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Cutting Oval from Sintra Help!!!

SAR.Summerlin

New Member
So I have 6 ovals (kind of surfboard shaped) that I need to cut out of sintra so far I have done 2 but my hand is killing me so I was wondering is there an easier way to do this that using a knife. Keep in mind my boss will not invest in new equipment as we are a new store and do not yet know how often we will have to do this type of project.

Thanks for any help you can give
 

CanuckSigns

Active Member
a jigsaw with a fine tooth blade should do the trick.

Also, if you want the edge to be perfect, make up a template from MDF, and use a flush trim bit with a hand router.
 

nashvillesigns

Making America great, one sign at a time.
you can do it by hand. just don't try and be a hero and cut it in one swoop. i have done what you are dreading. Now, the shop i work at has a Kutawl.
 

GB2

Old Member
Sub it out to someone with a router or, if they are all the same, make yourself a single template and cut the rest with a hand held router.
 

Billct2

Active Member
A lot of supply houses cut shapes to order, but that's for the next order.
But for this job the template suggestion & router is the best solution.
You do have a router right? If the boss can't spring for a $75 power tool start getting your resume together.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Being a new store and not having the proper tools to do a job is probably costing your boss more in your time than buying the correct tools and getting it done faster, better and more accurately.

He should realize if he can't spend the money to do it right, he's losing money by having you spend literally hours on this one project. How many things are not being produced while you waste time cutting with a frickin' knife ??

Although someone in your shop should know how to cut this out [it's just common sense], I'd also start putting my resume together. Your boss sounds like a real joker.



edit: I hope you and your boss know that Sintra has encapsulated lead in it and while you're cutting it apart.... you're spreading lead around in the air.
 

SAR.Summerlin

New Member
Being a new store and not having the proper tools to do a job is probably costing your boss more in your time than buying the correct tools and getting it done faster, better and more accurately.

He should realize if he can't spend the money to do it right, he's losing money by having you spend literally hours on this one project. How many things are not being produced while you waste time cutting with a frickin' knife ??

Although someone in your shop should know how to cut this out [it's just common sense], I'd also start putting my resume together. Your boss sounds like a real joker.



edit: I hope you and your boss know that Sintra has encapsulated lead in it and while you're cutting it apart.... you're spreading lead around in the air.

Honestly we don't have a lot of jobs on the table at the moment so I have the time. I was looking for a solution so I don't destroy my hand my thumb has already been numb the last 18 hours. We also have no space to put the extra tools (we are basically in a retail store front no work shop type space). No my boss is not a jerk he is just not knowledgeable about the business. We are a franchise he got what the company told him he would need. Since I am also fairly new to the sign side of printing I don't know what tools we need either. I have already suggested he buy a tool of some sort to help with this project or even rent one then we hit the dilemma of I don't know how to use power tools out side of a drill.
 

Billct2

Active Member
No my boss is not a jerk he is just not knowledgeable about the business. We are a franchise he got what the company told him he would need. Since I am also fairly new to the sign side of printing I don't know what tools we need either. I have already suggested he buy a tool of some sort to help with this project or even rent one then we hit the dilemma of I don't know how to use power tools out side of a drill.

Maybe he's not a jerk, but he is in trouble.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
I didn't say jerk.... I said joker. There is a difference.

Any shop should have at least a saw, jig saw, hand held router, a drill, ruler and a pencil. Without them, you can't do anything in a shop without either hurting yourself or screwing up a job.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
They're on back order. If I'm not mistaken, we have a cheap shipment coming in from China which only write up & down..... or you can wait even longer for the domestic ones made here from American trees, but contain no lead. Ya gotta get that outta your bumster.


Should I put you down for one pencil or a gross of boxes, which a gross comes in one box, but we can't break up the boxes, so it's a gross's gross or a baker's dozen, whichever comes first..... or second. Cripes, I forget what I was saying........... You get one or you get a lot. Which do ya want ??

