vinyl cut plotters

[Grubby 0]

Hi does anyone use plotters for making vinyl decals or for paint masking as i am thinking of buying one for paint masking only really looking for a hobby one & just really want to know if they are worth the money.

Thanks Rich

[ddaenen1 278]

Vinyl plotters are great stuff. As long as you realise that before you can actually plot something, alot of work to generate a plotter-worthy drawing. Plotters are all about vector-based drawings and any bitmap needs to be converted beforehand which is in many cases a labour-intensive process.

Just for the record, i do not own one but my brother has a signing-business and he has several vinyl printers and plotters.

[BadWagon 146]

you'll need to buy Adobe Illustrator (or another similar vector program) and learn the pen tool!!

while you can 'trace' and image, it won't be suitable for the plotter unless it's clean, and the traces are no where close to clean.

[Wooders28 4723]

Ordered a KNK Zing for the wife for christmas.as she makes cards etc.

Kind of hope i could use it for making my own decals!

Not sounding as easy as i first thought.

[TWINSET 1793]

I had a Stika cutter a few years back and it was dead handy for cutting masks, but it only cut, no printing http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=15165&id=169

It came with some pretty good software, and I could convert most clipart or online graphics into black/white images and import them

These were all done with basic software;

Image and text copied from www.headblade.com


True-Type fonts and clipart bonnet masks


Stickers this time, fonts and clipart


Freehand doodling


Cut squares for mask and yellow vinyl for wing sticker


More Squares

Jeep logo on door copied from RCCrawler


External sticker

True Type Fonts again, even the skull - came from a 'wingdings' type set

[yogi-bear 2321]

Hi Grubby,

I guess it depends on how much you want to spend and how often you will use it. I use one for work and spent $6000 AUD over 12yrs ago and am still using it (daily usage too), so a good one will last a long time. Which also means don't shy away from buying a second Roland or Mamaki as these are well build. I buy consumables cheap from ebay too, with out any issue and much cheaper than what a sign supply shop. On that, there are only 3 main consumables you need to worry about, the knife, the knife holder (it has bearings in it, and they can wear, reducing accuracy), and the cutting strip.

Cutters are much cheaper now too, and there are cheaper versions on ebay and the like now. There are also hobby cutters (I think they are aimed at the scrap booking market), that are reasonably priced as well and usually come with some sort of software, but don't quote me on that. Make sure you get different angled cutting blades, as they make a big difference if you are cutting small stuff, reflective etc. Setup properly you can cut fairly small text, around 3 to 4 mm high, but it can be tedious. If you buy second hand, test that it can cuts nice and straight when cutting squares etc.

Vinyl cut lettering is what I prefer on my restores, as you can get bright and durable colours, see pic below. You also don't need illustrator, there is dedicated vinyl cutting software like Signblazer and Artcut (I think many of the cheap ones on ebay come with art cut, its not great, but does the job). They are not really as powerful as illustrator overall, but many have advantages for sign making such as good converters when dealing with bitmaps and the ability to separate colours as well. Also check out coreldraw (thats what I use), its not cheap, but even an older copy would do.

regards

Johann

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

What do vinyl printers cost, especially ones that can print white on clear sheets?

I'm more interested in making decal sheets like Parma and XXXMain do; cutting is not that important to me...

[Grubby 0]

Thanks for your insight guys will probably be looking towards the hobby end of the market.

[markbt73 5316]

What do vinyl printers cost, especially ones that can print white on clear sheets?

I'm more interested in making decal sheets like Parma and XXXMain do; cutting is not that important to me...

Professional quality printers start at about the price of a nice new car and go up from there. Ability to print white is very rare; most inkjet printers are CMYK or CMYK plus a couple other colors to increase the gamut.

For printing white on clear vinyl, it's still much more cost-effective to screen print, especially for lower volumes. Of course, you can always cut white vinyl and apply it without any clear backing, as well.

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

Well, that rules out vinyl printers for me... I'd need to be in it as a business to justify the cost.

[BadWagon 146]

Speedy I have contacts if you're looking to get sets printed.