applying large vinyl

[tverdin]

I was wondering if you guys had any tips on applying vinyl. I dont have as much trouble actually laying the vinyl as I do weeding it and applying the transfer tape. when weeding a 48" roll thats 6 or 7 feet long I really struggle. and applying transfer tape, sometimes I get bubbles and have no idea why. I am using a Big Squeegee and feel like im doing it right.

does temperature and humidity have anything to do with the transfer paper? should it all be kept at room temperature when applied or is out in the warehouse fine?

any suggestions would be great, thanks all

 

[SIGNTIME]

can you cut whatever it is your weeding in to smaller/easier pieces like instead of weeding the whole word you can cut around half of it and weed then weed the other half

 

[rjssigns]

Temp and humidity affects transfer tape. We keep our weeded/taped vinyl in the office until the last possible minute before application.

 

[BrianKE]

Transfer paper is definitely affected by temperature and humidity. I keep mine in the same room as my vinyl and I still see very small warpage when the weather changes drastically.

As far as applying the transfer tape to the vinyl, get a laminator! I cannot believe how many shops don't have this one piece of equipment that can save you hours of time. I have a cheapo Daige and am able to laminate 20' long pieces without issue.

As far as the weeding goes, if you are using Flexi there is an option to include weed lines which basically puts in some horizontal or vertical cut lines between you lines of text/images. That way you are not trying to weed something 4' wide.

 

[SIGNTIME]

Transfer paper is definitely affected by temperature and humidity. I keep mine in the same room as my vinyl and I still see very small warpage when the weather changes drastically.

As far as applying the transfer tape to the vinyl, get a laminator! I cannot believe how many shops don't have this one piece of equipment that can save you hours of time. I have a cheapo Daige and am able to laminate 20' long pieces without issue.

As far as the weeding goes, if you are using Flexi there is an option to include weed lines which basically puts in some horizontal or vertical cut lines between you lines of text/images. That way you are not trying to weed something 4' wide.

 

[tverdin]

I do have flexi....very new to it....just tried the weed lines for the first time, my goodness...that made it 100 times easier.

looked up the laminator, looks pretty nice. I see there is multiple kinds. I am just laying standard oracal vinyl on acrylic. so would i just use a cold laminator? remember I new to all this so I have lots of questions but so far you guys are answering them for me.

 

[aaronJREgraphics]

Ya start breaking your weed lines up into sections to make it easier i dont think there is a good technique to wee a large area like 4'x7' or so at one time youll have trouble every time. I always use weed lines in flexi everytime. And Brian hit it on the head if you have a big area to mask at one time use your laminator i use mine for everything i can. Simple fact of the matter is weeding and masking are things we all dont like to do but have to so make it as easy as you can...good luck!

 

[SIGNTIME]

cold laminator is fine thats what we have. If you plan on buying a printer make sure you get the right laminator the first time and one that will be big enough to match the printer you plan on getting i love my royal sovereign just make sure you do your research

 

[tverdin]

any suggestions for a laminator for under $2,000?

 

[FatCat]

any suggestions for a laminator for under $2,000?

http://www.bestdgi.com/products-cold.php

 

[tverdin]

so just to make sure I understand. These are Laminators, so they are actually built for laminating, but you can just swap out the laminate material for transfer paper and it will do that same thing?

will you need a huge area to set the thing up or just like a cutter about the size of the machine?

 

[Maxphobia]

yup yup you can even put rolls of vinyl in it and use to lay printed vinyl or any vinyl on your substrate ^___^