Useful info for People who use cutters/plotters to make your own stencils.

[Sir TatsAlot]

I buy stencil material from Pjstencils and ask her about how her product works in cutters/plotter. Her material 5 and 10 mil thick "cuts like butter" by hand but I wanted to know if it could be cut by a cutter. Here is what she wrote back. The information below is someone else who was interestd in the same thing so she just sent me the info from the question and answer. I thought you all might be interested.


Hi--I HAVE CUSTOMERS WHO USE MANY FEET OF HEAVY DUTY E-Z CUT SUCCESSFULLY EACH MONTH IN THEIR PLOTTERS! HERE IS A NOTE FROM ANOTHER INQUIRY THAT WAS RESPONDED TO BY RON, ONE OF MY CUSTOMERS WHO USES ABOUT 50 FEET OF HEAVY DUTY E-Z CUT A MONTH. I BELIEVE THIS CONTAINS SOME INFO ABOUT HOW HE USES THE PLOTTER, WHICH MAY HELP YOUR SIGNMAKER/CUTTER.....
P.J.



<<PJ very graciously referred you to me as somebody who works with stencils a great deal and might have some tips for us.

We are very interested in using E-Z Cut Plastic product from PJ Stencils for a stenciling project that is coming up soon. It's an interior decoration project and we are trying to figure out the correct material for it.

Would it be possible to contact you and get answers to the following questions?:

RON HANSEN'S ANSWERS SHOWN IN GREEN:


- what is the desired thickness of E-Z Cut Plastic to be used with he plotter ( 6 mil or 10 mil)? HEAVY DUTY E-Z CUT which is 10 mil

- is there a certain angle to the plotter blade you are setting while cutting the stencils out? I USE A ROLAND 60 DEGREE FROM SIGN WAREHOUSE

- how often do you have to change your blades while cutting? THE VARIABLE IS IN THE PRODUCTION OF STENCILS YOU'RE MAKING , A LOTTA STENCILS?, A COUPLE OF STENCILS? THE BLADES DO LAST A LONG TIME, ALTHOUGH SHARP ONES ARE PREFERRED, A LITTLE MORE OFTEN AS YOU WOULD CUTTING VINYL, OR A 5 PACK OF 60 DEGREE BLADES A LOTTA PRODUCT YOU CAN ACHIEVE ....

- did you ever try spray mounting paper to the back of plastic sheets or do you have any other method for feeding it through the plotter?, I HAVE TRIED SPRAY MOUNTING PAPER , IT DOES WORK WELL AND WEEDS EASIER THIS WAY, I'VE ALSO USED THE TRANSFER PAPER USED IN TRASFERRING VINYL LETTERING, LOW TACK APPLIED TO THE BACK OF PJ'S E-Z CUT, THEN FEEDING THE PLOTTER, THIS METHOD IS A BIT MORE TIME-CONSUMING IN WEEDING , BUT IS RELIABLE
I may have other questions later but it would be much appreciated if you could share this information with us now., SHARP NEW BLADES , AND THE BLADE DEPTH IS VERY IMPORTANT

YOU CAN CREATE MUCH DETAIL WITH HEAVY DUTY E-Z CUT FOR STENCILS OR IMPRESSION DESIGNS THAT ARE REUSABLE. THE HEAVY DUTY STANDS UP TO BEING REUSABLE TIME AND AGAIN FOR EMBOSSING WITH VENETIAN PLASTER, LUSTERSTONES AND JOINT COMPOUNDS, & MANY OTHER EMBOSSING PRODUCTS. GOOD LUCK IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS, I'D BE GLAD TO SHARE MY EXPERIENCE WITH PJS EZ CUT MATERIAL, ITS THE BEST I'VE FOUND IN MYLARS FOR THE PLOTTER! THE REST ARE VERY FLIMSY, OR TOO THICK FOR THE PLOTTER PRESSURE OF MY MACHINE , (NOT ENOUGH DOWNFORCE).

I'VE TRIED ALL THE ACETATES IN THE HOBBY STORES -- TOO BRITTLE THEY TEAR-- (EVEN IN HEAVY MIL), AND THEY WARP TO MOISTURE OR EMBOSING APPLICATIONS, (EVEN PAINT). I'VE TRIED THE SIGN SHOPS' STENCIL MATERIALS AND THEY ARE JUST TOO RUBBERY AND STRETCH AND ARE NOT RELIABLE AS REUSABLE.



