[Steve McAdie]

Franco’s looks very similar to Zapfino. Maybe edited

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Thanks very much Warren & Nik

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

This may be his website and contact number or it may not be. Worth a try
http://colinsealsigns.com/

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Hi Claire

I haven’t got the luxury of a take up roller but I know it has been asked on the boards before. The answer if I remember correctly was yes it OK to out gas on the roller but make sure it is loosely wound and if possible a fan directed to blow down the roll is recommended.

Steve

PS sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong

[Steve McAdie]

It looks good Phill. What film & lam was it you used?
Hope to wrap my van soon as I can come up with design.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Hi Jeremy
I doubt whether you will be able to bend FRP to 90 degrees. I have worked in the GRP trade for about 20 years, bends of that angle would be molded into the product during manufacture. A GRP sign company I worked for used to bend bits of GRP by heating them up in water and pressing into a mold which was just a slight arc. It may be made from a special resin (plastic) as there are many types with different properties so not saying its impossible, but I don’t think you will have much joy trying.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

That’s very interesting as it means one of my customers fleet of lorries is illegal. I think I will keep quiet about it though, he will blame me even though that’s what he asked for.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

this ok

steve

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[Steve McAdie]

I thought I knew my local area and Britain pretty well as I used to be a van driver many moons ago but I’ve never heard of any of them

steve

[Steve McAdie]

Steve it sounds like a list of ailments. Brown willy lower piles etc.

[Steve McAdie]

for me it came back with

Shavington Ho (map)
15.9 miles

Smallwood (map)
21.8 miles

Bottom Flash (map)
24.0 miles

Hardon Road (map)
24.1 miles

Dirty Gutter (map)
26.8 miles

The Bog (map)
27.6 miles

Butty Moss (map)
28.4 miles

Bell End (map)
34.7 miles

Hole in the Wall (map)
35.0 miles

Dogpool Lane (map)
36.3 miles

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Hi Gareth
I have a netgear wireless router as is was recommended by a friend in the computer trade. Cost was under £50.00 and it has lots of features apparently, but I don’t need these so cannot tell you what they are. Anyway I have had no problems with it and if it went down tomorrow I would buy the same again.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

My friend does this but he uses an UPS system between generator and computer this ensures a constant and reliable power supply even if generator runs out of fuel he can still run the laptop for about an hour.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

When I do a van I take a few steps back and look at it to decide the most prominent line and then work from that. Some vehicles have that many different lines in the molding of the body it can look odd close up but when you look from a distance the prominent line will make it look correct. I do this on Scania truck cabs for a local firm close up they look odd because they slope down take two steps back and they look right even though they slope still but they follow the most prominent line. I wouldn’t use a spirit level ever on a vechicle you would probably end up not following any line in the bodywork.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

You can get drill bits that are specifically designed to drill plastics. HSS bits are designed to bite into material and on harder plastics can cause chipping and cracking. The plastics drill bits have a more pointed end and are a lot less aggressive. I have never had any problems with chipping or cracking using these.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Happy new year Frank and everybody else on the boards. I’m off out in 30 mins to start the celebrations so won’t get the chance to say it later on. See you all in 2008.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

The mugs I buy from them are called Durham mugs they do bone china mugs but these won’t fit my press because they have a smaller circumference. I know that they have invested a lot in their business and are very helpful nice people.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Hi Adam

Steer clear of the PC60 PC600 Roland printers on ebay. The heads can go very easily and Roland UK don’t support the PC60 anymore and probably don’t support the PC 600. I have one and it is sitting gathering dust these days. Instead I bought a Uniform Cadet Plus and it is in a different league. If money is tight I would buy second user or ex demo machine. All the printer sale people do these but personally I wouldn’t buy private again because what happens if it develops a fault? For peace of mind I would want a warranty as heads cost a small fortune to replace. Others will no doubt recommend other machines as there is many good printer makes. Another thing to bear in mind is do you want a printer or a print & cut machine?

