Estimate on reflective vinyl

[dj_elite]

First off I do not work with a lot of reflective vinyl. I have done small stuff maybe up to 15" x 15". I have a customer that needs 4 decals of the star of life symbol for an ambulance. 4 decals at 36" x 36" each with lamination. I want to give him the option of Oracal 5600 or 3m IJ680CR-10. Will these work for an ambulance? I know it needs to meet certain criteria and codes correct? And second around what should I charge?

 

[dj_elite]

Anyone willing to print if need be? I dont have enough in stock and would hate to buy a whole roll just for 4 decals. I rarely ever use this stuff

 

[jfiscus]

If it is going on the side of an ambulance then 680CR is what we use. (I have a 48" roll in stock) If it's going on the roof, then they just want 180c.
The Oracal sucks bad compared to 680CR, after I started using 3M reflective I've never bought oracal reflective again.
We can do it, just need a photo of their star of life if they are particular about what snake is on the pole. PM me for more info.

 

[BigfishDM]

Reflective is super expensive and If jfiscus has some I would highly reccomend outsourcing it.

 

[ironchef]

Hey. I recently got a short roll kit from 3m. And they had a small roll of reflective in their....prints really nice.may i ask what profile you guys use? 3m didn't have a profile for my cjv30?.... i cant wait to do a job with reflective. I gotta say. As i was printing i noticed some junk inbetween the media. I figured it was because of the short roll. Anyone have this problem on the bigger full rolls?

 

[ironchef]

Here are some pics

 

[SightLine]

The "Star of Life" is actually a federal US standard as far as the design goes but many shops just use mostly correct copies found all over the web. Look up Federal specification KKK-A-1822 and note: The Star of Life Symbol is a registered Trademark of the US Dept of Transportation. There is only ONE official and correct Star of Life and every state will accept the correct one since its actually part of the specification for a certified Star of Life ambulance. Hint: get the full PDF document and extract the Star of Life from it and then you know you have the correct and official one....

Also as far as the roof one goes, non-reflective 180c might be okay in some states but not all. Here in SC the regulation 601 states - All items in the section shall be of reflective quality and in contrasting to the color to the exterior painted surface of the ambulance. "Top (roof): There shall be a "Star of Life" of not less than 32" in height as well as the individual providers ambulance number of not less than 12" in height."

We actually keep the SC regs printed on the wall here since we decal literally many dozens of ambulances a year. There are always a couple in the lot waiting to be done here.

 

[Mosh]

bla bla bla, I use 5600 all the time, I have done well over 100 this way and never had "the feds" crack down on me.....Too many federal regulations are costing small department too much money... just saying...BTW unemployment here is only 3.75% so we must be doing something right!!!!

 

[SightLine]

I'm also with mosh. Yeah 3M 680 is very very nice but I flat out cannot afford it. My clients are simply not willing to pay what I'd have to charge. The reflective we use works great, meets the reflectivity requirements, etc and is actually one of the most conformable reflectives I've tried over the years... and I've tried them all. Best of all it costs me less than a third of what a roll of 3M 680 would.

 

[2B]

@ sightline what is your reflective? we have been happy with oracal but open to suggestions

agree that 3M is too $$$

 

[BigfishDM]

Have any of you guys ever used the Nikkalite reflective?

 

[SightLine]

Bigfish knows the deal.... the M8512 is good stuff. For the price it cannot be beat.

@ sightline what is your reflective? we have been happy with oracal but open to suggestions

agree that 3M is too $$$

Have any of you guys ever used the Nikkalite reflective?

 

[Jillbeans]

When I do reflective, (cut vynull) I only use 3M.
It is more expensive, but it is far easier to work with.
A few fire companies specify that I use it.
I used Avery once because it was cheaper (roll striping) had a failure within 10 days.
When I need a reflective print, I outsource via a MM here.
Love....Jill

 

[dj_elite]

I personally have not liked any Avery product I have ever used. I try and stay with Oracal and 3M. Thanks for the responses guys

 

[Gino]

We've used the Nikkalite reflective and honestly said we'd never use it again. It was so brittle and weeded horribly. That was for white, black, gold and red. Now, that was a few years ago. Perhaps they've improved their recipe. Got any ya wanna send out as samples ??

 

[BigfishDM]

We've used the Nikkalite reflective and honestly said we'd never use it again. It was so brittle and weeded horribly. That was for white, black, gold and red. Now, that was a few years ago. Perhaps they've improved their recipe. Got any ya wanna send out as samples ??

Oh I have only ever sold their printable reflective which has always been good for me, I dont have any experience in the cut reflective. Would you want a sample of the printable white?

 

[SightLine]

Try their newer M8512..... it is far better than the older version they had.

We've used the Nikkalite reflective and honestly said we'd never use it again. It was so brittle and weeded horribly. That was for white, black, gold and red. Now, that was a few years ago. Perhaps they've improved their recipe. Got any ya wanna send out as samples ??

 

[Gino]

Oh I have only ever sold their printable reflective which has always been good for me, I dont have any experience in the cut reflective. Would you want a sample of the printable white?

Sure. We do a lot of police and fire departments around here and they all have reflective emblems and stripes.

The vendor where I used to get it received so many complaints, they dropped it altogether. I'll keep an eye out for it.......

 

[jfiscus]

The "Star of Life" is actually a federal US standard as far as the design goes but many shops just use mostly correct copies found all over the web. Look up Federal specification KKK-A-1822 and note: The Star of Life Symbol is a registered Trademark of the US Dept of Transportation. There is only ONE official and correct Star of Life and every state will accept the correct one since its actually part of the specification for a certified Star of Life ambulance. Hint: get the full PDF document and extract the Star of Life from it and then you know you have the correct and official one....

Also as far as the roof one goes, non-reflective 180c might be okay in some states but not all. Here in SC the regulation 601 states - All items in the section shall be of reflective quality and in contrasting to the color to the exterior painted surface of the ambulance. "Top (roof): There shall be a "Star of Life" of not less than 32" in height as well as the individual providers ambulance number of not less than 12" in height."

We actually keep the SC regs printed on the wall here since we decal literally many dozens of ambulances a year. There are always a couple in the lot waiting to be done here.

We go by all of the regs we can, but every customer wants their trucks to match the (crap) look they have on all of their other trucks. However, for the star on the roof, it is almost never reflective, as customers have specified that the reflective star or any lettering on the roof is detrimental to visibility on a white roof & flat/matte is usually the requested vinyl.