~RON
Thank you very much.


In a message dated 10/14/07 writes:




hi - your EZ cut stencil material seems to be just what we're looking
for. we're looking to cut with a vinyl cutter. we're already
cutting pocket folder thick flexible plastic using 250g of downforce
with our cutter.

other mylar materials we have looked into required 350g or 500g of
down force which we cannot produce. it seems that if you can cut
yours with an exacto then it may work for us too.

just wanted to see if anyone is using your product with a cutter and
we're going to order a catalog and am anxious to try the sample
material.

thanks,
doug

[Raventats]

Thank you for posting that information! I just wonder what "down force" Ron Hanson uses or grams of pressure he uses for 10 mil?

[graphicdetails]

Does anyone have any further information regarding the force used with this material?

I am in the same boat as "doug". Our cutter only goes to 200fg, so I'm limited in what I can cut for mylar.

I do have a lot of 10mil sandblast material, but not too sure how that would hold up in repeated use of cleaning, etc.

[JOAT]

Originally Posted by graphicdetails

Does anyone have any further information regarding the force used with this material?

I am in the same boat as "doug". Our cutter only goes to 200fg, so I'm limited in what I can cut for mylar.

I do have a lot of 10mil sandblast material, but not too sure how that would hold up in repeated use of cleaning, etc.

repaeted use of cleaning???? Just make another one after 3-7 uses. Try the 25 mil you can get more uses out of it.

[Porkchopusn]

Signwarehouse is offering a Vector Art CD for $1.00 plus shipping. This is a great deal.
http://www.signwarehouse.com/dollar_...nWarehouse.com

Also, Corel Draw X5 is out:
http://store1.corel.com/corel/produc...id=prod3670089

[graphicdetails]

I'm going to start off with the sandblast material first and see how long it holds up. I want to offer custom stencils for each event and was looking for something I could make a durable stencil for at home where I could blow 100 tats with in one night. I guess I could start by cutting many stencils of one design out of the sandblast material until I figure something out.

Thanks for the vector cd info. I have a lot of vector artwork to currently go through that I've accumulated over the last few years. I was designing many layouts for imprinted promo items, now I just have to go back and think what would look good as a tat!

Thanks so much everyone for the dialogue!

[DTFuqua]

Originally Posted by graphicdetails

I'm going to start off with the sandblast material first and see how long it holds up. I want to offer custom stencils for each event and was looking for something I could make a durable stencil for at home where I could blow 100 tats with in one night. I guess I could start by cutting many stencils of one design out of the sandblast material until I figure something out.

Thanks for the vector cd info. I have a lot of vector artwork to currently go through that I've accumulated over the last few years. I was designing many layouts for imprinted promo items, now I just have to go back and think what would look good as a tat!

Thanks so much everyone for the dialogue!

oracal makes a paint mask material with water based adhesive for single use sticky stencils that would be a lot easier to use and cut than sand blast material. I have cut the sandblast material fore both sandblast cabinet and to use for rhinestone templates. the adhesive is very strong.

[bandidonevada]

Originally Posted by Porkchopusn

Signwarehouse is offering a Vector Art CD for $1.00 plus shipping. This is a great deal.
http://www.signwarehouse.com/dollar_...nWarehouse.com

Also, Corel Draw X5 is out:
http://store1.corel.com/corel/produc...id=prod3670089

Here is the Schneidmeister Vectors collection of 24 volumes include AI, CDR, DXF, EPS, & SWF formats.

with printable PDF catalogs

http://tattoodesigns2you.com/store/

This collection is free and open for everyone to use

[graphicdetails]

Originally Posted by bandidonevada

Here is the Schneidmeister Vectors collection of 24 volumes include AI, CDR, DXF, EPS, & SWF formats.

with printable PDF catalogs

http://www.tattoodesigns2you.com/Download.php

This collection is free and open for everyone to use

Wow. Incredible. I'm downloading as I type this. The whole collection. Very cool and very generous. Especially for someone like me who is cutting most of my own stencils.

Thank you very much.

[patriciorip]

Wow... It's really awesome. Thank you!! I'm designing my own stencils too, but I only have a few and I don't work a lot on them...