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Hi Earl,

Listawood Trade Supplies sell dishwasher proof mugs, I have used these myself and they have been through the dishwasher a hundred times and still look excellent. They also do a load of other sublimation stuff

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Hi all
Warren & Jill
All sign painters are sign designers, whether we choose to recognize it, and accept the responsibility or not. Does this sound familiar?
Me thinks you are maybe a touch modest.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Hi all,
I have been reading this post with interest because in the new year sometime I am going to try my first wrap. I was going to use grafiwrap as I use them for most of my vinyl and bits n bobs but now i’m thinking without the heated laminator I may be making trouble for myself. Do any of the other systems require the vinyl to be heated in this way to cook them? Is the initial tack of grafiwrap much more than the other systems?

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Hi Andrew
Good on you for putting your first design on here don’t knock yourself it takes guts. I would say buy the signmakers bible by Mike Stevens "Mastering Layout" its about £20 and it will bring your work on loads. Also on youtube there are loads of tutorials for the most popular software like coral so you can pick up some good tips and techniques there.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Hi zziga

Havn’t used any profiling equipment myself so can’t answer your question from experience however you may find what you want to know by going to there website
http://usa.gretagmacbethstore.com/index … %20New.htm

[Steve McAdie]

Hi Cheryl,

Nice work, looks great. Liked the mini you did as well.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Your right Phil he did start rap but did you notice that these rap artists also copied him on something else. The bling.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Hi Tim,

A company I used to work for used a material like this. It was called (Hips)
High impact polystyrene. They were screen printed though so I don’t know if it would take vinyl. Some plastics have surface that vinyl doesn’t stick to well after a while i.e hygiene board.
Hope this helps

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

hi Maelwys

The board may have a wax mould release or a synthetic mould release used on it in manufacture. This could be the problem. The synthetic release is very non stick. Try cleaning area with acetone but be carefull acetone attacks GRP if left for to long so only a quick wipe.

steve

[Steve McAdie]

hi market drayton

microsoft do a virtual operating system for vista which runs xp within vista if you get what i mean. they made this because of all the hardware and software which wont run on vista. im told it is free from their website, this may help your problem.

steve

[Steve McAdie]

One of the reasons GRP is so good is you can have it pre-coloured so there is no painting,spraying the finish never flakes or peels and can be as good twenty years on with a bit of cleaning. However like Peter mentioned it is not economical to make a mold to take 1 out of you would need to sell quite a few. Of course you can buy one and take a mold of that saves making your own. Bit cheeky though.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Hi

I used to make Grp blanks & signs and have been following this thread and see that there is quite a few interested in the manufacture of them.
This is how they are made:
First you need a mold to lay the fiberglass to. It needs to be a negative mold i.e. the opposite of the product you want.
The finish on the mold needs to be perfect any slight scratch chip or marking in the surface will be reproduced on every piece that comes out of the mold
Polish the mould (Wax polish works well)
You then paint on a coat of gel-coat which is mixed with a hardener and allow to cure.
Next you paint resin with hardener all over then lay a layer of Glass fibre matting then more resin onto that building layers up the strength required
Layers need to be rolled with a fluted, washer or brush roller to get trapped air out from within the mat. This then cures. once released from mold the blank is then ready for trimming or fixings. This is an abbreviated process cos its late and time for bed.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Hi nnsg,

I used to make Glass reinforced plastic blanks & signs. They are very hard wearing but not the cheapest option. As for making your own "forget it". You need a plug first (mould to make a mould) then you need to take a mould from that. Hours of work to get the correct finish. Then after you have made it you have to trim with a diamond blade & not forgetting the smell and mess.
If you want to use them then buy them in. Also if you have no experience of laminating GRP they will turn out awful.
Sorry to be blunt but don’t go there.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Hi Nik,

Open Jpeg then go to file & save as, chose gif from drop down list and save.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Hi Paul,
When I laminate I just use the weight of the laminators roller to apply the pressure. I find that screwing the roller down to increase the pressure does not improve the silvering. Also by doing that you are increasing the load on the bearings which would increase wear & tear.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Hi Paul,

I pay £24.00 for an 8X4 sheet 5mm foam-board white & £15.00 delivery. Don’t Know what price for quantity.
Supplier I use is Robert Horne

[Steve McAdie]

Hi Jo-Ann

When I started I was in the same boat as you. I bought a second hand summa D620 cut. Hasn’t let me down ever and still going strong today, very simple to use as well. Not bad for an old machine I’ve had it 7yrs and I think the bloke before me had 3 or 4 yrs.

