Vinyl plotter advice

I'm currently following several plotters on ebay. I want something to make painting stencils with. There are several options available ranging from desktop machines that will work with A4 (Letter) sized sheets to units that work with 94 cm (36 in.) rolls. All are in about the same price range. So I have a couple of questions:

1. What would be a good size to choose? I'm thinking something that would work with A3 sized sheets would be good enough for frame names and such but the big machine could make banners for EHBE.
2. There is also a big difference in age of the machines. The HP 7475A modified to use both a knife and pens would be good for plotting on paper as well but is rather old. There are newer machine from Roland for just a little more but they only cut and don't draw. Do any of you painters use your plotter for anything else?
3. What software should I be looking for to draw stencils with?
4. Do I need to be looking for special vinyl or will scraps from the local sign shop do fine?

Thanks for your input.

Hi Kevin,

All I can tell you is what I use.

1. I have both 8" & 15" cutters. I almost never use the 15". From my perspective the 8" is a great size for bike frames because you never need anything wider than that and there is a lot less wasted material. I can run almost all of the logos I need for a complete frame paint on one 8" wide by 13" long piece of material. If all I need is a small piece, like the rider's name, I end up with a 8" wide by 2" long piece, etc. Doesn't work so well for banners though.....although they can be done...most machines come with basic graphics software that allows for tiling.

2. My machines do not plot, and I can not think of any reason why I would need that, but your may have other uses in mind, etc.

3. As far as software goes, my cutters came with some basic sign making software that works well. Otherwise if you have Adobe Illustrator or Coral Draw, most cutters will cut right out of those software packages.

4. Sign shop scraps should work fine, but there are LOTS of vinyl products that are pretty reasonable in cost. If you are going to be painting and using the machine to cut masks, you will need to use masking material, like GerberMask or Avery Spray Mask. Sign vinyl does not work for masking.

Dave

Hi Dave,

thanks for the very detailed answer. It's good to hear that the 8" machine is more than just an "in a pinch" solution. That means I don't have to limit myself to units close enough to drive to. The only thing I would use the plotting function for would be full sized drawings but that's not at all necessary. Coral Draw came bundled with my notebook so I guess I have all I need, then.

Why does normal vinyl not work as a masking material? Am I right in guessing that the adhesive will pull up the base coat?

Thanks again for your help.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by datas_brother

Hi Dave,

Why does normal vinyl not work as a masking material? Am I right in guessing that the adhesive will pull up the base coat?

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Correct..... :-)

Also they are tough to get off and they can leave adhesive residue...especially if you are using heat.

Dave

Thanks. I'll get the right stuff to begin with. If it doesn't work I know it's me and not the material.

I have a couple of pen plotters, and last time I looked I wasn't impressed by what I found out about them working as vinyl cutters. Maybe I should just try it. What modification is done? Just a knife?

I just looked again, you need to futz around with hanging weights on the top of the pen

There are usually 2 -3 HP7475A available per week with the mod. You remove the pen holder and clip in a knife holder. It has an adjustable spring to apply pressure to the knife. Never seen any with some type of weight. The knife holders always look the same so I would assume they are standard accessories that were available as an after market item. I have no idea how accurate they are or how fine the detailing of finished cuts are but most claim they're selling because they bought a bigger machine (I know, don't believe everything you read).

I'm likely going for a Roland Stika because it's supposed to be professional quality and is about the size of an ink-jet printer. You can get them here for EUR 200 - 300 depending on what accessories are included.

I looked a little after I posted and couldn't find anyone selling a knife blade holder for the hp. I wouldn't bother, but like I said I have at least 2 running HPs

I just googled "7475 knife holder" this is the second link that came up:

Blade Holder mit Skala

They're located in Germany but there are likely similar companies state side. I'm still going for a dedicated, made for purpose machine, though.

apparently those are the only people that make an HP specific holder any more

doesn't surprise me. It's an old machine.

and for $115, I don't think it's worth the experiment