Its been a cold winter, but we are all gearing up for a run on the 2003 sign season...right? Right!
So post those tips and tricks that you have found save some time and money and are just really cool!
It doesn't matter if the tips and tricks are old news, someone will benefit from the post!
So here is my trick:
Roller covers can be placed inside a small plastic garbage bag or a plastic supermarket bag for temporary storage. Wrap it tight and it wont dry out for several days! Laytex or oil!
You can also use the supermarket bags to line your paint tray so the bag goes in the garbage and the paint tray doesn't need cleaned up!
If you have alot of paint left over in a gallon, leave the roler cover inside the paint can and put the lid back on! It will keep for months.
If you have a figerator nearby, you can bag your roller as above and place it in the freezer! Thaw when ready for the next use!
Now here is the coolest thing I ever learned with roller covers, at least in my opinion:
When working with latex paints, wash out the roller under the sink tap to get most of the paint out...then throw it in the washing machine with the low water setting on. After the washing machine spins out, the roller cover will look brand new! This only works if the roller cover has a plastic inner tube...cardbord inners wont hold up in the washer. If you are out on a job, just roll the cover up in a pkastic bag till you get back home to the washing machine or head to the nearest laundromat! hahaahahaha
Ok. Its your turn to add to the thread! So lets here your favorite tricks! Posted by cheryl nordby (Member # 1100) on :
good tips Dave! My week was interesting. I learned never to leave my new puppy with my plotter while I go get more coffee. He thought it was great fun tugging at the vinyl that was moving back and forth. (he made quite a mess)
And once again...I learned to take the time to dispose of old blades properly. *ouch*.
And of course the ole' order more than you need advice....(I ran out of the color I was doing a bunch of metal signs with). ~sigh~
Posted by kc (Member # 650) on :
Hi Dave. Nice to have an "on topic" thread.
In the past I have purchased 6" round redwood or cedar finials from Bruce Post Co. for, like, $60 each. A new Lowe's just opened near me and I found 6" plastic globes for, like, $2 in the lighting department that I will paint with the new Fusion plastic paint from Krylon, then gild. Why not? I suppose Frog Juice would also work as an undercoat.
Precaution: Scuff surface first with a Scotchbright and clean with denatured alcohol.
Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
Not exactly sign related...BUT...Use the wonderful system tool in Windows called "defragment". I just finished defragmenting the hard drives on both computers and What a difference!!!! It is something I used to do many years ago when hard drive size was limited but with 20-40 GIG hard drives it is something I forgot about.
Try it..you might be surprised at the increase in speed!! Posted by Steve Burke (Member # 2674) on :
Dave- I have been tempted to defrag recently. I did do it a while ago after a WIndows re-install just because I thought it took 10 minutes (I confused "DEFRAG" with "SCANDISK")- big mistake- took 3-1/2 hrs!!
When and why do you do it? I only surf the Net and play games- would that warrant a defrag every so often??
Posted by Elaine Beauchemin (Member # 136) on :
fast e-mail proof images from corel
in draw when your design is ready press F9 - to get full screen preview (enhance mode) press the "print screen" to capture the screen
open photo paint file new from clip board crop to your drawing resample if necessary save as jpg
Posted by roger bailey (Member # 556) on :
I have 20 gigs, and I defrag/dump at least 1 time a month.
Every time you visit a website, your putor KEEPS info. , I have found the strangest bits and pieces here and there.
And yes, it certainly speeds things up.
Roger Posted by Bob Burns (Member # 268) on :
Dave..... THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! ......for initiating this post! Finally.....something that is relavant to this BB. My Tip?......ALWAYS GET A DEPOSIT!
[ March 10, 2003, 11:46 AM: Message edited by: Bob Burns ]
Posted by Mark Yearwood (Member # 2723) on :
My tip for the day: Attend a LIVE Letterhead meet...SOMEWHERE, ANYWHERE!! There is nowhere else that you can spend $65 and learn so much, be so inspired or meet so many friends in 3 days!
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
Tips on Defrag.
Be sure to turn off everything running in the background, including screensaver. If any program gives a command, it changes the file structure, and Defrag starts over.
With an 80 Gig drive it takes mine about 5 hours to run Defrag. About once a month I turn off all unnecessary programs, start Defrag, turn off the monitor, and lock the door to go home for the night. When I return the next morning, I reboot and the computer zips right along compared to the day before.
