Need Help Which 3M

[bpfohler]

We’re new to printed vinyl so how do I know how to choose which product for which application. For instance, what is The ScotchCal line, what is the difference between 170 and 180 series, what is cv3?
I’ve been trying to read and do research but the 3M site reads like a commercial and doesn’t really do a product comparison

 

[Snydo]

Go to Fellers or Grimco's website, they pretty much have all the pertinent information you need under the product description.

 

[AKwrapguy]

We’re new to printed vinyl so how do I know how to choose which product for which application. For instance, what is The ScotchCal line, what is the difference between 170 and 180 series, what is cv3?
I’ve been trying to read and do research but the 3M site reads like a commercial and doesn’t really do a product comparison

There are thousands of different materials many overlap into their purpose. Each manufacture makes brochures that give the info your looking for. If you reach out to you local dealer they should have them.

What your asking is kind of a vague. Can you be more specific? Are you looking for a specific material for a specific job? If your looking for just general info I suggest you do a google search in addition to looking at each manufactures website.

We use 3M IJ180 CV3 for all of our wraps, 3650-10 for flat signs, 3650-114 for clear, 680CR for reflective wraps.

 

[OhioSigns]

There are thousands of different materials many overlap into their purpose. Each manufacture makes brochures that give the info your looking for. If you reach out to you local dealer they should have them.

What your asking is kind of a vague. Can you be more specific? Are you looking for a specific material for a specific job? If your looking for just general info I suggest you do a google search in addition to looking at each manufactures website.

We use 3M IJ180 CV3 for all of our wraps, 3650-10 for flat signs, 3650-114 for clear, 680CR for reflective wraps.

Just curious why you use 3650-10 for signs? I've never used it before and took a look at the specs. Through Grimco it looks to be more expensive than the 180VC3. Why not just use IJ180CV3 and not have to stock multiple types of cast vinyl. Currently I use 40C and IJ180CV3 for flat signs depending on what kind of budget / lifespan the customer is wanting out of the signage.

 

[AKwrapguy]

Just curious why you use 3650-10 for signs? I've never used it before and took a look at the specs. Through Grimco it looks to be more expensive than the 180VC3. Why not just use IJ180CV3 and not have to stock multiple types of cast vinyl. Currently I use 40C and IJ180CV3 for flat signs depending on what kind of budget / lifespan the customer is wanting out of the signage.

We use 3650-10 for most of our flat signs because it's less expensive than IJ180 but is still a cast material. I think that our screen printer also uses it so that's the main reason why we carry it.

We've never used 40C if we need a calendared temp film we rock the IJ35. I've heard great things about the 40C and a lot of people here mention it.

We also have several 15" Gerber edge machines so we stock a lot of the 15" punched and the foils as well.

 

[bpfohler]

I know it’s vague but I ask because we’re just starting to print on vinyl and I want to know what I should try for printed vinyl vehicle decals and signs and why.

 

[Johnny Best]

Cast is most expensive and has the longest life span, car wraps, high end stickers
Calendered, not as expensive and does not last as long, indoor signage, flat surfaces, stickers
As before mentioned, material catalogs and study websites.
Why, that is something you will learn on your own and nobody wants to hold your hand through learning something new that you can do on your own.

 

[AKwrapguy]

I know it’s vague but I ask because we’re just starting to print on vinyl and I want to know what I should try for printed vinyl vehicle decals and signs and why.

You might be better off asking something like "hey I'm looking to wrap a vehicle, whats the difference between the materials that I can do this with 3M, Avery, or Oracal.... any suggestions. I'm using a XXXX printer."

This will help people give you more specific answers that will help you. For example lets say your rocking a HP latex machine, people have been having issues with latex and Avery lately with possible de-lamination. So I would suggest IJ180Cv3 with 8500 series lam. Some people will give you more insight into the material it self on why they like it better such as I enjoy the aggressive adhesive of the 3M IJ180CV3 but the new MC line has better air-release with the cross hatch design.

