VinylMate Gone?

[patricktoomey]

I saw a few posts about a vinyl cutter head that could be chucked into a spindle or router on a bot including this one...

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/messages/29/1430.html

and I really need one of these but the site appears to be gone or inaccessible. Does anyone out there know anything about this or if there are any alternatives? I need to cut some vinyl and sandblast resist next week and it seemed like the perfect tool.

[Dan Ender (Unregistered Guest)]

I hope this helps.

http://www.littleeholdings.com/

[patricktoomey]

That's it! The thought of having to either cut this job by hand, pay someone else hundreds of dollars to cut it for me or spend a thousand bucks on a dedicated vinyl plotter was not making me happy. I can't thank you enough for posting that.

[earld]

Wow! Has anyone used this vinyl cutter head?
I cut vinyl at my day job and would like to use this on my ShopBot at home.
Please let me know how well it works.
Thank you!
Earl

[rg_engravers]

I bought one and used it for years and it cuts letters as big as your table will let you.
So if you have a 48x96 table you can cut 48x96 letters

[geneb]

Ron, how well does it work for smaller text cutting? I'd like to be able to use my (as-yet un-shipped) ShopBot to make vinyl placards for aircraft flight simulator cockpits. Things like ejection seat safety warnings, etc. The lettering can sometimes be 3/8" high. Would this be a problem?

tnx!

[patricktoomey]

Gene,

I have the VinylMate cutter and I have cut some pretty small and intricate designs. The only issue you will have is that on some corners you may have to cut a small connecting area by hand to weed out the letters. What happens is that since it is a drag-knife style cutter, the tip of the blade is a small distance (maybe .020?) back from the center of the spindle center. This lets the knife drag slightly behind and therefore turn correctly when the cut direction changes. When the machine sets the cutter down, it is in some random position and is therefore sometimes in front of where the cut is actually supposed to start. When this happens next to another cut, it may leave a small uncut area that will try to hold on when you're weeding. I have not found this to be a big issue, just a minor nuisance. I have cut letters as small as 1/4" and also some very thin curved strips for pinstriping.

[geneb]

Thanks for the reply Patrick. My next question is one on materials - is there a three layer film available that's basically two backing layers that sandwich the vinyl layer? I'd like to be able to make placard sets in reverse so you just peel the face layer, stick it to the surface and then remove the back layer. The idea is to prevent the need to align each letter by hand.

thanks again.

g.

[patricktoomey]

Gene,

I use the traditional vinyl transfer method which accomplishes what you're looking for. First I use a standard adhesive vinyl with a paper backing. I set the vinyl mate to cut through only the vinyl but not the paper backer. After the cutting is done, I "weed" out the parts of vinyl that I don't want by peeling them off the backer. This leaves only the vinyl that I want. Now I use transfer tape which has a medium tack on one side and is not sticky on the other. I rub the transfer tape down onto the top of the vinyl to get it to stick. Now I flip the whole thing over and peel off the vinyl's backing paper. At this point I have the vinyl parts, all perfectly registered and stuck on the transfer tape with the vinyl's adhesive exposed. I spray a little soapy water onto the surface to which the vinyl will be applied, a little more on the vinyl and then transfer. Squeegee the water and bubbles out, wait a little bit and peel off the transfer tape. It sounds complicated but it's a fairly fast process.

[geneb]

Thanks for the info Patrick. I've got more research to do yet, including testing vinyl with my Epilog Mini-24 to see how it performs. I'm kind of in tool shock right now.
(I still have to finish getting the goodies for the SB vac system I'm going to build)

tnx.
g.

[joenagel]

Gene,
You may already know this but most of the vinyl used for signs is PVC, the gasses given off by the PVC when cutting will eat the metal parts of you laser and void the warranty.

You could use Laserlights from Rowmark if you want to do signs. I did my company logo and phone number on the side of my truck. The stuff hold up great outdoors.

Joe Nagel
A fellow epilog owner.

[geneb]

Joe, thanks for the info. I didn't know about the PVC issue. My laser is still in the packing crate since my shop isn't done yet. You have no idea the self control it takes to walk past that crate on a daily basis and not tear it open.


I'll have to check out the Laserlights material you mentioned. Thanks for the tip.

g.