Posted by Talisman (Member # 1869) on :
My tip for locating a “sharp” pencil in my workshop.
Buy a couple of 20 packs of pencils. (they are cheep) Sharpen them all. Place them, sharpened end up, in an empty coffee can. Place the can in a conspicuous place on your workbench. Any time you need a sharp pencil you will have one available. Without looking all over the place!!!
As the pencil dulls, or the tip snaps off, place it back in the can with the eraser end up. You will never grab a dull one. And once a year you can spend the 10 minutes to sharpen all the dull or broken ones. Then return them to the can, sharpened end up.
I have been doing that for about the last 7 years in my workshop. No more looking for a pencil!
Try it! Joe
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
Good one Joe! I finally got sick & tired of hunting down my sizzors in a 100 sq. ft. vinyl production/weeding area. I keep 4 pair in there & can usually put my hand on one without much effort.
Other tips... (simple obvious ones, good for some hopefully)
Doing simple vinyl sign layouts, I try to remember to design with maximum vinyl width in mind. I have 15" & 24" material with 13" & 22-1/2" max. cut respectively. A few times I have drawn a banner layout with 2 lines of 7" text in one color & the other color was a few inches less then capacity. I hate creating extra work, but also don't like geting a layout approved only to change it in production, so I'm more careful about that now.
I am a big fan of cutting a keyline on some vinyl signs. If I am making a 12" x 18" "Reserved Parking" sign, I include the 12" x 18" cutline & only weed inside of it. After masking, I cut it to about 12-1/2" x 18-1/2" with an extra 1/4" of excess vinyl all around the layout. I cut across the lower corners, & then cut of the top strip of excess completely. This makes quick work of slapping it down on the substrate, & taping a hinge after lining up where the substrate corners appear inside my excess strips of vinyl.
For anyone who doesn't already do this, it sounds like a lot of extra work to just save using a ruler to center a job, but it can be good when having a helper apply, & also on a job like I will be doing this week with 50+ nameplates 2" x 10", even being "good with a ruler" my method will save a lot of time, & all lines of copy will be level.
Also, to add to Daves "paint roller in a grocery bag" tip, I was taught to roll a few sheets of paper towel around it & dampen it before bagging it. I've sometimes waited too long to still salvage it, but I believe that magic number of how long is too long, may go up from this extra step.
Last tip I can think of right now... ask client what is there budget. I often feel on-the-spot to give the "right" number in an early discussion when they ask what a sign might cost long before I have enough details ironed out to really know my costs. I usually sense that these days, everyone the lowest price. I recently started muttering about how a basic design could maybe be drawn & applied to 2 doors for "as little as $300" when the client practically interupted me to say she was thinking about $700. I felt a little foolish about opening my mouth, but considered it a lesson learned to put them on-the-spot first. I offered her a few various priced options & in the end got the $700, & gave myself a chance to do a better design then usual.
[ March 10, 2003, 09:48 PM: Message edited by: Doug Allan ]
Posted by Myra Grozinger (Member # 327) on :
Great tips. Just looking around I saw one thing I do that may not be too common. I get 12 " pieces of PVC - diameter 6 1/2 or so inches, I glue them on top of each other with PVC glue. If I line up 4 and glue up three rows the total "package" is 18x 25 inches. Pick it up and put it anywhere, under tables, whatever. I lay the pipes horizontally, and it holds 12 rolls of vinyl beautifully. You see what you have, and with that size you can categorize things, place them into unused areas, or queue them up.
Posted by Steve Burke (Member # 2674) on :
Someone told me a good one-
Put a strip of premask on your squeegee and it will ease scratching your vinyl, and is cheaper than sleeves!! I also heard that the fuzzy half of velcro works well, too.
on the 'puter side of things- backup, backup backup!!!
[ March 10, 2003, 02:20 PM: Message edited by: Steve Burke ]
Posted by Lotti Prokott (Member # 2684) on :
Dave's tip about keeping the roller in the freezer works, but- don't ever put it in the same freezer with food. This applies particularly to the freezer compartment in your fridge. Here in Canada it's no problem for six month of the year, simply put it outside and it remains frozen... Otherwise I use Saran Wrap to keep the rollers from drying. Works well.
For design inspiration I save pictures of great signs and set them as background for a week or two. Hopefully my subconsiousness will soak in the picture and inspire me at a later date.