Some of these guys on here love helping out, but I found it's all in how you ask the question....

 

[bpfohler]

You might be better off asking something like "hey I'm looking to wrap a vehicle, whats the difference between the materials that I can do this with 3M, Avery, or Oracal.... any suggestions. I'm using a XXXX printer."

This will help people give you more specific answers that will help you. For example lets say your rocking a HP latex machine, people have been having issues with latex and Avery lately with possible de-lamination. So I would suggest IJ180Cv3 with 8500 series lam. Some people will give you more insight into the material it self on why they like it better such as I enjoy the aggressive adhesive of the 3M IJ180CV3 but the new MC line has better air-release with the cross hatch design.

Some of these guys on here love helping out, but I found it's all in how you ask the question....

Well at this point we just settled on an HP latex printer (we also have a Graphtec plotter) but when it’s ready to rock I want to have some material in stock to print vehicle decals and signs.
We mainly screen print and embroider but we have been doing some simple single color and layer graphics the last few years but it’s been on 651, I wouldn’t even attempt to do a wrap at this point.
I’d like to step up to a cast and after reading tons of post I think we’re moving to 3M for both single color and printed vinyl.
So with the HP latex and printed signs should I use the same vinyl for for both flat signs and vehicle graphics?

 

[ikarasu]

You can... But it's a waste. Ij40 is half the price of 180.

Ij40 is a calandered, but it's also a 7 year vinyl... 180 is a 10 year... While.ij35 is 3, or 5.. I forgot off the top of my head.

You obviously wouldn't put a 10 year vinyl on a Coro real estate sign you'd expect to last a year, just as you wouldn't put a 3 year vinyl on a park sign you'd want to last 10+ years.

There are hundreds of different vinyls. Depending on what your shop does, you may need one... Or 10. Specialty jobs require special vinyls, etc. Talk to your local 3m rep... They have samples and can educate you

[Edit] Fixed some mobile spelling errors...

 

[AKwrapguy]

So with the HP latex and printed signs should I use the same vinyl for for both flat signs and vehicle graphics?

You can but you'll price yourself out of jobs unless your able to absorb the cost. It's not a bad thing to be able to have a small variety of stock. In digital print materials alone we keep several different types in multiple sizes. We also have to deal with logistics of living in Alaska as well.

 

[ikarasu]

Lets see... We currently stock

IJ35, IJ40, 180,480, 3290, 680, 180-LSI, orajet 3268, 1050HT, 3 Different window perfs, 2 different clears, and a few specialty vinyls we use once in awhile. Then add a matching overlam for each..

on top of about 30 reflectives for traffic signs, and 30-40 colors of vinyl for cut signs.

Our shop gets enough work that we cycle through all/most of it and have a use for each.

My other shop uses 3 different vinyls. One reflective, one intermediate, and one high performance, and thats all it needs because it's not big enough, and doesnt have enough clients to regularly stock so may types.

Depending on what you do... I'd suggest stocking 1 of each. IJ 35, 180, and if you ant reflective... you might be stuck with 680 with a latex, or 7930... but 7930 sucks.

You might pay more per SQFT by only stocking 3 vinyls, but if you buy a 50 yard roll, and end up using 5 yards of it a year... its just wasted money.

We've had a few specialty rolls we purchased for some jobs. i have a corner in the shop of "Dead stock", some stuff is 140 FT of a material, because we only needed 10 ft of it... and it's been sitting there for literally 5 years. Vinyl has a shelf life of 2 years in most cases... So I'd consider it garbage. But it's a $1000 roll, so of course they don't want to throw it out....

It's now my "Scrap rolls" that I use whenever I need to do head tests, test prints, etc. It's a very expensive test roll. So while you may have 10,000 choices... Only buy what you need, as you need it. Keep the main vinyls in stock, and don't buy something because it's "Cool" and you can find a use for it later on. Odds are you won't, and you'll end up with a roll of wasted product!