Hi, I'm one of the latest newbies to the forum. This post is more of a statement / revelation , and to find out if I'm on the right track. I'm a crafter / art student / artist. I've been hand crafting vinyl decals for years, and a few months ago I purchased my first plotter. Things have been going fine, have evening been selling small vinyl window decals online - haven't had any problems nor complaints.
But now I'm stressing out a bit . I found this forum today, and I've learned that there's an entire vinyl world out there that I was not familiar with - including the 'right way' to do things! I had no idea vinyl had different specifications & grades. Most of my vinyl have been scraps or small quantity (up to 5 feet) purchased from my local TAP Plastics store. I've seen AVERY a lot on them, for the most part the scraps seem to have been decent quality. I no longer want to 'trust' that TAP Plastics is selling me good quality vinyl - I want to learn exactly what it is that I am buying and working with, what works best for what I need, and what will satisfy my customers. Glad there's lots of information on here that will help me out .
Before coming across this forum, I purchased vinyl from eBay - yesterday, and I now have a strong suspicion that I will be receiving horrible vinyl . At least I didn't pay too much.
Question part:
Looks like Oracal 651 seems to be a popular choice, and AT-60 transfer tape seems to be what I'm leaning towards. Now I just need to find an affordable website (I've been looking at signsupply.com). I make small vinyl decals, about 4 x4 to 5 x 7, they are intended to go on car windows or car bodies, and are usually purchased from people who live all over the U.S., meaning different climates & weather conditions. How do my choices seem so far?
Oh yeah, rolls that say they are perforated, where exactly are they perforated? Just on the sides, or is the roll divided into sections?
Sorry about the long post, but thanks for reading and for any information!
~Michelle T.
Last edited by Geminis076; April 17th, 2008 at 06:41 PM.
Re: Not new 2 vinyl decals, but new 2 the RIGHT way!
Oracal 651 or 751 and 3M are quality vinyls. I dont like Avery for outside use. Best to try and find a graphic supply house in your neck of the woods and build a relationship. I use one in Houston that delivers to my doorstep no charge.
Re: Not new 2 vinyl decals, but new 2 the RIGHT way!
as to the site you listed signsuppy.com that is Ordways web site.. and they are a very good company to work with.. Ive done business with them for a couple years now..
There are other good companies out there too.. including fellers, and many more..
not sure where your located so hard to say whats closest to you..
There have been bad reports of some avery in the last several years.. so i tend to stay away from that. good luck in your endevor..
sue
Re: Not new 2 vinyl decals, but new 2 the RIGHT way!
Hi, thanks for the feedback. If it helps, I'm located in California. I've just requested a catalog from Fellers, looks like there's a location about 30 minutes from me. But I'm too excited about all these new findings, I'm itching to buy now :P, I'll try to wait till the catalog gets here! Looks like Signwarehouse.com will save me an additional $20.00 (than Ordways). Dang =\, looks like the same price I paid for the 2 rolls of eBay vinyl (haven't arrived yet) would have gotten me 2 rolls of recommended Oracal vinyl + application tape!
Re: Not new 2 vinyl decals, but new 2 the RIGHT way!
Geminis..
If you talk to the people at ordway alot of times they will match the prices or beat them..
I know this because we deal with the all the time...... LOL.. I can call and talk to my sales guy.. and say this is sue.. and he knows... who i am.. ..
I would give them a try.. and tell them.. plus I will tell you this.. Ordway stands behind their products and i have heard too many tales of swh not..
Re: Not new 2 vinyl decals, but new 2 the RIGHT way!
I've dealt with Ordway for most of my vinyl needs as well. They've always been fast on delivery, and I've always exploited the free shipping!
If you are using an solvent based printer (Roland SP300 or 540), I ditched the Oracal 651 for the Oracal 3164. It can be found on Ordway's site under "Supplies" then "Digital Print Media". It makes a better print, and also I don't have problems with the ink not really binding well (had some smears with the 651, and if I had an oops while weeding, the vinyl would usually pull some ink up as well).
Re: Not new 2 vinyl decals, but new 2 the RIGHT way!
Joes.. yeah thats the vinyl we use for printing too.. . did you get your roland from them..
My favorite person to deal with there is Joe P..
Hes great and you would be hard pressed to find a more knowledgable person anywhere..
Re: Not new 2 vinyl decals, but new 2 the RIGHT way!
We got our actual plotter came from Regional Supply out of Salt Lake. I didn't have any say in the matter at that time. My former boss bought it for doing vehicle wraps with his auto repair place, he didn't have any one that was good at doing wraps, or decals even for that matter, I pitched our shop to him, and he backed us, so I kind of inherited the vinyl cutter/plotter
Re: Not new 2 vinyl decals, but new 2 the RIGHT way!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mystysue
aww cool.. joe..
Ok.. to Gem.. right on the main page of ordway is a link to thier price guarentee.. that they will match or beat any price..
so there ya go..
Thanks, that's great to know . I'm all for saving as much money as possible, as long as the quality is good & reliable.
Nope, just plain simple one color vinyl decals for cars & outdoor/indoor use, no printing on top. Oracal 651 sounds like a popular choice. My cutter came from eBay!, but so far so good. I had actually used it in person somewhere first, and it was easy to work with. I have Photoshop, FLASH, and Illustrator experience so I've been able to make some neat stuff, just want to be sure that from now on the vinyl quality will match my design quality.
Really need to read more here because the T-Shirt world is new to me, and sounds like a lot of fun!
Not new 2 vinyl decals, but new 2 the RIGHT way! 
, and to find out if I'm on the right track. I'm a crafter / art student / artist. I've been hand crafting vinyl decals for years, and a few months ago I purchased my first plotter. Things have been going fine, have evening been selling small vinyl window decals online - haven't had any problems nor complaints.
. I found this forum today, and I've learned that there's an entire vinyl world out there that I was not familiar with - including the 'right way' to do things! I had no idea vinyl had different specifications & grades. Most of my vinyl have been scraps or small quantity (up to 5 feet) purchased from my local TAP Plastics store. I've seen AVERY a lot on them, for the most part the scraps seem to have been decent quality. I no longer want to 'trust' that TAP Plastics is selling me good quality vinyl - I want to learn exactly what it is that I am buying and working with, what works best for what I need, and what will satisfy my customers. Glad there's lots of information on here that will help me out 
.
. At least I didn't pay too much. 
