John Simpson]

Thanks Nick, yes i noticed that as well but if you noticed Julies 1st post the customer wanted near as poss, so have shown him this morning & he is happy with it.
Thanks anyway.
John

[John Simpson]

Thanks Jamie, have got the font thanks.

[John Simpson]

Thanks for the offer Jamie, will let you know tomorrow as i am at home now.

[John Simpson]

Thanks Jamie, Marcella: I didn’t know about Harry’s question………I wasn’t here was i , i was busy working………on my tan 😳
john

[John Simpson]

Thanks Tim, but customer (lorry driver) wants his name on lorry in the globetrotter font, or close as poss.
Thanks anyway.
Julie

you just beat me to it 😀 😀 😀

[John Simpson]

Sorry that serpentine is not quite right as below, any other offers please.
ta julie

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Attachments:

[John Simpson]

Thank you very much both of you.
Julie

[John Simpson]

At a guess i would say New Zealand !

[John Simpson]

very smart & clean looking as usual, well done that man.

[John Simpson]

quote martin:

Marcella communion wine means that it is non alcoholic not that you drink it with someone else :lol1:

you tell her Martin 😳

[John Simpson]

you always was awkward 😀

[John Simpson]

I still get Julie (who works here) coming up with 2′ 3" & a little bit (meaning 1/8th) & yes she is younger than me. about Shanes age.

[John Simpson]

the fault you mention Garrie is the start & finnish of the cut for each letter.
this is usually a sign that the knife is worn & doesn’t finnish the cut properly.
could also mean the settings on your cutter might just need altering slightly to take up the wear of the blade. usually easier to replace the blade.
also check there isn’t any residue of the vinyl stuck up it’s orrifice, blocking the blade from moving around in the holder.
hope that helps.
john

[John Simpson]

feet & inches is an "age" thing normally, and yes i work in ft as well. 😳

[John Simpson]

Phil, tell them to export as .eps file.

john

[John Simpson]

quote martin:

Peter, how on earth did you manage to work 23 days and nights without sleep? No wonder you were so tired, I wouldn’t have thought it possible to work that long but obviously it is.

you know how some people exaggerate Martin 😀

[John Simpson]

you mean you were bored, now be honest

[John Simpson]

always in the same place ?

[John Simpson]

that’s why this is the best & friendliest site, everyone here will try & help…except that Peter N, he is usually asleep 😀

[John Simpson]

quote Scot J:

any chance he can screw up the machine? (It can’t really print worse than it is now).

All he will do is alter the software whilst test printing, so should be a lot better when he has finished, assuming heads etc are all working ok.
Good luck.

[John Simpson]

Best of luck with it, hope all goes well.

[John Simpson]

hi Hugh, that’s what i was told by a supplier a year ago, (who was trying to sell me a lam machine), but everyone i asked who uses them said not.
So i don’t bother & not had any bother at all.

[John Simpson]

one thing i forgot to mention…….have you looked at your material suppliers web site for profiles ?

[John Simpson]

I won’t go into details on here, but in my opinion changing inks can & will spell disaster for you, i have recently fell into that trap & i ended up without a machine for 3 months & a hefty bill to re pipe the machine along with all the other parts.
so if yours is running ok with that make of inks then leave well alone, just concentrate on the profile for Flexi. Once that is done you will be amazed at the difference. (hopefully)

[John Simpson]

Hi Colin,
we use our laminator mainly for laminating prints onto cast vinyl so we only use ours cold. if we add warmth to it, it can cause problems with creasing as the cast is so thin.
We have used warm for thicker material but cannot see any difference so we don’t bother.
had our lam machine for over a year now & was advised not to bother with "Hot" by quite a lot of users.

wouldn’t be without mine now, useful for all sorts of jobs.

the quote about "easy taper" meant to be a laugh about the manual machine on our home page. take a look, it might be what you need.
john.

[John Simpson]

our machine is not used enough so we stick to the carts.

if you buy your materials mainly from one supplier then they are the one to ask about profiling, if they help you out then i would advise you to stick with them as it would normally cost a lot of money to pay someone to come & do it for you.

[John Simpson]

I use Flexi & in my opinion you will still have to have Flex profiled by an expert as we did. If you ask your material supplier they may send someone to do it for you, as ours did. since then Flexi prints spot on every time.

