Dinosaurs?

[Jillbeans]

My work is 95% cut vynull, 4% hand-painted stuff, 1% prints which I sub out.
I don't think plotters are dinosaurs, well my new one isn't.
But I did use a 4E until two years ago. Now that is a dinosaur.
Love....Jill

 

[neato]

If anyone has a dinosaur they want to get rid of, let me know.

Particularly a Roland PNC-1100-asaurus.

If it's old and sitting in the corner collecting dust and taking up space, I can help.

 

[rjssigns]

As a rebuttal to OldPaint's post. I would love to learn how to be "mop artist". But the old guys in my area would rather cut my hands off and blind me than teach me the craft. I do not understand this reasoning as most are nearing retirement or are already there and working part time. By the time I would be able to produce decent work there would be a need for a new generation to take their place.

BTW: The Mop Artist deal is a moniker coined by a very good friend of mine who was an amazing talent with a brush. I would go to his shop and watch him knock out a 14'x48' billboard with a 2" cutter. Unholy amount of talent and he was willing to teach me, but his demons got the better of him. Learned some on layout and proportion, but miss his friendship the most.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

My hand craft is embroidery (big surprise), but no one around here wants hand embroidery done anymore. They want the machine embroidery for a couple of reasons.

Doing by hand costs more

and

They have this perception that home made and hand crafted are the same and they aren't. They won't touch it if it was done by hands, only by a machine.

Really frustrates me to no end.

 

[Deaton Design]

Well, now I feel better. Thought I was hanging on by myself, lol. Thanks signs101!

 

[James Burke]

Stone & Monument engraving here....my plotter is considered "high tech" in my business circles.


JB

 

[OldPaint]

As a rebuttal to OldPaint's post. I would love to learn how to be "mop artist". But the old guys in my area would rather cut my hands off and blind me than teach me the craft. I do not understand this reasoning as most are nearing retirement or are already there and working part time. By the time I would be able to produce decent work there would be a need for a new generation to take their place.

BTW: The Mop Artist deal is a moniker coined by a very good friend of mine who was an amazing talent with a brush. I would go to his shop and watch him knock out a 14'x48' billboard with a 2" cutter. Unholy amount of talent and he was willing to teach me, but his demons got the better of him. Learned some on layout and proportion, but miss his friendship the most.

iam in florida, and i have offered a couple different people to teach what swingin a brush is about.........BUT they never get past the "talkin" about learning. iam sure if you do some diggin you can find an old brush man near you. there is a wall dog(people who paint wall murals)event almost every year. JOE DIAZ and his family are usually there. I KNOW..........if you show up at one of these, you get more people wanting to teach you then you can handle.

 

[Sam I Am]

Dinosaur is what I was referred to not long ago, as one who still slings a brush. Now it also involves plotters....?

Nope, John...you reading too much into it. It's just a tool that we use to do what we do. So far today I've screwed with this damn printer, made one good print then it went back to crap, pinstriped a set of bike metal, cut vinyl and started lettering an awning. Let's see....4 hrs of head soaking on the printer..wasted time. 7 hrs of production so far, 5 with brushes.

RJSigns...the june walldog meet is in Arcola, IL. I'll be there, fitches in hand.

 

[GAC05]

Sam
sounds like you need a new printer.....

wayne k
guam usa

 

[OldPaint]

RJ SIGNS, SAM is one damn good brush man......if o was you i would make it a top priority to met him.........also iam biased, sam and i have been friends for many years.
just found this on my facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=387973334548710

 

[TheSnowman]

I'd say 75% of the stuff I print, I still have to contour cut it, so I'm still using my cutter everyday. On vehicles, I try to do more cut than printed since I'm not doing wraps. Now my Gerber, that's a dinosaur, but it still gets fired up every now and then.

Also, I kind of feel like I've been able to read people a little better lately, and I can kind of tell when they'd be impressed and life long customers if they got a killer layout...so sometimes I'll bid aggressively on a job to try and land it if I can tell there's a lot of future work, I'll give them a killer layout, and then seems like after that, they don't shop around anymore, they just order, and become good customers.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

If you do rhinestones too for garments and your rhinestone machine doesn't have a cutter for the template then you would need a cutter for that. Rhinestones on garments is going to be around for awhile, so I would say that there will always be a market for it. The question is what market, but there will probably always be one.

 

[Rooster]

I have both and lately have been doing more cut vinyl than print work.

They're hardly a dinosaur. They're just another tool in the box.

 

[rjssigns]

Thanks OldPaint. Will have to make the rounds again to see who is up for teachin'. Maybe time has softened their outlook of passing on the craft.
And I know what you're saying about all talk and no action. I don't have time for that as I'm nearing fifty.
Things have changed drastically for me and it seems there isn't enough time to learn. Got my first Associate degree in the bag last week. Will get another in the fall along with a couple technical diplomas already on the wall. Wasted a lot of time in my younger days, don't do that anymore.


As my Grampa Joe said: "Too soon old. Too late smart".
(should have listened to him earlier.)

 

[Haakon]

I was planning to write a long post about plotters and their value in today's market, but I have a $1100 order of cut vinyl to be done with today, with the total material usage/cost of 10 yards of 24" wide Oracal 751 and premask, and about 3 hours worth of weeding, premasking, packing and shipping.

I love my trusty little workhorse vinyl cutter, it puts food on the table every day

 

[Dave Drane]

I was planning to write a long post about plotters and their value in today's market, but I have a $1100 order of cut vinyl to be done with today, with the total material usage/cost of 10 yards of 24" wide Oracal 751 and premask, and about 3 hours worth of weeding, premasking, packing and shipping.

I love my trusty little workhorse vinyl cutter, it puts food on the table every day

Yep, about says it all.

 

[visual800]

nah I gotta have my plotter and my vinyl. It is going no where. I also agree with john that no one cares about "how great" a design you do they will always go with the cheapest, crappiest logo, price is king. Every now and then you will get a good customer that knows what quality is, the others I dont have time to school them.

I sub out all digital printing and I also have NO desire to own a printer. Last year I spent about $6000 on banners and prints.That just does not justify me going out and spending $20k on a printer.