[lben]

This vinyl stuff is a lot harder than I thought it would be. First I had to have the labels printed elsewhere because I don't have the money for a printer/cutter. But the customer also wanted individual names put on each water bottle and the people who were doing my labels wanted way too much money for the names, so when my cutter arrived I set about the task of learning how to use it.

Weeding.. what can I say? It took 1 1/2 hours to weed the vinyl out of 28 names! Was I being extremely slow or is that normal? The names are only 1/2" high. Anyhow the end result is impressive. Now I have to figure out how to make vinyl transfers for t's and such.

By the time I learn that, my screen printing equipment should be here. Always something new to learn.

 

[Twanabee]

They look great. 1-1/2 hours seems high but after some more jobs, it will come down. What kind of vinyl did you use and are they alum. bottles?

 

[lben]

I used pressure sensitive sign vinyl from Stahls and no they are not aluminum. The customer bought them at Wal-Mart (I think, or maybe the Dollar Store). They are stainless steel.

 

[slappyjoehanson]

The more you "weed" your vinyl the faster you get, here's some tips... weed right to left the letters seem to open up easier for you . make sure your blade pressure is set correctly! if you have say 4 lines of text dont weed them all at once cut them into 4 strips so you are weeding 1 line at a time . sometimes you can snap the vinyl back quickly and it will seperate very easily . Up your pressure cause it should take way less time to weed out your killing yourself if it takes you 1.5 hrs!!

 

[lben]

The more you "weed" your vinyl the faster you get, here's some tips... weed right to left the letters seem to open up easier for you . make sure your blade pressure is set correctly! if you have say 4 lines of text dont weed them all at once cut them into 4 strips so you are weeding 1 line at a time . sometimes you can snap the vinyl back quickly and it will seperate very easily . Up your pressure cause it should take way less time to weed out your killing yourself if it takes you 1.5 hrs!!

Thanks for the tips. Mine did have an option of slicing the rows in between the letters, which I did and that certainly was a good decision on my part. I think part of my problem is my eyesight. With the trifocals I can't see up close and had to keep taking off my specs and getting up really close and personal with the letters. Once I got the hang of it, it went a little quicker, but it was still a lot harder to do than I thought it would be. I thought all I'd have to do is one easy pull and all that would be left would be the letters. Boy did I get a surprise!

What do you mean by snap the vinyl back quickly?

 

[slappyjoehanson]

Snap it back... like pull it very fast and quick. alot of times the slower is not better experiment with some scraps if your blade pressure is right you can pull it off quickly but try only like 12" at a time not the whole thing at once! then go back and remove your centers with an xacto. Good luck I'm sure you will get it!

 

[lben]

Thanks, I'll try the faster is better routine the next time. I was really poking along because the little tiny letters were't exactly staying where they were supposed to stay.

 

[Twanabee]

I'm not sure "faster is better" when doing small letters. I did a 60 shirt job with 1/4" letters and using "easyweed", had a heck of a time with the letters pulling off the backing. Took me a very long time to weed.

 

[slappyjoehanson]

agreed...Small stuff is harder and depending on what font you use can really give you some headaches So knowing this before you design your art helps

 

[lben]

My goal for the artwork for the letters was finding a font that would be relatively easy for the cutter to cut. They came out nice. The lady was thrilled with the results.. and she's the president of the PTA at one of the local schools. I finally have that foot in the door.

I couldn't imagine doing letters that were only 1/4" high. The 1/2" ones were hard enough to do. I'm thinking I should stick to really big things for now! At least until all those hairs I ripped out by the roots grow back in.. lol

 

[Boomerbabe]

Get a magnifying glass that hangs around your neck. Can't remember where exactly I got mine, maybe a store that carries needlework or quilting stuff. Helps a lot with close work. I also have to be right on top of my vinyl sometimes, trying to see the cut lines. Especially with white. Great job by the way. I can see why they were thrilled.