• I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...

Question Vinyl type question

Dovermts

New Member
Hi everyone I am trying to do my own body wraps for my race car to save some money. I am trying to figure out what vinyl i need and if i need to laminate it.It will get wet and some good abuse. Will only be in sunlight a small amount of time and will replaced in a couple months. I have a canon ipf60 imagePROGRAF printer 36". I believe it uses dye/pigment ink. My question is what vinyl do i need that will be cheap but strong to take a beating. If i do need to laminate what product would i use? I can do the artwork part i am kind of lost on the printing part.I don't want to order the wrong vinyl. I have a refine vinyl cutter that i have used for years and it is a great machine. I just want to update my stuff a bit. thanks in advance for help.
 

Dovermts

New Member
Would I need to laminate this you think? I don't need to cut it. I apply it directly to car and trim to fit.
 

ikarasu

Active Member
Are you.going to wrap your while vehicle using 36" media?... Or just doing some.print.and cuts?

Find a local shop who will print and laminate for you. It'd probably be cheaper than buying specialty aqueous media, and it'll look better, last longer and be easier to install.

If you're going to.be wrapping the whole vehicle, just know it's going to look like crap unless you get a professional to do it. Even if it'll only be on for a week... You'll have bubbles and creases and over stretching as well as lifting. Wrapping a vehicle is one of the hardest things to do in the sign industry.... Not anyone can just buy some.vinyl and do their own wraps.
 

iPrintStuff

Prints stuff
Firstly, it’s simply not the right printer for this application. So finding a media/laminate (you will need a laminate unless you get 0 rain) will be tough and expensive. plus canons ink is pretty hefty on the prograf series.

If you’re replacing every two months or so and if it’s regularly getting damaged, longevity isn’t an issue here.

As far as “wrapping” goes, I’d just stick to anything you can do with cut vinyl and avoid the printer completely. Sure it means you’re a bit more limited but it’s much easier and cheaper to just do it the cut vinyl route. Though it means you get to explore metallic/neon vinyls etc.

We’ve done work for race cars that get battered about every now and then and it’s usually just simple lettering. So you just show them some of the neon colour cut vinyl and they throw money at you. Hope that helps!
 

ChicagoGraphics

New Member
You won't find any vinyl that uses water or dye base inks for doing wraps unless its all flat panels, and yes you will have to laminate it. Those types of inks are easily scratched off.
 

landdesigns

New Member
Go with a calendared air release Vinyl with with the same brand laminate, Oracal , avery , arlon , etc all good products. Good Luck
 

WhiskeyDreamer

Professional Snow Ninja
Call a professional instead of trying to cut corners and save a few bucks.

You're going to waste more money getting the right setup and going through the trial and error of figuring out how to apply the vinyl. Get a professional.
 

2B

Active Member
no material will withstand racing, regardless of the grade of material.

use what you have for printing and put a UV Lamination over it.
"should" last a few months. any of the media suppliers will have differenet grades of materials

Since you have design capabilities, find a printer that you can send the file to for production.
"IF" you can send "Print Ready" files, they should give a better price, we do.
 

Dovermts

New Member
Maybe I will just do the artwork and have someone print it for me. That's why I asked the pros here before i spent a bunch of cash. I will just use the canon to print racing cards. I am always looking for a way to do things myself. I just don't want to spend 5-10 grand on a machine i would use a couple of times a year. If anyone has any other suggestions please let me know. thanks again
 

Mascitti Bro

New Member
Would I need to laminate this you think? I don't need to cut it. I apply it directly to car and trim to fit.
Without a doubt, lamination is required for racecar lettering-otherwise the first time you do any sort of cosmetic repair/maintenance on the body, wiping it down with any type of cleaner, all of your ink will be coming off..
 

Mascitti Bro

New Member
I've lost track of the number of times I've done lettering for race teams, then they go buy their own vinyl equipment. (we always joke to ourselves that "we must make it too easy", lol!) The biggest thing racers overlook and don't grasp until they're "neck-deep" in the vinyl stuff, (and I don't miss a chance to point out when the vast majority come back) is this; "every hour you spend learning and messing with vinyl, is an hour you're not spending on you racecar to make it go fast. And when YOU'RE not making your car fast, your competition IS"... (Not to mention, it takes a number of years of practice/experience to get lettering to look "good" on a car. You can typically spot it right away when a team goes from outsourcing their graphics one season, to "doing their own thing" the next season. It's undeniably "different looking", and usually not for the better...) Just my own observations...
 
Top