How to cut 20,000 reflective letters?

[Pat Whatley]

I just got a purchase order to produce a job I bid on a couple of weeks ago. The job will need....

NO ENTRY cut 500 times, 5" x 21", in reflective red lettering.
POULTRY ONLY cut 1000 times, 3" x 36", in reflective red lettering.


I bid this job based on cutting it on one of my Summa D60 plotters so even if it comes to that I'll make very good money on the job but now that I've got it I'm wondering if there's a better way. Anybody know anybody who can die-cut this job or is there a better option out there?

Like I said, I'll make money even if we do it in-house....I'd just like to avoid having to hear the plotter grind on some reflective for hours (and hours and hours).

 

[FS-Keith]

Just finished a 10 hour plotter job, its not so bad, If you bid the job correctly just think of that noise as coins in the bank. As far as another way to do it then die cut on the plotter, not really any other way thats cost effective.

if you have more then one plotter open thats even better. let them all run it and just cut it done. Im sure it goes without saying but just make sure you test the tip first and make sure its cutting good so your weeder doesn't quit on you.

 

[Pat Whatley]

I know, I routinely cut entire rolls of vinyl into 1" letters for a customer of mine and it's not that big a deal. My thoughts are, though, that since this is gonna be reflective it's gonna be a pain to weed and I'm just looking for a lazy way out.

 

[FS-Keith]

if you do 1" letters why even care about 3 and 5" so what if its reflective. play around with diff blades and pressure for the job. Its gonna suck to weed anyway you slice it.

 

[Aklaim]

You're gonna need to stock up on blades. And I might want to buy stock in blades.

 

[SignosaurusRex]

..... since this is gonna be reflective it's gonna be a pain to weed .....

What's so painful?

 

[Pat Whatley]

It's painful because unlike regular vinyl I won't be able to rip weed it. Then there are the 5000 picks some poor minion is going to have to do. Plus I've got fairly hairy arms....reflective vinyl adhesive plays hell with that. What I'm looking for is a way to sub it out to magical elves and have them send me the completed project so all I've got to do it cash the check.

Clean Cut Blades.....guarantee it won't take more than two.

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

Couldn't you just wax your arms then? I'm sure it's less painfull then the weeding your gonna be doing.

 

[ProWraps]

sounds like a great job my to me. my plotter would already be running.

 

[radiohead223]

i'd be interested to find out what tips you have by the end of it Pat. i know for us we have at regular client that wants reflective each time which is always a pain to weed. it always takes 4 to 5 times as long to weed and there is always letters that have to be replaced because of rips.

we have found 3M reflective to be the best over the years although it is a little thicker than some others. it sticks well and you can trust it to hold once it's up. i only went back to a job the other day where a client made me use their avery reflective. it would be 12months on and already peeling off and it was a paint to put on in the first place as well.

if you work out any better blades or weeding ways please let us all know.

good luck with it all

OH one tip i would say is don't cut it all then leave it for a few days to weed... we always found best to cut and weed each panel of reflective. if you leave it the adhesive on the back seems to rejoin and makes it even slower to weed

 

[Salmoneye]

There have been some threads here where sticker guys use a die press that looks kind of like a letterpress instead of flexo for decals. I think that they would be able to do this for you with sheeted stock.

 

[Graphic Solutions]

Find a local die cutter. He should be able to make you a steel rule die & die cut your material. If you quoted it as RTA, you should make tons & not have to do the work.

 

[Drip Dry]

Stouse can do die cut letters. Problem is, you may not have enough time, since they always seem to be on a 2 week schedule + shipping time
Sure would beat you doing it all week

 

[SqueeGee]

If you end up cutting them, I would very slightly round all corners. In Corel, you can select a node and use "filet" set to whatever radius works for you. It will help speed up the weeding.

I have gotten Stouse to die cut a big order for me before. It turned out well and I was able to stay focused on what I do best - which isn't weeding vinyl.

 

[Just Another Sign Guy]

Pat looking at your text the only real concern i'd have blowing and going (rip weeding) or using a sheeter would be the "E" and maybe the "L"s but with this many you could easily add a cut line from the top and bottom of the "E" to the next letter, I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to put that on a sheeter.

If I was hand weeding I'd probably put a weed box around each line of text versus all of them...but that's just me...

I also know of a few statewide programs that provide jobs for adults with disabilities, in my experience those programs have always been very affordable (usually you even get a tax deduction)..might be an option for weeding out the centers...or the whole things for that matter.

it's not too big of a job to do in house and profitably at that..just tedious...put those twins to work

 

[GAC05]

If all else fails you could troll the newbie forum and get a group of them to each take a share to run through their shiny new cat like cutters for next to nothing.....

wayne k
guam usa

 

[Letterbox Mike]

Pat, send me the specs, I'll give you a price on the project, we love jobs like that over here...

 

[mark in tx]

Sounds like a reason to buy a new plotter anyway.

 

[petepaz]

Stouse can do die cut letters. Problem is, you may not have enough time, since they always seem to be on a 2 week schedule + shipping time
Sure would beat you doing it all week

+1
a job that large i would get a quote from stouse sometimes it's cheaper for them to do it than what it would cost in material, time, labor for you to do it

 

[TheSnowman]

Let Mike quote it! Looks like the best option so far!