Mark Johnston
Forum Replies Created
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Mark Johnston
MemberJune 13, 2022 at 10:01 pm in reply to: Roland VG3-640 verses what other print and cut printer?We were looking at the Roland VG3-640 after seeing it on this site. looks awesome! 😎👍
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Mark Johnston
MemberJune 6, 2022 at 4:27 pm in reply to: Horse Rider and Bicycle vector graphics needed please?I may have one if not both. I will have a look in the morning because i am just heading home and i don’t have access to the files at home.
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we have a banner material listed as 1600mm wide but is actually about 1650mm wide. maybe worth checking. i mean if you can find 1600 that it isn’t already wider.
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Mark Johnston
MemberMay 29, 2022 at 8:15 pm in reply to: What is your choice for short term Printable Optical Clear, Clear View, Ultra Cli am not sure exactly which one pane, but i would definitely say it was image perfect because my boss is very tight! so i would rule out 3m, avery and oracal. 🤣
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Mark Johnston
MemberMay 28, 2022 at 5:35 pm in reply to: What is your choice for short term Printable Optical Clear, Clear View, Ultra Cl -
what is the name of this neon stuff from Applelec Warren?
are you able to share the approximate length and cost for it please? -
thanks gordon
i have had similar with chrome silver vinyl a long time ago, but not with digital. so frustrating after printing and laminating and then it jams in the machine cutting. 😩
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David, doing that big sign in an hour is impressive, mate! 👍
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Mark Johnston
MemberMay 9, 2022 at 11:30 am in reply to: I believe that Metamark M7 Series performs better than M7A MetaScape, thoughts?not that i have had any issues with bubble free vinyl, but that makes sense.
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Thanks for the update on this. so we can now breathe a sigh of relief! 😃
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i have just had one of these customers!
they wanted a banner and some small signs, but for “tomorrow afternoon”. i said we would try, once we know whats going on them and artwork agreed. they then proceeded to give me a bunch of “their thoughts” ending in…”but i will let you decide as your the professionals, but please send us an initial draft!” 🤨
i have just said to send me an email with the details, but unless it is a basic layout we cannot help them. that was after 20 minutes of talk! 😠 -
we have done both.
we only laminate if its on a vehicle but from memory we did not use optically clear.
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I like your process David. it is similar to ours but we tell them when they can have the van for once they OK the price. when it should be once they confirm the artwork. as you said, they drag the whole thing out and still want the deadline to be met.
nice one!
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clever stuff but i really think they all need edging to finish it off better?
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thanks for the reply Craig, thats great to hear! 👍
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cracking job dave. nice one mate.
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Mark Johnston
MemberApril 4, 2022 at 9:55 am in reply to: What bleed to do you use wrapping van back doorswe would add 25mm but just for the back doors as they are mostly flat all around. i agree it doesn’t give you much to play with though.
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Mark Johnston
MemberApril 4, 2022 at 9:50 am in reply to: We've ordered another printer – Platinum Q3 3.2m Hybridnow that is one sweet looking machine!
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Mark Johnston
MemberMarch 25, 2022 at 11:25 am in reply to: Print on optical clear – backed with 25% white or 50% white or 75% white?what about frosted vinyl behind the printed clear?
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Looks good David. where do you buy your air release vinyl from mate?
I do find the bubble free vinyl makes fitting so much easier.
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Mark Johnston
MemberMarch 10, 2022 at 8:38 am in reply to: Fixing acrylic letters to a mesh background. advice please?is it just me that thinks that big mesh bit really unnecessary?
it has made the job much harder when just fitting the letters to the brickwork would have been much nicer! -
We will be there.
I hope to see some machines that will interest my boss! It will be good to find new suppliers.
only there for the day but i bet i could spend the full three days wondering round it. 😎 -
Mark Johnston
MemberMarch 3, 2022 at 11:12 am in reply to: Me rambling about advertising on the radio.thats funny, good, i like it mate. 🤣
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i dont think you need water mate
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Mark Johnston
MemberFebruary 28, 2022 at 7:09 am in reply to: Solvent Print out-gassing Roland TR2 Inks, views and opinions please?have you had the printer for long david?
can you not complain and exchange for a different type of printer or did it come from roland? -
Mark Johnston
MemberFebruary 28, 2022 at 7:06 am in reply to: Scaffolding banner blanks any uk suppliers?do you use any sort of special tape when you make these banners rob?
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I think an HP Latex is a good safe bet and the 360 is a tried and tested money maker.
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Mark Johnston
MemberFebruary 13, 2022 at 3:08 pm in reply to: When should printed vinyl be laminated?Always laminate on vehicles but everything else we offer as an add-on which costs more.
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Mark Johnston
MemberJanuary 26, 2022 at 5:59 pm in reply to: Thick paper, cardboard templates – what do you use?And a new one on me also. nice one! 👍
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Mark Johnston
MemberJanuary 25, 2022 at 7:53 pm in reply to: LED wire connector problem, advice needed please?where do you buy these pliers lads?
or even what are they called?
