[Mark Shipley]

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

EXCELLENT Lee – I’d love to see your ‘fitting’ outfit !!

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

We are Dingleberries from the planet Coccyx – take us to your leader!

What do you mean you’ve never heard of the planet Coccyx? It’s the small one just past Uranus :2thumbs:

😀 😀 😀
Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Please tell me that’s not a jacket potato :yikes:

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hi Danny,

It’s a doddle – couldn’t be easier 😀

Everything may seem a little daunting at first, but the process soon becomes second nature.

The best thing to do is get the machine, read the instructions (it’s more of a flick through and look at the pictures) have a good play with the VersaCAMM and then ask as many questions as you like.

If you get really stuck I’m just to the East of you in Leyland!

Regards,
Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hello Iosif,

Excuse my suprise, but are you actually thinking of cutting flock in a VersaCAMM?

The SP-300 will quite happily cut the flock with the blade and offset you have mentioned, the real problem is the mess that will be left behind.

When you cut flock, lots of tiny strands and filaments fly everywhere, the last place you would want that is inside a printer.

I would recommend you cut flock in a standard cutter/plotter that can handle dust etc, it’s not worth messing up an expensive VersaCAMM for a bit if flock.

I hope this is of help.

Regards,
Mark

[Mark Shipley]

I won’t post this link because it might be considered a little too naughty for the website and be removed – but instead do a google search for dingleberry and rock.

*rofl*

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hello Lee,

That looks really great – I love the shape of the sign.

Fantastic job!

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Got a few eagles here – msn me for transfer.

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Are dingleberries applied wet or dry?

:rofl:

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

It’s that S.A.D. time of year turn so come on everybody let’s turn on all those bright lights and keep on smiling 😀

I look forward to winter for the crisp clear skies (I love astronomy) but I hate the never ending darkness.

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

AXA sell a specific home based business insurance which includes public and employee liability – no mention of heaters or smoking.

Hope this is of help.

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Well done Richard !!!!! :yeeha:

That’s one hell of a commute – Scotland to Kent :car:

I hope there’s going to be a huge presentation ceremony with lots of booze.

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hi Col,

Before you do anything else – are you using ColorRip 2.1 or higher? If not then head speed can’t be adjusted, download the latest RIP.

It prints registration marks at a head speed of 1000 which is the fastest head speed available.

And yes, they are good at teasing 😀

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hi Col,

The settings are mainly in the RIP (I use Roland ColorRip). The specific profile for the banner I mentioned is Hexis Front2 (you can download this from Hexis).

As mrsticker says with speed comes a drop in quality – but having played and experimented to great length with the Versacamm, it’s RIP and many different types of media I find good quality printing can be achieved with a fast print speed. Push the settings too hard and poor results can also be achieved.

If you pm me your address I’ll send you a sample of banner printed with the settings I mentioned – have a look for yourself.

Hope this is of help.

Regards,
Mark

[Mark Shipley]

To believe or not believe a salesperson is a tricky question.

When I was pondering over whether a Versacamm would be suitable for my needs I went to see John de la Roche – Northern Area Sales Manager for Roland based in Crewe.

We didn’t talk about what the machine could do, we just made it do it. After spending almost 3 hours with John and printing off metres of vinyl and banner with every dpi and speed possible using Roland’s images and images of my own the decision was very simple.

I paid the deposit and went away very happy. Six months later I’m still more than happy with the machine – I does everything I expect of it at a speed that is still very impressive.

I guess what I’m trying to say here; don’t take a salesperson’s word for it just because the specs say the machine can do this and do that – go and have a play, see for yourself. This goes for any piece of kit, try before you buy.

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hi Tony,

Welcome to the group – I’m quite new here as well, but everybody has been very helpful and friendly.

Look forward to seeing some of your work.

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Slow versacamm?? Nahhhh

I can rattle out a 3m banner (2.2 sqm) in 26 minutes @ 720dpi, Variable, pass count 8 with a head speed of 760.

The fastest I can get it printing a linear metre in just under 4 minutes – that really does throw the media out, but I only use this for draft images or low cost, single use POS.

Please post the RIP settings – I’m sure we can get it going more like Rudolf on a cold and frosty night – and that’s fast :plane:

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

quote Steve Broughton:

but probably not good on windy days 😀

I thought that was the fun bit – applying graphics in gale force conditions!

The gazebo thing is something I’ve thought about even if it does no more than keep the dew at bay.

I would be interested to hear if anybody else uses anything like this.

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hi Beej,

I find the Versacamm to be a truly amazing machine – I particularly enjoy printing onto specialist vinyls such as holographic and reflective.

If you would like a file or two printing and sending please let me know.

Regards,
Mark

[Mark Shipley]

And another one ….

Mark

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[Mark Shipley]

Hi all, just my 2p’s worth on reflective 😀

Grafityp sell ‘LG’ Luckylite at £7.27 p/m @ 610mm it’s great for signs because of its high gloss finish.

But for vehicles I use Hexis engineering reflective £12.48 p/m @ 610mm – its very supple and contours really well.

Both are great products that cut and weed really easily.