Posted by KARYN BUSH (Member # 1948) on :
this is for folks who put borders around their signs...i use 24" vinyl and sometimes you don't need all of the 24" or something is 16" x 36" so there's plenty of space for border lines and rather than have a scrap that will undoubtly get ruined i cut 1/2" or 1/4" borders to fill the void so i have them on hand.
Posted by Rookie432 (Member # 1754) on :
My father-in-law a 30 year signmaking veteran has a great way of keeping those rollers fresh for up to a week. Get yourself a twinpack of Pringles. Eat 'em and look inside the can. there is just enough empty space to fit a standard paint roller. The can is designed to be fairly airtight so freshness is built in. I've adopted this and it works great.
Posted by James Donahue (Member # 3624) on :
I've been wanting to tell people about this for awhile, so now's a good time. Call it " Fun With Pegboard!" I need a sketch of the 50's-era handyman, with obligatory tobacco pipe. Anyway, we've just moved into a different rental house. I like to have an easel at the house to do some signs on, I can be with the family, watch the kids for the wife, whatever. Normally, I use a piece of thick plywood, on two verticle 2x4's. The 2x4's have holes drilled in them, with BIG nails supporting the plywood. This allows the ply to be raised or lowered by repositioning the nails. I needed an easel pronto, and the only thing handy was a 4x8 of pegboard. Well, no more adjusting! It holds round signs real well, tools in the little holders they sell, and stabillos park neatly in the holes. Also, has anyone besides me got experience with a product called "Diamond-clad" from Sherwinn-Williams? It's a uerathane clear coat that we're using to finish R.R. locomotives. About a hundred bucks a gallon, three part, Real serious smelling stuff. I don't think it's a glorified varnish. I for one REALLY like the stuff. One of the last steps to painting one of these pieces of equipment is big numbers on the side (43 in. tall one shot white). The very next day I apply the clear coat,lay it on heavy, with no ill effects. Ever. No blistering, lifting, nothing. The product holds up to the demands of life on the track. If sign and vehicle graphics people havn't allready checked this stuff out, they need to. Jim.
Posted by Mark Fair Signs (Member # 289) on :
what to get bigger holes in your pounce pattern using the "electro-pounce" ?
lay down 2 layers of paper on the metal surface before pouncing.
Posted by Bob Stephens (Member # 858) on :
For those who use the round aluminum exacto knives, they will sometimes roll off of your work surface and miraculously fall straight down and impale your foor or worse yet, slice of something more valuable if you happen to work in the nude.
Take the plastic cap off an old bic pen, the ones with the clip that hold them to your shirt pocket. Place it permanently on the butt end of your exacto holder and when you lay the knife down it can't roll. Stay put where you leave them.
[ March 10, 2003, 09:55 PM: Message edited by: Bob Stephens ]
Posted by Stephen Deveau (Member # 1305) on :
My tip is!
When removing skin in the one shot cans or sturring up paint were the pigment has settled on the bottom Use an old fork! Great for mixing as you can turn it as fast as you can and it won't spill over.
LINDA!!!!!! Were did all the forks go from the drawer? Posted by Elaine Beauchemin (Member # 136) on :
This one is from the BB
when you get a new can of one shot don't open it put 2 screws on the lid
The paint won't get air in it and won't skin pour as needed.
Posted by Donna in BC (Member # 130) on :
If you ever have to apply vinyl right in an area where there's a huge rivet that you can't apply over and can't remove the rivet, here's what I do.
Get a light impression of the rivet placement with a pencil rub, lay the decal down, and pound a perfectly round hole where the rivet placement is with (oh gosh, I don't know what they're called...) hole punchers. They're metal, come in different sizes and with one smack of your hammer, they leave a perfect circle every time. Work best when you have a piece of wood underneath, and I like using a rubber mallot.
Posted by Dave Draper (Member # 102) on :
Wow! great tips! I can really use that peg board easel idea. I have 4 sheets of peg board under my work table I was about to throw out...I think I will just build a double face easel and use those sheets up.
This is an old tip: and I got so frustrated today I actually used it! If you have a pounce bag with talcum or baby powder in it, dust the inside of a plastic garbage bag so that when you throw vinyl away it wont stick to the side of the bag.
If you don't know what a pounce bag is, then take a sock and fill it with baby powder and wrap duck tape around the end. When it gets hot out and you get all sweaty, you can dust yourself off! hahahahahahh! Least you will smell better!