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Mark Johnston
MemberJanuary 19, 2022 at 9:57 am in reply to: Grass, Lawn Sign stake/spike supplier needed, please?we got asked for these last year and gave the customer some wooden batons that he hammered into the grass and screwed the composite signs onto. i think the angle riveted on is a much better idea and would have been more professional looking for us to hand over to the customer as a complete sign. nice one!
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Mark Johnston
MemberJanuary 19, 2022 at 9:49 am in reply to: Back to the real world for a couple of weeksgreat work Kev, the dogs nuts, mate. 😎👍
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Mark Johnston
MemberJanuary 7, 2022 at 8:20 pm in reply to: Works van, how do you charge your tools?the main thing you will need is an “inverter” Jeff. I cant help much more than that mate. i only know because we had one in our last works van but not the new one. which is a bummer because it is very handy to be able to charge things out on site.
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Mark Johnston
MemberJanuary 7, 2022 at 10:40 am in reply to: what to consider when buying a rotary calendar press?twice today i have seen posts for a rotary calendar press. i have no clue what they are for? 🤔
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Mark Johnston
MemberJanuary 7, 2022 at 10:31 am in reply to: Ford Gulf car racing vinyl graphics, help needed please?please post pictures of it once you are done Mark. cool project mate 😎👍
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Mark Johnston
MemberJanuary 7, 2022 at 10:17 am in reply to: Please recommend brushed gold for outside usemight be the way you are holding it Pane, but it doesn’t look the best brushed metal i have seen. it looks like it has been printed?
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just back today, but only to get things in order for starting back properly on Monday.
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mega cool! 😎
I do not know how its done, but i cannot see it being a worthwhile add on. maybe supercar types would go for it. otherwise i doubt anyone will be able to afford it. 🤨
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You would look a right Tit wearing the red one. 🤣
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Mark Johnston
MemberDecember 2, 2021 at 7:38 am in reply to: Digital Printer Worktops, coated in Liquid Resin.these look amazing. i have watched lots of videos on resin and never thought for a second about doing this with it. if these are all printed, i guess it is just a clear coat of resin?
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Mark Johnston
MemberNovember 24, 2021 at 10:44 am in reply to: Spin Studio: Various illuminated Signs.super cool. the signs are great mate and the women arent bad either! 🤣
i really want to start making stuff with the bendy neon. have a word with my boss will you? 🤔 -
Mark Johnston
MemberNovember 8, 2021 at 10:21 am in reply to: How to over-engineer vinyl application.surely the people that invented them can see the limits and flaws as quickly as we can?
Spandex sell the bottom one! 😬
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great work, love the rust truck wrap. the car wraps!
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we dont charge for this but i am going to speak with my boss tomorrow because this happened to me a few weeks ago. whats worse is, at the time i had my boss on the phone complaining that my hanging around waiting for a truck being brought inside a warehouse out of the rain was costing him money. i could see his point, but really, what can i do? to make matters worse we then had to dry down a bloody big lump of a truck before we could start. when we had asked for it to be inside the day before!
i think this must be added to our quotes and clearly state that delays will be charged for after 10-15 minutes waiting time. -
We have done a couple of things around the home for family and customers.
a fridge, couple of splash backs, a table and some kitchen units.
make sure you give the surfaces a really good clean because one of ours started to lift right after fitting it and all it was was i had missed a bit cleaning a greasy surface. 😟 -
These are awesome kev. always great seeing your stuff mate. 👌
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Mark Johnston
MemberOctober 31, 2021 at 11:45 pm in reply to: Applying application tape onto 4 metres of cut vinyl graphics, advice?We do it by hand or the tape sat on those roller things. if it is something wider and long then we use the laminator.
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Mark Johnston
MemberSeptember 26, 2021 at 6:28 pm in reply to: Drill rig cab colour change wrap advicethats a cracking bike wrap @DavidHammond
how long did that take you?
avery chrome is very expensive. is hexis stuff the same?
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Mark Johnston
MemberSeptember 26, 2021 at 6:23 pm in reply to: Kelly: Various Signs and Vehicle graphicsNice work Jason. thanks for showing!
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Mark Johnston
MemberSeptember 20, 2021 at 11:02 pm in reply to: Drill rig cab colour change wrap advicesorry, I cant offer advice on this beast but would love to hear how you get on with it.
i am very keen to get into wrapping more and more. but these type of jobs just dont come up on our radar! 🤔 -
very cool. i like that! 👍
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Mark Johnston
MemberSeptember 6, 2021 at 10:54 am in reply to: Projecting sign, how do you fix them?thanks for the advice guys. i bought them from screwfix and fitted the sign on Saturday morning. worked great and very secure!
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Mark Johnston
MemberAugust 30, 2021 at 10:32 am in reply to: Arlon SLX digital print cast vinyl, my feedback.I do like the SLX, its like fitting static cling at times, but I’ve had no complaints.
how do you mean static cling david?
