Making stickers????

[david wysen]

I teach in a middle school and we would like to design and cut our own stickers on the laser. PVC is a no-no as I think we all know-know! Has anyone run across a NON-PVC based sticky-backed sign material or other film that could be used in our mill? Thanks, David

[Joe Pelonio]

There are polyester films available but the color selection is small. There are also metalized poly films, like mirror and brushed chrome and gold, that can be laser cut. The white poly can be painted before laser cutting. You can also use Rowmark laserlights, though it won't hold up as well outdoors as plotter cut vinyl.

[Mike Null]

Just check the JDS or Johnson catalogs. All the laserable material can be purchased with adhesive pre-applied to the back.

BTW, Welcome to SMC.

[Rodne Gold]

Very easy solution using an inkjet.
Get inkjet vinyl from http://www.papilio.com/inkjet%20phot...m%20media.html , they are all polyester based.
You can print using coreldraw and use the dieline (shaped cutting line) in the laser to kiss cut the printed sheet and weed away the excess , a light spray wiuth artists fixative will protect the full colour graphic.
Registration is a little bit of an issue , but if you are interested , I can detail the way to do this so your cut lines are within .5 to .25mm accuracy.
So you could for example print a full colour butterfly and use the laser to kiss cut the shape of the butterfly within .25mm accuracy (0.01")

[John Noell]

You can also use Rowmark laserlights, though it won't hold up as well outdoors as plotter cut vinyl.

Has that been your actual experience? Rowmark claims "exceptional outdoor performance" etc.

[Mike Hood]

I've kiss-cut vinyl film many times... no real smoke at all and I doubt is enough to cause any concern at all.

I have a vinyl cutter as well, or I'd likely do more.

[Rodne Gold]

i agree with mike , re kiss cutting pvc vinyl , but have been respoded to with dire warnings about machines being eaten up by HCL , we been doing it for 8+ yrs on one particular machine and so far no ill effects......

[Joe Pelonio]

i agree with mike , re kiss cutting pvc vinyl , but have been respoded to with dire warnings about machines being eaten up by HCL , we been doing it for 8+ yrs on one particular machine and so far no ill effects......

OK, so some of us have done that, and in fact I have confirmed with the manufacturer of Arlon vinyl that the amount of PVC is low enough to not be an issue (according to them) but then there is some risk involved, especially to people on warranty. I would not do it on a volume production basis.

[James Stokes]

I have cut quite a bit of vinyl on my lasers with no problems untill a couple months ago. I etched one piece of glass 14 x 14 with 1/2 inch stripes all the way down. The next day my rails were all rusted and the head on my laser was stuck solid. Since then I have had a lot of problems with that laser.

[Mike Hood]

You say you "etched" 1/2 inch stripes. I only will kiss cut and then weed by hand.

I find it really handy for doing detail vinyl on smallish items. Easier than applying it in some cases. The head is moving so fast, and the power so low, I see no smoke at all.

[Larry Bratton]

i agree with mike , re kiss cutting pvc vinyl , but have been respoded to with dire warnings about machines being eaten up by HCL , we been doing it for 8+ yrs on one particular machine and so far no ill effects......

Rodney:
I have need to do this from time to time, but have stayed away from it for obvious reasons. However, on my Epilog 40, I kiss cut a polyester reflective tape at 100% speed and 50 power..would that be about right for vinyl ?

I have been searching for someone that makes a variety of colors in a non-reflective, polyester or acrylic that would be a substitute for vinyl for laser cutting. I talked to one manufacturer and they indicated they would look into possibly coming out with that type of product but I have heard no more about it. I'm sure there is a technical or ecomomic issue as to why this product is not out there. Do you know any different? I have a plotter, but I just hate doing cutting with it, laser spoiled me I guess.

[Rodne Gold]

I think 3m make a polyester based sign vinyl.....
Havent bothered with it for some time tho , cos we got a Roland print and cut large format thingy.
To addd to thois , Gcc supply the spirit and a few other lasers with a system that recognises printed crop marks and cuts with 100% precision when it reads em...
Why do you hate the plotter? The laser is pretty much iffy and butty with pvc and small letters if kiss cut , tend to weld themselves back , holding the vinyl flat is a mission as well.....

[Mike Null]

When I'm kiss cutting vinyl I use the spray on adhesive on a sheet of aluminum, lay the vinyl on that then engrave or cut.

The vinyl stays in place but is easy to remove and the spray stuff can be cleaned up if necessary.

When I was doing this to make masks for sandblasting I would engrave (kiss cut) then cover the vinyl with clear contact paper before removing the vinyl from the backing. Then I would transfer to the object being blasted and carefully remove the contact paper.

The purpose of the contact paper is to hold all the loose pieces of the text or image in place until they can be adhered to the piece being blasted.

[Larry Bratton]

I think 3m make a polyester based sign vinyl.....
Havent bothered with it for some time tho , cos we got a Roland print and cut large format thingy.
To addd to thois , Gcc supply the spirit and a few other lasers with a system that recognises printed crop marks and cuts with 100% precision when it reads em...
Why do you hate the plotter? The laser is pretty much iffy and butty with pvc and small letters if kiss cut , tend to weld themselves back , holding the vinyl flat is a mission as well.....

What we do with reflective works well. We are normally cutting out whole 36x24 tables of acrylic letters with it on them. We apply it to the whole sheet of acrylic with a laminator and then cut the letter out. If you wanted to put just vinyl lettering say on acrylic or melamine, I would put a piece down the size I need, kiss cut the lettering and then weed the excess. I guess I don't like using the plotter is because my wife does the application and she doesn't like working with it. We don't do it every day, so she is not highly skilled in the application process. She likes working with the laser cut letters with the reflective. We have cut polyester paint masks and applied them to PVC plates (not in the laser) that works pretty well too.
We also have done what Mike said. Take the tape with the backing on, use a spray mount adhesive, kiss cut and then lift it off with application tape. We actually use the polyester stuff with the adhesive for that too. Its a little tricky but mostly a matter of technique.

[martin g. boekers]

Thanks for the tip Mike!

Sometimes the most obvious answers are hard to find.

I have been having a friend do smaller vinyl cut outs and now I'll give it another try!

Thanks,

Marty