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Ughh – that image make me feel sea sick 😳

Here another image that just might get your head spinning (spin)

Mark

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[Mark Shipley]

How long before I become an OAP? (Over Average Poster)

:dance2:

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hi Rob,

A great opportunity missed! Who knows, sign number 8 could have been the straw that broke the camels back – and the pavement :lol1:

Nice job, looks really great, classic and clear.

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hey Nik,

Many congrats on over 1000 posts – wooooohooooo :dance1:

I’ll get there one day, no doubt when I do you’ll be a millionaire/ess 😉 (and I hope you have as many posts too)

Best wishes,
Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Lot’s of rum (drink1)

I think I’ve got a graphic that would be of use – I’ll dig it out in the morning and post it!

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hi Becky,

I use Corel Draw (v12) to do most of the designing and all of my mail merging.

To give you an example a couple of months ago I produced 6,500 telephone labels for a University – they supplied the info in an excel spreadsheet.

Each label had its own extension number, direct dial number and some even had room numbers. Corel mail merged everything, the RIP took it in its stride and the versacamm rattled them off at an unbelievable speed.

It works a treat for me.

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Contrary to popular belief – falling doesn’t hurt! Stopping on the other hand 😉

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

quote :

i have seen one or two images that i cant see

Same here Rob, I have seen one or two images that i cant see as well 😉

Must be something in the water!

Seriously though I can’t see the pic either. Win XP and Norton …etc 🙁

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hi Stuart,

I got mine from JAG Sign Supplies, when it arrived it didn’t look much for the money (£135) but WOW what a cracking little piece of kit – I never knew corner rounding could be such a pleasure.

It comes with a 12.5 mm die with other sizes available and cuts upto 50 sheets paper, 10mm correx, foamex and fibre board and upto 1mm aluminium and other soft metals.

The larger (and more expensive cutters) will handle thicker metal.

Hope this of help.

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hi Adrian,

You are a star – especially on a Friday afternoon :thanks2:

Have a great weekend.

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

I quite like Hexis HD5702, takes ink well and dries quickly. Their HD5703 clear gives good results on variable dry.

I use the MD5-100 profile 720dpi BiDir 16 passes for these vinyls.

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hi mate,

Am I right in guessing you are designing the banner in Corel Draw 12 and exporting as an eps?

If so, make sure you are exporting the eps at post script level 3 (it’s in the second tab in the export options window).

I had exactly the same problem with 8 700x3000mm banners, after 20m of banner had been wasted – a bright spark at Roland finally thought to ask about the post script setting – tada 🙄 and it printed perfectly.

This maybe the anwer to your problem.

Let us know how you get on.

Regards,
Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hi Jagged,

We looked at the leasing options for various machines including the Cadet, but after sitting down and working out that what you were actually paying for was all the tied-in monthly deliveries of supplies i.e. inks and vinyls!

We realised the amount of supplies that would delivered was huge, so if production didn’t take off immediately or stay at a high level we would have been swamped with huge amounts of ink and vinyl that we didn’t need/want or even like.

The decision was made, coppers and pocket fluff were counted and a Roland Verscamm was purchased. Leaving us with the ability to decide which vinyls to buy and from whatever supplier we chose.

Leasing did sound like a nice idea, but for us it would have been very limiting – flexibilty and freedom were far more important.

It’s not an easy choice to make, but as Rob said “At the end of the day the machine is yours then… ” – very true indeed.

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Now I daren’t submit an avatar – yikes 😮

Hey – Lee, how about I send you a pic, so with your help I can make a grand entrance ??? 😉

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hi, got a single colour, great for cutting if that’s any use.

Mark

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[Mark Shipley]

Sorry

:praise1:

[Mark Shipley]

What do you mean – I swore???

What’s wrong with Dick Cheney? My middle name is Dick, which is short for Richard, and I love a nice bowl of spotted dick!

Dick, dickety, dick, dick, dick or should I say Richard, richardety, Rich, Rich, Rich?

Sorry Rob – didn’t realise Dick (Riachard) was a swear word 😮

It won’t happen again – honest.

Mark aka Dick 😉

[Mark Shipley]

Hi all, not a nun joke but I love it :lol1:

One morning Dick Cheney and George W. Bush were having brunch at a restaurant. The attractive waitress asks Cheney what he would like and he replies, “I’ll have a bowl of oatmeal and some fruit.”

“And what can I get for you, sir?” she asks George W.
He replies, “How about a quickie?”

“Why, Mr. President,” the waitress says,”How rude! You’re starting to act like Mr. Clinton and you haven’t even been in office for a full term, yet!”

As the waitress storms away, Cheney leans over to Bush and whispers, “It’s pronounced ‘quiche’.”

:dance2:

[Mark Shipley]

“Lucy – you ok at the back?”

“LUCY ??” :yikes:

[Mark Shipley]

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated 🙂

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hi,

As Rodnay said the Versacamm takes it settings from the software, but at anytime whilst it is cutting you can over-ride the settings by using the front panel ‘cut config’ button to change any of the following parameters;

force
speed
offset
up-speed

This is particularly useful if it’s cutting a large sheet like labels you can pause and try weeding a small area and adjust the settings according.