[Steve McAdie]

You can get them here plus info on use.

http://www.cbrd.co.uk/media/fonts/

Hope its of some use.

[Steve McAdie]

I checked on there Brian but couldn’t find it. Also checked a logo dvd I have an it wasn’t there. Only seems to be crappy images on net that won’t be much good for tracing. I’ve got more logo stuff at the office but I’m not there till this afternoon.

[Steve McAdie]

Hi Brian, This is what the woolsafe logo is, you will need to redraw it to cut from.

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[Steve McAdie]

I used to work in the fiber glass industry and the fumes from the resin (styrene) were heavier than air. We always put extraction at the lowest point. If you don’t then you are extracting clean air which is the opposite of what your trying to do. Also if for some reason you are overcome by fumes or something else to make you blackout then you would be lying in solvent fumes at concentrated levels. Styrene fumes from fiber glass replace the oxygen and so starve the brain of it causing brain damage if the levels are very high. I don’t know if the solvents used cause anything like this but it is food for thought

[Steve McAdie]

Uniforms expert did a FAQ’s piece I think this is what they are referring to .
Q3. Our own CitroSOL inks contain organic colourants, organic solvents and have been developed to ensure they are 100% free of both cyclohexanone and isophorone. There have been many adverse comments posted recently about the use of these particular chemicals in solvent inks, can you please explain what these chemicals are, why they are used and what the health and safety implications are.

A3. Cyclohexanone and isophorone belong to the ketone group of solvents. They are frequently used because they have excellent solvency to most plastics. Both solvents have very low occupational exposure levels: isophorone 5 parts per million, cyclohexanone 10 parts per million, for an eight hour working day as they affect the respiratory system. There is some evidence that isophorone has a limited carcinogenic effect. This means that the working environment where such solvents are used will have to be controlled. This usually means localised extraction and monitoring of the atmosphere to ensure that the concentrations are not exceeded. The use of cyclohexanone is now subject to biological monitoring, i.e. blood measurements.
I have just bought a solvent printer and I am going to get extraction fitted without a doubt.

[Steve McAdie]

Hi,
This is the lovely view I get when I look out the window from work. I would swap anyday for a view like yours Richard, Sun, sea, sand, trouble is though I don’t think I would get any work done.

Steve :

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[Steve McAdie]

Hi Chris
I didn’t know roland and uniform are one of the same. I want to repair my PC60. I use it for lots of small contour cut decals occasionally I attempt slightly larger prints but I would like to keep it purely for the ability it has for printing metallic foils as I have work for this.

[Steve McAdie]

Thanks for the replies I’m still trying to find a new head for the PC60,if I get one I’ll fix it & eBay it, if I can’t get one I’ll keep it just as a cutter. Decided to buy an ink-jet now seeing as this head blowing seems to be a common problem and sourcing a head is a job in itself. I’m was thinking of Uniform Cadet Plus but after reading some of the posts it would appear a grenadier is a better buy. One thing I do know is I won’t be phoning Roland.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Just got the e-mail Richard thanks again mate.
😀
Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Hi Gazfob
I’ve got a pc 60 and the blade pressure adjustment is on the right side of the machine as you look at it from the front, above the ports, it is a slide adjustment and should say underneath it PEN FORCE. Thats how mine is anyway although they may have made slightly different models that vary. Hope this is of help to ypu.

Steve

[Steve McAdie]

Thanks Richard
I have sent E-mail to you with my address

Thanks
Steve 😀

[Steve McAdie]

I’m want to fit a new head to my PC60 I have spoken to Roland who at first said I could have a service manual but then changed their mind and said they don,t allow this. Does anyone know where I can get hold of the service manual for this machine otherwise I will have to get Roland to fix it and they quoted me £444.00 for this plus there is the cost of getting it to Bristol. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Steve McAdie]

Hi Andy,
I’m English, 7/8th’s anyway.

[Steve McAdie]

Thanks again Phill,
It works fine now

[Steve McAdie]

Thanks Phil I’ll give it a try now

[Steve McAdie]

Thanks for the welcome everyone.