installing large vinylcuts

[RalphGS]

I thought I was past the beginner-level of installing vinyl but got kicked back to the beginners-corner yesterday.

Normal installation is not a problem but yesterday I had to do a 16ft by 2ft vinylcut etchedglass film; the horror!

does anybody have any tips on how you do this without sweating and swearing?

 

[ova]

If there's breaks in the image, such as between the text or any graphics, you can cut the 16' length into shorter panels. It would then work the same as covering the side of trailer with individual panels.

Dave

 

[SightLine]

Also - it is the only thing I do this with but when I'm doing large peices of certain types of vinyl on glass like frosted/etched I pretty much always wet apply it or I end up with squeegee lines in it.

 

[Garbus]

wet wet wet !!!

 

[Gino]

It depends primarily on how much coverage you're laying down.

If it's a solid piece of 24" x 192" with a few letters cut out for a reverse effect, I'd lay it down wet. If it's copy going that far, I'd do it dry..... just like regular vinyl.

Another factor would be if you're doing this on site or in your shop. In your shop under perfect conditions.... either way.... dry.

 

[RalphGS]

I did do it wet but can't hold 16ft of foil straight.... Or is this done from the middle to the sides (I did it from the top to the bottom)

 

[jiarby]

definitely center hinge

 

[GypsyGraphics]

I did do it wet but can't hold 16ft of foil straight.... Or is this done from the middle to the sides (I did it from the top to the bottom)

top to bottom... on 16ft... mamma mia

 

[RalphGS]

I know.... So now you know where the swearing came from....
I'm just worried the vinyl will not be leveled out..... No way to tape it down on the bottom of the window so I imagine it would not be a very straight line.

 

[HulkSmash]

definitely center hinge

This.

 

[phototec]

I know.... So now you know where the swearing came from....
I'm just worried the vinyl will not be leveled out..... No way to tape it down on the bottom of the window so I imagine it would not be a very straight line.

Post up a photo so we can see what you are dealing with.

 

[BRUSHMARKS]

i would do it dry, center hinge work from middle to the side and squeege center up and down as i work out to sides.

 

[Des6139]

Watt went wrong? was it reverse cut lettering in a box or just lettering

 

[RalphGS]

yes, reverse cut lettering in a box on 1/3 of the vinyl, so no way to split this up and no way to tape it to the bottom side (half an inch of window frame and then carpet)

I don't have any pics, sorry

because I didn't have a slitter to slit the backingpaper I was worried that if I would have done a center hinge and thus would have to remove all backingpaper, the vinyl would have stretched too much and the vinyl would not have been installed horizontally

 

[Custom_Grafx]

if you had access to the other side of the glass as well - magnets which are used for car wraps can come in handy - or another strong set of magnets of any type. they aren't affected by water/soap like tape - and if you're careful and good with them, you can slide them down as you go (the mag on the other side should follow). just make sure they are smooth and not likely to damage the glass or frost. something covered in plastic like the ones used for cars might work ok.

 

[Edserv]

The bigger the job, the more we like to "break it up." We work from center out every time. Sometimes this means laying out the vinyl on the grounds just as a final check, but you then may have to be careful of the dust/dirt.
I can't emphasize the importance of a clean substrate. Usually, in my experience, the vinyl not laying correctly usually means there's dust or dirt on the glass/substrate. So if we're doing a big job, we constantly clean the substrate to avoid this.
And was mentioned earlier in this thread, sometimes you can work up to down or down to up as you go. For example, if you can break your job into 2-4 foot sections, make sure they're level, then you can tape horizontally and apply bottom to top or top to bottom. Makes it easy to stay on track.
No matter what, with bigger jobs, it gets tricky. We've also found that the time of day (sun, heat, humidity) plays havoc on our vinyl. The heat and humidity makes the vinyl stretch or shrink!
Good luck!
Chris

 

[RalphGS]

Edserv, I would like to come over so you could train me ;-)
(I would sweat as much but would swear a little less if my working-area was Hawaii)