Work Method...

[GaSouthpaw]

So, back in the 90s when I got back into this business full time, the person I worked side by side with was giving me some tips about the "best" way to weed vinyl (I'd previously done hand painting and very limited cut vinyl with a Sprinter).
In her opinion, I was wrong from the get-go because I'd pull up the waste with my right hand (I'm ambidextrous and usually hold my Xacto in my left hand). She said "you should always pull with your left hand, from the right end to the left."
To placate her, that's what I'd do- until she went off to do something else and/or I forgot and did it the other way.
Both ways worked for me. Once she realized that, she "got off my back" about it.
One of the other tricks she told me was to pull up the insides of shapes (letters, whatever) only after you'd removed the outer waste. She said this was because it was less likely that smaller letters would move from the backer that way. In my experience, she was right about that (depending on the size of the letter, of course).
Over the years, though, I've seen people weed both ways- so my question is: How do you do it?
I'm still of the opinion of "if it works, it works"- but I am curious.
Have a good weekend everyone!

 

[gabagoo]

I'm a righty so right to left on a downward angle. I find on different days, be it, humidity, temperature or whatever that vinyl can act differently, even off the same roll. Most of the times I can weed effortlessly and then there are times when every letter gives me cause for quitting this business!!! lol

 

[GaSouthpaw]

Oh- no matter which hand I use, I find top down is easier 98% of the time. And being in Georgia, yeah- the humidity... DAMNIT!

 

[euronymous]

Text right to left, numbers left to right. The intricate stuff varies but left hand does the weedin' right hand does the cuttin'

 

[jayhawksigns]

Text right to left, numbers left to right. The intricate stuff varies but left hand does the weedin' right hand does the cuttin'

This. Noticed this many years ago. And for the inners, you probably have to go back and pick out inners from an s or g on occasion anyway, no reason to go over it twice.

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[Starter]

Right to left and on a 45 degree angle works for me. Small text I weed the "A"holes...."P"holes and :"R"sHoles first.

 

[bannertime]

Yup. What he said about numbers and letters, and use a weeding pick instead of an xacto. Large runs or small text gets weed borders and cut lines to segregate harder sections.

 

[ColoPrinthead]

I weed right to left with letters and right to left with numbers, it is just a habit I picked up along the line.

 

[boxerbay]

I am a lefty but most of the weeding is done right to left. its done right to left because of letters like "C" and "E" and "F" all open on the right. if you pull from left the insides get hung up and you have to pick with the blade. if you pull from right it doesnt get hung up. so i turn the sheet upside down and weed left to right with the blade in the left hand and weed ball in my right.

 

[alex242]

For me, I got best results when pulling from wide to narrow cuts (think on an A eye picking the wide side to top) I think there are not a statement on direction, it's a matter of what art are you weeding


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[Modern Ink Signs]

I weed...

Right to left with weed lines between most lines
(Most of the letter "openings" are on the right)

Numbers left to right
(Most of the "openings" are on the left)

Fron the top down

Pull centers when done

 

[Andy D]

Right to left, downwards at 45 degrees.. pulling/holding the vinyl as close to the table as i can, with small quick jerks/snatches.
If the letters are too small, I pull the centers and weed the vinyl after I apply it to the substrate.

 

[Johnny Best]

Exacto blade, right to left, left to right, top to bottom pull out centers afterwards. Largely depends on how big or small the copy I am weeding is.
Some fonts weed better than others and hate to weed small serif letters.

 

[Gino]

That's what employees are for.

However, when I do some weeding, I start from the left and go to the other end. I also start at the top and go down and I can go right to left, but I don't worry about it. I basically use a tweezers. Been doing it that way, since the early 80s. I'm not a fan of weeding, but I'd rather weed vinyl, then my garden.

 

[Andy D]

That's what employees are for.

Same here, funny when I first started in signs, plotting, weeding, taping, and applying vinyl
seemed so fun and cool.. now it's pure drudgery.

 

[visual800]

Im right handed but ALWAYS weed from right to left with left hand. However if Im doing phone numbers they get flipped upside down.

I also have found if I weed as soon as it comes off plotter i have a better chance of not messing up letters

 

[nickgreyink]

Oh- no matter which hand I use, I find top down is easier 98% of the time. And being in Georgia, yeah- the humidity... DAMNIT!

Amen to the humidity!

But as they say in the big GA, "Wait five minutes. It'll change."

I've always heard left to right for numbers because of 3's and such, and right to left for letters because of C's and things like that.

 

[Gino]

Back in the late 80's and early 90's, you could go to a sign meet almost anywhere in the USofA. Somewhere, there was always a sign mixer going on. I went to a lotta these things and one of the games they would play was, who could weed the fastest. Someone would supply dozens and dozens of the same color, words and everything..... and they went at it, with whatever tools they wanted to use. No rules of any attack were enforced. Just how many letters were lost or things got messed up for any reason in the best time. Twice, one of my guys won. He was good. He went left to right on everything and used an x-acto, a tweezers and both hands.

Seemed almost everyone back then went left to right, as there seems to be more open ends on the right side, which slows you up, then just coming in from the big side and lifting out with a knife or tweezers on the other side. Numbers, didn't seem to matter at all.