Homemade Vinyl Roll Dispenser

[ActualGrafix]

So i have some old tubing and what not laying around the garage and an itching need to make something. I came up with a simple design that will allow me have 8 rolls of vinyl at the turn of a wheel that will automatically be in line with the cutter without having to take the time to do it manually. What do you guys think? Any suggestions before i start?

 

[andy]

How big are your rolls?

If they are only 610mm wide I don't think the "difficulty" of loading such a small, light roll really justifies the creation of the device you are planning.

However....

If you really want to build the beast there are a few things which immediately spring to mind.

First thing is a brake of some kind. When you start pulling vinyl off the contraption you may well find that the whole thing starts revolving... I think you need a brake to pinch the aluminium wheel in position.

Second thing is weight... as you use vinyl the rolls get lighter. If you have one roll which you hardly ever use it's going to be heavier than the rest and it will unbalance your wheel thing.... every time you turn the thing to change colour the heavy roll is going to want to drag the wheel to the lowest point via gravity. This is another reason why you need a brake.

The third thing is core size.... your 25mmwooden rods are a lot smaller than the cardboard tube inside the vinyl roll. Unless you make a boss which has an internal bore of 25mm and an external diameter of 75mm your vinyl won't be pulled off the roll smoothly... you'll get lots of tugging, slacking, tugging, slacking etc. To fix this you need the vinyl roll to turn centrally in a perfect circular motion.

If I really wanted to make a thing like you have designed I'd try and make it as an A frame with braked wheels... this will allow you to move it in or out of position easily.... if you get sick of the thing it also makes it easier to wheel it out to the dumpster

 

[sjm]

I think there could be value in that. I am constantly looking for something similar in 3,048 millimeter.

 

[astro8]

.... if you get sick of the thing it also makes it easier to wheel it out to the dumpster

my thoughts exactly...

 

[sjm]

Reminds me of a few over seas products I put into the dumpster. Though I must admit antipodean products I have given a second look at.

 

[wes70]

Ok... even though I'm Canadian... the millimeter thing is thowing me off. lol. The roll dispenser looks promising for bigger rolls (54"+) that are hard to handle.

 

[ActualGrafix]

How big are your rolls?

I use 48" rolls most of the time. I do like the A-Frame idea. I was thinking about a brake of sorts, just not sure how it would be attached yet. As far as the cardboard tube inside the vinyl roll, im going to look at the hardware store today to see if i can find something.

 

[sjm]

Ok... even though I'm Canadian... the millimeter thing is thowing me off. lol. The roll dispenser looks promising for bigger rolls (54"+) that are hard to handle.

Yes we do have a bastard system, but if you came up from the Engineering side it's common knowledge A0 is the equivalent of a 3'x4'.

When it comes to paper or material weights 7mil, 7pt, 140 grams, 16 gauge it does pose a challenge. But it's refreshing to know on a golf course everything is measured in yards.

 

[wes70]

Not so much the engineering side, but I am (was) a draftsman by trade, so I had to learn the standard system quickly, when starting collge. Funny though, after college I got a government drafting position and it was back to metric once again.

 

[andy]

The easiest brake would be a metal plate coming off the steel frame. Drill a dirty big hole in the plate and have holes in the ali that line up at each vinyl position... just poke a big steel pin or bolt through the holes to lock it all off.

For full size rolls your enemy is weight... without a bearing between the steel axle and the aluminium outer wheels this contraption will never turn... the combined weight of all those rolls of vinyl will be pushing down on the top of the axle and you'll need to be built like Popeye to make it move even the tiniest distance. You should be able to find heavy duty circular bearing races pretty easily.

You might want to check out how your wooden doweling works with a roll of vinyl hanging off it... I think it might turn into the shape of a banana... which will make the tug, slag, tug, slack feed out of the vinyl even worse. Metal tubing might be easier.

I'd also think about making the vinyl axles longer so you can bung a retaining pin into each end... this will stop the vinyl roll and axle working themselves out of the ali wheel and dropping on your feet.

To make the bungs for the rolls get yourself a decent set of hole cutters... drill out a hole in some ply using the big cutter... then screw the bit of ply that falls out of the sheet on to a bench and then drill it again with a 25mm hole cutter. This will give you plywood "washers" which are the right size to work as cores for your rolls of vinyl.

 

[jasonx]

How do you load the vinyl like that? My graphtecs have bars on the back so I can stand behind the cutter and load the vinyl from the back. With this setup wont you have to stand infront of the cutter reach over it pull the vinyl into the cutter from the front?

 

[Craig Sjoquist]

ya need it on better bearings, the rolls need to run fully free from friction to feed into cutter well
my fist thoughts but the idea might work well keep improving it

 

[Extreme Graffix]

I have a transfer tape dispenser i built that looks just like that sorta. to fill the vinyl cores i have plastic core plugs with a 1 inch whole in them that slide right over the 1 inch rod.Then I made big washer and use a sleeve with a set screw in it to hold the roll from moving sisde to side.

 

[Circleville Signs]

I gotta tell you - I would be VERY interested in purchasing something like this for my PRINTER. Changing out rolls all the time is a PITA. Being able to have a rig where I would load a roll of calendered, a roll of cast, a roll of banner, and a roll of poster paper, etc., and then just crank it into position would be AWESOME.

 

[Patrick46]

I gotta tell you - I would be VERY interested in purchasing something like this for my PRINTER. Changing out rolls all the time is a PITA. Being able to have a rig where I would load a roll of calendered, a roll of cast, a roll of banner, and a roll of poster paper, etc., and then just crank it into position would be AWESOME.

Well there ya go...

you haven't even made this thing yet and you've already got buyers lining up for it!!

I made my own transfer tape dispenser that bolts onto the edge of my weeding table. It sounds very similiar to the one EG discribed, but I've got a threaded rod running through mine with a wingnut on the end which makes it very easy to fine tune the tension on the roll.

I hope you post a pic of your final product. I've thought about building something along the same lines.

 

[Extreme Graffix]

On the brake idea. I put a spring loaded plunger on mine.You pull the handle and it releases the pin then u just spin the roll when the next hole comes up on the roll you want just realease the pin and it locks it into place.I didnt know if this would help or not thought i would offer it.