Oh yeah..... and they come in various colors........ yellow, dark yellow and a little lighter yellow. We used to carry canary yellow, but that wasn't a good color and didn't sell. I think that's why we're back ordered right now.

We also have a sale on girl's toys. My wife will be letting me know what's in stock, next Tuesday after the party. :doh:
Most of those will be in yellow, too, since they're also coming from China.........
 

SAR.Summerlin

New Member
I didn't say jerk.... I said joker. There is a difference.

Any shop should have at least a saw, jig saw, hand held router, a drill, ruler and a pencil. Without them, you can't do anything in a shop without either hurting yourself or screwing up a job.

Sorry you are right you said Joker my bad but he isn't that either. Sadly a drill, ruler and pencil are the only things on your list we have. Boss is out now looking for the cheapest solution to our problem in the mean time I have cut another one using a utility knife instead of my Olfa silver. BTW attached is an image of what i am cutting is is only 18" long x 4" tall and those sharp turns are killing me.
 

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Gino

Premium Subscriber
See, if he wasn't such a joker/jerk, you could rough cut them in with a knife and if you had a disc sander, you could finish them off real nice with little to no fuss at all.

If you're not set up to do the job, why on earth did he take it ?? If your boss charged rightfully for your time to hand cut these and then sand them smooth, you'd probably be three times higher than the next guy. What you are doing and your boss's approach are not to keep you busy, but to keep the doors open while he slowly sinks according to corporate's dictation of what tools to buy.

So, you have a digital printer, but not a single tool to cut any substrate ?? And you say your boss is on top of things ??

Just read your profile.....
:Oops:..... I see. You're a franchise of Sign-A-Rama. Now I understand. What did bossman do before this...... sell men's clothing ??​
 

TammieH

New Member
What thickness? If you are cutting 2 mil you might try cutting on your plotter, high pressure and step your depth ... set your plotter to return to home and cut maybe 4 times....but Do NOT cut all the way through...basically cut deep enough to snap it cleanly. I do this with polystyrene on small jobs.
 

SAR.Summerlin

New Member
3mm actually. And to all the haters my boss is learning same as me and as you all once did we are not born knowing these things that is why Signs101 is such a great resource. Boss man just brought back a saudering iron with a x-acto type blade on it. This method is slow going but easier on my hand. He is aware that in future we will either need better equipment (and somewhere to put it) or we will have to sub it out.
 

Bly

New Member
We cut 3mm shapes like that with a trimming knife all the time.
I think you should probably harden up a little.

Do a light pass to set the path then a couple of heavier cuts and you're done.
 
C

ColoPrinthead

Guest
Just read your profile.....
:Oops:..... I see. You're a franchise of Sign-A-Rama. Now I understand. What did bossman do before this...... sell men's clothing ??
:ROFLMAO: I worked at a SAR in an area with few other offerings and out of convenience location wise; the owner was a retired blue jeans salesmen :rock-n-roll:
 

Techman

New Member
A friggin sign shop and no friggin sabre saw?
At $19 bux you could had one..
For the price of less than 1/3 of an hour of shop time and you coulda had one?
A sabre saw in a box brand new with some blades..
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/cat...=None&Ntpr=1&Ntpc=1&selectedCatgry=Search+All


Or how about a $6.00 coping saw new in a box with extra blades. C'mon a sign franchise shop and no one has the experience to purchase the most simplest of tools? I cut foam letters 20 years ago using a simple coping saw.. Made them using cheap foam and cheap paint and a $3 bux coping saw..and brought home a check for $450.
http://www.lowes.com/Search=coping+...logId=10051&N=0&newSearch=true&Ntt=coping+saw


Cut all 6 at one swoop..
 

petrosgraphics

New Member
this is hard to believe.... you want to be a sign shop not a vinyl shop.... you have no tools,
you do have a utility knife, blades, and 10 fingers.... get a local carpenter to cut them for
you while you still have a utility knife, blades, and 10 FINGERS.........
 
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