Earlier today I was cutting about 600mm of 50 micron exterior cast mirror chrome (evil stuff :nag4: ) and had to stop, check and adjust about 4 times becuase it was snagging some parts of the design.

Oh, and you can also over-ride the temperature settings !!

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hi Bob,

If you can’t find any reflective contact me on 0845 22 62 672 or mark@lasable.com and I’ll help you out.

I’ve got some LG Lucky Lite 7000 Red Engineering Grade – it certainly does the job and sticks like you wouldn’t believe.

Regards,

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hi,

I’ve had similar problems, sometimes it runs true and other times like a dogs hind leg, not fun when printing 3m banners.

One suggestion – I’ll do my best to explain 😕

The two rollers at the back that hold the media, giv’em a wiggle from side to side! Do they move laterally in the framework say 2,3 or 4mm?

If so get a set of allen keys, loosen the grub screws holding the outermost collars on the shafts, move the collars in and tighten the grub screws, just enough to to stop the rollers wiggling but not too much to reduce the function of the rollers.

Any ‘play’ in the rollers translates to a huge tracking difference after a 1000mm or so. I have started feeding sufficient media through then running it back whilst wiping it with a ‘modern synthetic duster’ that way you can see if it going to track true and almost guarantee that the media will be free of those annoying little bits of ink soaking dust.

Whilst feeding media through the versacamm I sometimes get an error 0007 or 0015(can’t remeber how many zeros 😮 ) – anybody else get these error messages?

Hope this helps.

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hi,

Do you want them single or multi-coloured?

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hi,

I use Hexis DSS703 clear vinyl with a versacamm and the results are more than acceptable – I think they call it HD5703 now, they just changed the codes.

Solid colours are always problematic, it only takes one bit of dust to mess up a large area.

The versacamm does struggle with some solid colours – some greens in particular. Try printing a file called ‘media.ps’ which you will find on drive c: in a folder called ‘psfiles’. It is a basic media acceptance file and will give you a good idea as to how well or not the vinyl will take the inks/colours.

Some lower quality vinyls also cause banding down the length(feed) of the vinyl rather than across the width(scan), if this is the case, reduce the ink output by selecting variable dry in the setup or by reducing the total ink output as per the results of the printed media.ps file. (<(

Versacamms – great aren’t they 😉 ?
Mark

As for laminating – I was just about to ask the same question.

[Mark Shipley]

A quick work-around in Corel would be to first convert it to curves, add a thick outline to the text then ‘slant’ the text.

If you get stuck let me know and I’ll do a step by step thingy :lol1:

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hi,

Apart from the the cross in the A which extends on both sides and the N has small ‘slashes’ on its left shoulder and inside leg I would say the font is Balloon extra bold.

Hope this helps.

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

Hi, Futura and Levenim are pretty close the ‘a’ is almost there!

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

You will probably want to sit down first…

6x400ml £36 per unit, 18x400ml are £29.99 per unit

I have used both Mockridge and Liquid Lens and I prefer the Liquid Lens as it is a more viscous product and results in a ‘harder’ and higher finished dome. Also their mixing tubes do a far better job at mixing however the product is more suited to simple shapes than complex ones, Mockridge suits complex shapes better.

[Mark Shipley]

Hi Rodney,

Sorry, my mistake to view their dispensers, resin etc. visit their .com at

http://www.liquid-lens.com which takes you to ‘our’ side of things 😉

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

You may also want to try Liquid Lens at – http://www.liquid-lens.co.uk

If you want high domes their product works a treat.

[Mark Shipley]

Using the propagator technique I find that with the trays being already warmed, the polymer spreads quite readily and after 10 minutes just a very quick flame is all that is needed to de-bubble. Gelling happens very quickly after a further 5-10 minutes – I guess this is down to the prescence of the silica gel absorbing any moisture.

By the way Rodney, ever thought about shipping the 400ml cartidges to England?? 😉

[Mark Shipley]

:lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

Excellent stuff!!

This is a great test to see if Versacamm output is ‘tear’ proof and no that isn’t a RIPing pun.

Mark

[Mark Shipley]

The propagator I use cost about £30 ish and measures 550x330mm and 200mm high (all internal sizes) so it easily takes the usual 400x300mm stackable trays.

I simply level the bottom tray within the propagator and take it from there.

One other thing I have done is tape up the vents on the lid – just to help keep dust out.

Is there somewhere I can send a photo of this amazing taped up, seed growing, doming curing, electrically heated plastic box? :lol1:

[Mark Shipley]

Hi all, I find the following works really well for doming.

Buy a heated propagator from a garden center and keep all the bags of silica gel that come with doming fluids, machinery etc. in air tight boxes until needed.

Set up and level your trays in the propagator with the silica gel bags at the bottom and dome away! Put a few ‘dots’ of liquid along side the domed badges so you can tack test them to see if you can add more fluid to build up those domes.

The heat from the propagator keeps the doming nice and warm, the silica keeps the humidity down and the clear plastic propagator lid provides a clean, ‘dust free’ environment whilst allowing you to keep an eye on the progress of the curing.

I use liquid lens products which really do build a high dome if that’s your thing 😉