[John Simpson]

Hi Warren, didn’t stand out in the car park as much as "Go Girl" maybe you should have used pretty pink 😀

[John Simpson]

nice looking job George. did you fit it all on your lonesome ?

[John Simpson]

Hi Matt, have you thought of covering boards in cream vinyl ?
and adjust the quote accordingly.

[John Simpson]

went to Watford on a 3 day course last April, very informative, also the techniques we were taught helps out in everyday life as a sign maker.

[John Simpson]

You need to use a Cast vinyl & the same cast clear lam. there are several makes around but i prefer Graphityp’s wrapping material as it hasn’t let me down as yet.
would also recommend going on a course to learn properly as we did. it was well worth it.
is that any help?

john.

[John Simpson]

Hi John, you should phone up the newspapers & try & sell pic No 4, see if they are interested, with your mates approval of course & put it on istock.com
with a bit of luck you could be half way to retiring then.

John

[John Simpson]

ooooooo, that was nasty 😀

[John Simpson]

only got these 2, any good.
john

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Attachments:

TOYS_071.eps

[John Simpson]

We didn’t have to pay for the venue as well as breakfast, as the Hotel were grateful for the increased sales of fry ups.

Give it a try for 12 months, i think it’s worth it.
one of the ex members phoned me today, wants a new sign doing.

got to be worth trying.

john

[John Simpson]

very true, Martin.

John

[John Simpson]

everyone above has very valid points as i experienced almost everything stated above.
I did my 12 months but admit work was drying up all around my chapter, members were leaving one by one until we only had 9 in the group. Then my 12 months was up & after thinking it over long & hard i then left, followed by a few others. This chapter seems to be building up again though, but i wouldn’t rejoin again.
I personally do not regret joining & made many friends, even after leaving nearly 2 years ago we still deal with each other & ring each other occasionally just to stay in touch.
To sum this up imo it was worth joining to meet new local business people, which opens other doors, it was financially worth it at 1st, made good business friends with whom we still do business together.

So give it a go, try your best & i don’t think you will regret it.

L J

[John Simpson]

quote Marcella:

……….. wot…………he’ll be same as last year you mean John! 😀

at least he lasted till the evening last year, he wont this time.

[John Simpson]

quote Marcella:

quote Robert Lambie:

karl… i bought the biggest round of my life last year at sign uk… this year i will be looking for some in return :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:
joking asside, of course ill be buying you a drink… as well as others. 😳 :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

yep ……….. you did ……….. we all owe you a drink this year!

Marcella, you do realise when we have all bought Rob a drink this time, he wont be stood up for long, probably find him slumped in the corner completely kaylied.
john.

[John Simpson]

sounds too complicated for me Phil 😳
good luck

[John Simpson]

who’s a clever girl then.

L J

[John Simpson]

looks fine to me Marcella, just needs a space after the code Nos, change the copperplate to one very similar without the little points on to make it easier to weed & bob’s your uncle….done, dead easy, what more do you want? 😳

L J

[John Simpson]

Nice one George / Phill, but what’s happened to the rear No plate, it looks white, or is it the flash reflection?

L J

[John Simpson]

Dave, no matter what you put on, it will still show the outline of old lettering especially as it’s painted as it will be thicker in depth.

L J

[John Simpson]

Yep, I’ll second that. Happy Christmas to all on the UKSB & may all your wishes come true.

L J :cheer:

[John Simpson]

Have done the job today thanks, turns out it was his business name he wanted in Sonic so i ended up scanning his letterhead & tracing over it.

Thanks everyone for your help.

L J

[John Simpson]

not sure if they did any good though Shane! 😳

L J

[John Simpson]

Thanks Rob, that will be a good start in the morning.

L J

[John Simpson]

Not sure till i meet the customer in the morning but i think his business name is supposed to be in Sonic but out of the thousands of fonts i have no can find the dam thing.

thanks anyway Phil

L J

[John Simpson]

That’s brilliant Phil, thanks mate, you’ve saved the day for me.
All i need now is to find the font "sonic extra bold"

L J

[John Simpson]

Thanks for the warning Dave 😳

[John Simpson]

Hi Lynn, nice to know someone noticed i was missing for a while.
Don’t really want to mention on here just yet, but i will just say i have been doing a lot of Internet homework on a certain subject. will let you know shortly when i have it all sewn up, (I hope)

L J

[John Simpson]

Nice to hear from you Diana.