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i am guessing you mean the ones on alibaba.com?
i mentioned in a previous post that i was looking on there at laminators, printers and so on. almost too good to be true normally means it isnt. -
Mark Johnston
MemberAugust 21, 2021 at 11:07 pm in reply to: 1400 wide cold laminator, looking for the best options please?I have spent a few hours lately browsing http://www.alibaba.com. They have literally everything on that site at a fraction of the costs. but its the uncertainty of handing your money across the water for something like a laminator and being sent back a clothes mangle. 😣
that said i have been told by a supplier that most of what we use today is brought in from there. which is why i looked in the first place. question is, are you willing to gamble? 😎
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Mark Johnston
MemberJuly 20, 2021 at 11:42 am in reply to: Stand-off aluminium locators, help sourcing please?we switched to UKPOS for standoffs after seeing someone recommend them on here.
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Mark Johnston
MemberJuly 20, 2021 at 11:36 am in reply to: Banner eyelet questions, opinions please?Metal eyelets for us. I will be honest though I don’t think we would ever buy in recyclable materials because I doubt we have a single customer that would really care if it was or wasn’t.
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Mark Johnston
MemberJuly 8, 2021 at 9:01 am in reply to: Digitising artwork. which is the best software?Thanks Rob and Karen. Makes sense and i will charge for this with the next job and see if I get a reaction from the customer. 😬🤣
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Mark Johnston
MemberJuly 8, 2021 at 8:56 am in reply to: Is it best to make one way vision cuts vertical or horizontal?This is a brilliant idea. is it just lines cut through the print?
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Mark Johnston
MemberJuly 2, 2021 at 10:52 am in reply to: Digitising artwork. which is the best software?thanks for the replies guys and i am starting to understand it may be a bit of we need more practice at digitising stuff rather than auto tracing, but do you add a small fee or something for your time?
thanks for the help on this.
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Swatch books are not something we have ever paid for but i understand the supplier will have a cost, so maybe only fair to pay something, but what is the something? 🤨
as for the colour cards, i would think the vinyl manufacturers would supply these free to the suppliers surely? -
i agree David.
50 inch rolls are bad enough but trying to load a 60 inch roll and then discovering you have loaded it around the wrong way drives me crazy! surely visual guides on machines should be added to help with our stupidity? 🙄 -
dont weed tiny text. tape it up with the weed border still in place. fit the vinyl to the sign and THEN weed the tiny text. works every time. 👍
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Mark Johnston
MemberJune 26, 2021 at 4:42 pm in reply to: Digitising artwork. which is the best software?thanks for the replies guys. I guess we might just be slow at using signlab to do this.
i know it might be a case of “how long is a bit of string?” but when a job comes in and the artwork needs traced. do you add a basic cost or time for this type of thing, like £10 or £20?
i have saw some vector services on the web but i can’t wait two to three days for a bit of clipart when the sign could have been done and paid for in that time. what do you do?
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there are lots of number plate machines out there but you do need to be a registered supplier of plates which has a yearly cost I’m sure. we used to make the old show plates with the dodgy fonts and spacing but stopped a number of years ago when laws were introduced.
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Mark Johnston
MemberJune 26, 2021 at 4:08 pm in reply to: Pavement Signs, who is the best supplier? -
Mark Johnston
MemberJune 22, 2021 at 8:46 am in reply to: Hand Held CNC Router, for small sign businesses?we do lots of work with a jigsaw and festool. this looks the dogs nutz!
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Mark Johnston
MemberJune 22, 2021 at 8:44 am in reply to: Newbie needing advice on what vinyl to use please?sorry for the delayed reply.
He did read your comments and we have started using image perfect polymeric which i think is a 2d wrap. it appears we may have used monomeric on some jobs that had the issues but we are not 100%.spandex have a few cast ranges we can use for the difficult wraps. but rather than just using spandex, do you recommend any other brands of cast vinyl we should try without giving the boss a heart attack? 🤣
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Mark Johnston
MemberApril 20, 2021 at 10:14 am in reply to: Newbie needing advice on what vinyl to use please?Thanks very much for your advice so far martyn, graham and kevin. i really appreciate it.
i am just going to show my boss these messages at lunchtime and let you know how i get on.
😬
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Mark Johnston
MemberApril 19, 2021 at 1:50 pm in reply to: Application tape alternative, is there anything?I find the clear plastic stuff horrid to work with. it tends to pucker up between letters in the hot weather.
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Mark Johnston
MemberJune 7, 2022 at 1:19 pm in reply to: Horse Rider and Bicycle vector graphics needed please?excellent link! a new one on me too. downloading as i type. 😎👍
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ahh, i get you now. cool 😎
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do you mean it is fitted horizontally along the length of the boards. so two big long panels?
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Exactly!
The quicker they give you the details, the quicker you can start the artwork and give a better idea of what is possible and what is not. having it in writing also covers you for spelling, colours blah! 😏
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Mark Johnston
MemberJanuary 23, 2022 at 9:29 pm in reply to: LED wire connector problem, advice needed please?Thanks for that reply Kahlid. helpful! 😎👍