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Definite Newb

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can8dninpa

New Member
Thanks for allowing us (wife and I) to be part of this online community...

My wife is very serious about starting a very focused home business. Specifically she is looking to make "spirit" decals for car windshields and do vinyl wall lettering. She has done these as a "hobby" for some time using her Cricut and has experience with design software as well. If we have way over-stepped our boundaries by posting on this forum we apologize. Although she does not see this turning into a huge sign business, she has high hopes for very specific items. She plans on being very aggressive with her sales efforts and is certainly doing this to make $!

So, the question to the professional community is where the heck to do we start?!?!? We know the Cricut is a hobby machine and not very good anyway, but we do not have a huge ammount to invest right out of the chute... Here are a few of our most immediate questions:

1) What entry level cutter provides the best value? Price is a key consideration but "cheap" won't cut it either... we get that.
2) As the suggested hardware certainly won't be a Cricut, and advice or web links anyone can provide on the biggest differences in process, between doing this as a hobby on Cricut vs a small business on a real machine? Materials used are mostly the same I think? (Just on a larger scale?)
3) If we wanted to get into full color spirit decals, does anyone have any suggestions on how to accomplish that? Obviously a printer/cutter is waay out of our league but can we use an inkjet printer to achieve the same results? Maybe combine the two? Do the white vinyl "custom" name sand numbers done on a cutter (1 color) and use an inkjet printer for the color logo in the middle? Or, maybe have the color logo outsourced for a bigger order? Looking to do a spirit decal like the one attached and have no idea where to start! The white vinyl ones we have made don't compare to the complexity (or perceived complexity) this one provides. (See attached jpg)

The starting point is certainly the cutter, and we do thank anyone who is willing to provide advice to us at this stage in our process. My wife is considering getting a part time job at a sign shop as well - the experience will be helpful, even if she never expands past the niche items mentioned above.

Thanks to all in advance...
 

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Replicator

Replicator

New Member
Welcome Newb !

I would get yourself a Roland GX-24 plotter and from there I would start using the search feature of this forum . . . It will answer almost any questions you may have.
 
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1leonchen

New Member
dont go cheap

buy your self a nice roland gx24 or graphtec 24 inch.the cost from 1200 - 2000 + depending on where u buy. chinese cutters are a pain in the rear. i have two on 54 and one 24. they have limitation.my advise i have a 24 inch chinse cuttter and i never gt it to work. the 54 did though. made enough money to pay for half of my printer.but save your self hassale and headace. buy a good cutter roland or graphtec and also get one with optical sensor. hope this helps.
 
Jillbeans

Jillbeans

New Member
Welcome from about 10 miles away.
This is my 24th year in the trade, beginning as a hand painter.
If you ever go to Mars you will see what happened when I brought a signpainter's convention to town.
What I would advise you to do is to keep using your CriCut.
Or buy prints wholesale from someone with a decent printer.
Or try to find an Edge/Envision combo, used but with all the dongles, etc.
People in this neck of the woods are so cheap that you almost have to give those things away. When I tried to get into our school district's spirit program after seeing their absolutely horrendous decals, I was told that they prefer NOT to deal with local sign folks.
Just a heads-up. If you cannot offer a niche item in this market (such as hand-painted signs) there are so many "signmakers" around these parts that it's not even worth trying.
Sincerely.
Love....Jill
 
BobM

BobM

New Member
Welcome from Cape Cod. Research your market well. Jillbeans is a real straight shooter. There are many merchant members on this site that can provide you printing services.
 
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can8dninpa

New Member
The good news for me is we are not looking to start this business in Western PA... we are moving later this summer to "parts unknown"... actually we have a general idea where we are moving but not specific. We do know that spirit decals are NOT saturated at all in this area, in fact we often get comments from visitors to Western PA on all of the windshield decals around here. I definitely will take a hard look at the location when we decide. That is very good advice.

I have been doing a little research... I think a GX-24 may suit my needs? I am hoping their is a vinyl solution for an inkjet printer (special paper) that I can print the full color spirit decals on, then use the GX-24 to die cut them?
 
weaselboogie

weaselboogie

New Member
what is the intended use? If these are just staying inside, you might get by, but keep in mind that any water or moisture will smear this. For something like you posted, you could do layered vinyl that would have a 5+ year outside life.

Another option would be to sub out anything that would require multicolor to a merchant member. With this you would get a SOLVENT print on white vinyl with or without a protective laminate. This could be something that your customer could put on the back of their car and again a 5+ year outside life. .
 
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Sign-Man Signs

Guest
I swear I'm going to write a book.......and retire. Welcome from Florida.
 
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Doug Pulver

New Member
First of all Welcome to the forum and good luck with your venture. I agree with the others, buy a good cutter, one with the optical sensor to do contour cutting. Another cutter to look into is a Summa. You can try to find a used one (ebay or Craig's list) if the budget is tight.
 
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onesmf

New Member
You might want to research a wide format printer, such as one used to print proofs for a job. For example, Epsom makes "smaller" wide format printers that can be run with an external ink system. Sounds like a wide format in the size of 17" might fit the bill due to the small size you intend on printing. Definitely not a professional sign shop type of set-up, but will produce the results you are looking for. Aside from this, approach any local printer and you might be surprised what they can produce for you at a reasonable up-front cost. In addition, bring in some customers for their bread-and-butter business and the next thing you know, they are printing everything for you at a cost that will fetch a decent profit for your venture. Not the ultimate solution, however food for thought. Maybe it will get your creative juices flowing. Have a great day!
 
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