L J

PS Where abouts in Queensland are you as it’s a big place.

[John Simpson]

David,
When you converted to the ultra inks, did you replace the waste pipes & rubber wipe strip. This is recommended by Mutoh & costs approx £30 vat.?

L J

sorry, just re read your post, thought your puddle was on the floor (as in waste pipes melted)

[John Simpson]

quote Colin Hibbitt:

Also spandex trying to get us to look at their hp machines their popping down on tuesday
??

Colin,
I have just had engineer to my machine & while talking to him in general conversation i asked him which make of machine are you always going out to repair?
His reply was the HP machines.
Just thought i would mention it.

L J

[John Simpson]

Just a thought Shane, what was the average temp while you were taking these photo’s? (looks cold)

L J

[John Simpson]

Hi Shane,
What superb scenery, was that bit right Shane: 7/8 Meters of rain?

[John Simpson]

My instructors on the wrapping course that we went on said they only have to do the roof if the van is based in a large city or town where there are a lot of multi story office blocks.

My home town is classed as a country town so wouldn’t bother unless instructed by customer.

LJ

[John Simpson]

quote Richard Urquhart:

would like to know a good supplier of mac tac at amari price less delivery !!

Have you tried Vinyl Corporation ?

L J

[John Simpson]

So that’s where your welder was for was it. Nice clean looking job.

L J

[John Simpson]

nice to have you back full time 😀

John

[John Simpson]

quote Lynn:

Doesn’t take much to confuse me John 😳 I thought it was like Whitehall 1212 🙄

Lynn

Is that where you used to live before you met Peter? 😀

[John Simpson]

quote Lynn:

John they surely can’t have the same phone number 🙄

Lynn

That’s confused you Lynn, Corus steel works have their own Phone Nos starting with 3 & 4, i think the 999 emergency No is 333.

L J

[John Simpson]

Thanks Andrew, far better than my attempt.

John

[John Simpson]

I bought X3 a while back as a lot of my customers send me files in this version so i had to upgrade.

The main point is i rarely use Corel as most things i can do in Flexi.

Just in case you haven’t done so, what about the upgrade downloads off the net?

My version must be set to automatically look for updates & has updated 3 lots of approx 25 megs……………would this help?

L J

[John Simpson]

While you are both thinking:

The following is an extract from the latest Mills and Boon novel.
With writing like this there really is no need for pictures:

We met in a secluded field, the sun nearly kissing the evening horizon. The warm breeze was full of that earthy, musky scent that only those
fortunate enough to live outside the urban rat race know, and a quiet whispering of leaves in the weeping willow overhead added the final touch to the
most romantic scene. We lay there, both naked. I knew I had to have her, and have her now.

Without a word being spoken, I moved to a position of dominance. I could feel instantly this this was what she was waiting for as she
frantically thrust her pelvis at my approaching organ. I moved slowly at first, inch by inch, until I was fully inside her.

Then as the tension rose, we threw caution to the wind and abandoned ourselves to the moment.

Although inexperienced, she approached every change of position with enthusiasm, moaning with despair every time I withdrew to prevent
myself ending it all too soon. As the sexual tension heightened towards the inevitable mind blowing climax, it was all I could do to hold out
any longer. Finally, the moment we had been building up to was upon us, and passed all too quickly.

Breathlessly we rolled together in the now damp grass. As the last deep orange glow of the long settling sun melted into the darkness of
approaching night, we lay there still entwined in an amorous embrace. I kissed her long and lovingly, and whispered reassuringly how good she had been.

She tenderly and sensuously licked my inner ear then whispered, "Baaaaaaaaaaa" and rejoined the flock.

THIS BOOK IS ONLY FOR SALE IN NEW ZEALAND, WALES AND CERTAIN PARTS OF DERBYSHIRE.

[John Simpson]

Peter, a bit like the pavement chalk art………..only works when viewed from certain angle.

John

[John Simpson]

Hi Martin, yes forgot to mention that the lorry is in the same place.
good though innit

[John Simpson]

quote Carrie Brown:

Edit: :lol1: Please forget that i just said that 😕 you obviously will need it quite large for the side of a van so diddy jpeg images from there wont help ….. Im having one of those days thats moved onto to night and the way its going will move to tomorrow too!!

Julie, who works for me would have said in that situation that she was having a "blonde moment"

Steve, I have a CD with very high res .jpegs of every model of a certain make of fork trucks. None with pallets on though.
Your best bet is to take digi photo of customers vehicle IMHO.

L J

[John Simpson]

quote Lynn:

Hi Lorraine what are you doing talking to us when you should be drinking :lol1: have a great time

Lynn

withdrawal symptoms Lynn

[John Simpson]

Don’t keep it a secret Lorraine, where are you going?

L J

cancel that………..just seen your other post…….have a great time.

L J

[John Simpson]

I find that the best way to handle a phone enquiry from a prospective customer who is asking the age old question of "how much will it cost to letter my van"……….is to invite them to your office to design the van in front of them for a fee of £30 (to be taken off the price of the completed job)

This way i find you are almost certain that the job is yours.

Make sure they know that the cost of £30 is paid before you let them take a print out away with them…..that way the chances are they won’t go to your competitors with it to try to get a cheaper price.

It works for me.

Cannot really comment on your idea of pricing as it depends where you are in the UK as to what you need to charge, also depends on your overheads.

L J

[John Simpson]

Nice to see you back Shane.

L J

[John Simpson]

Hi Lynn.
If you are still stuck in the morning, give me a ring about 10am & i will have a look in my magic book for you.
I know i have all types of cartoony type things to do with gardening, (Garden Angels) my wifes business. but my magic book is at work.

L J

[John Simpson]

quote Richard Urquhart:

may need a bit of a tidy up if its just the kdg let me know i dont mind doing it

no, that’s fine Ta

[John Simpson]

That’s my man, thanks Richard. brilliant.

[John Simpson]

Think i might as well vector them myself, was so sure i had seen this font before somewhere.
Thanks anyway.

L J

[John Simpson]

Nick, Sorry the "d" is wrong…..but thanks for trying.

L J

[John Simpson]

Thanks Nick, I will look for that now.

Lynn, that’s what i was trying to avoid, i want to get the sign completed tomorrow & asking the customer to find out for me usually takes too long.
Thanks anyway.
L J

[John Simpson]

enjoy it Marcella….soon be time to come back home (hot)

L J

[John Simpson]

Thanks Ian.

Hi Cheryl,
If you look through the link to Robs post as above, you will get the general idea but the only difference with this job is that i printed onto clear vinyl in reverse.
This i then laminated with white vinyl of the same grade.
I then designed the 2mm stripes on the computer to fit the whole area & then sent the whole lot through the plotter …….weeded it out ……..then app tape over the top. (Don’t forget to increase your plotters down force)

You are then left with the clear printed layer still with it’s backing paper on & once you lay it on to the inside of rear window the print is then the right way.

I have also found by experience that the easiest way to "hinge" this job is to tape it down the centre of back window or if you are doing a square window then hinge it across the centre.
Hope this helps.

L J

[John Simpson]

Thanks Richard, sorry John i didn’t take pic from inside & customer is down at Huntingdon………..to far to nip down to re shoot.

I also printed 2 pairs of mag panels 1 set for this car & 1 set for her Mothers car exactly the same as back window & also same pic on the bonnet.

[John Simpson]

Thanks Cheryl, love your work by the way, via your www

thanks Micheal

L J

[John Simpson]

Hi Bart, Just spent the afternoon stripping my Rocky one to try & find out why there wasn’t any magenta coming through, found the pipe in the pump had split in two. so have replaced it i think all is well now.

We are getting quite conversant with the workings of it now.

L J

[John Simpson]

My local Postmaster asked me to re-sign his main branch PO (Fascia)
All went well as he was aware about using recognised suppliers.
Job was completed & paid for ….everyone happy.
Until the area manager turned up a month later. He was told in no uncertain terms to have it all replaced by a recognised supplier.

I have been back recently & apart from an additional green stripe i cannot see any difference.

L J