Posted by Michel Thibodeau (Member # 310) on :
Hi Head
Here's a neet software i got from download.com it's called Multi Clipboard 1.1 you can use it to copy up to 9 files, clipart and other stuff so you can copy and past files from corel, signlab, flexy ect... save's alot of time.
to save some bucks on paintmask you can make your paintmask from premask just take some premask and apply it to the back of a scrap peice of vinyl paper cut it out on you cutter (do a test before to set your down force) and you just weed it like vinyl put some more premask on it then apply it dry then paint.
On my computer a got 2 60 GB hard disk 1 is for my software like windows, corel, autocad, signlab, ect.. my working drive as i call it, then i have my save drive that's my HD that i put all my files in i got no software in that one i just save my files in it and i also put all my fonts in it my cliparts like vectorart so if i need a font i don't need to look for my font cd just go in my HD and install my font that i need same with the clipart just go get the one that you need saves alot of time plus it alot easier to do backup.
Hope this help some one Michel
Posted by AdrienneMorgan (Member # 1046) on :
I have never understood that putting the roller in the freezer bit....I have no idea why anyone would want to freeze a roller full of paint, unless they need to save it for a couple of years or so.....
a roller with latex paint will last a really long time sealed in a ziplock bag, spritz a bit of water in from time to time if it looks a little dry.
And if you put it in YOUR freezer, and you have ANY food in the freezer OR the fridge, you WILL, I repeat, WILL have to toss it all out.
OK....now, for my goofy tips....
In a pinch, when I have forgotten a few items for a job in the field I've used...
A eyeliner pencil for a grease pencil
Rouge powder for pounce powder
a piece of cardboard for a pallet, ruler, straight edge...
I've found that when i can't see the cut lines to weed vinyl, I'll lightly rub talc or a pinch of charcoal dust over the vinyl. I can see the lines better....(the dust will lift away with the transfer tape.)
I use old magnetic scrap and put my phone number and the word 'signs' with vinyl and stick them to the outside of my van. People can help themselves while i'm parked around town.
Good thread, Dave
[ March 12, 2003, 04:13 AM: Message edited by: AdrienneMorgan ]
Posted by roger bailey (Member # 556) on :
Remove vinyl FAST with "heat tree lamp" from body shop supply store.
These fixtures roll around on small wheeled rack, they are light weight (easy to take with you).
They are less likely to burn you or substrates, they are adjustable in various ways, they will heat up a 4x4 ft. area in the time it takes to get a "heat gun" ready to use. They are aprox. $250.00, but worth SOOO much more
Roger
Posted by Mark Yearwood (Member # 2723) on :
Great tips Adrienne, but I bet my wife will think I've flipped when I ask for some eyeliner and rouge for my sign kit! Posted by Tom Bahr (Member # 2925) on :
Great tips everybody! I've done 100's of sandblasted cedar & redwood signs. We service alot of Golf Courses. Any time-savers in this area would be appreciated. One that I've figured out through frustration. The time it takes to stain or paint the background grain of the wood can be reduced greatly and with better results. Use an old shop vac or at least an old hose for your shop vac to suck up the pooled stain or paint in the fins of the grain. This allows you to be less fussy when applying. You can slop it on heavy and quick, then go over it with the vac. The result is consistant with great coverage. When done, hang your hose out of the way over a container.
Posted by Gene Uselman (Member # 2508) on :
This is in the vein of Rogers heat lamp tip. We have 3 twin halogen 'work lamps' on adjustable stands- they will also heat a good sized area of the panel to remove graphics- we often have one on each door of a truck- for removal or just to warm them up quickly for application in the winter. Gene
Posted by Steve Shortreed (Member # 436) on :
[ January 26, 2009, 09:07 PM: Message edited by: Barb. Shortreed ]
Posted by Talisman (Member # 1869) on :
Great tips all!
Tom Bahr I will definitely try that one!!! I have been doing the opposite. Clearing the pools with compressed air….
Messy is an understatement! No more!! Thanks.
Joe
Posted by Terry Whynott (Member # 1622) on :
This is an old one for anyone that keeps rolled striping in stock. If you need a size smaller than what you have, wrap a piece of the stripe around and tape it fairly tight. Push a sharp blade through all layers and pull the stripe through.
Posted by Stephen Deveau (Member # 1305) on :
Never let your wife throw out her Nylons or Knee highs!
If you need to Strain paint for Airbrushing/Brushwork Etc! Then they are great filters for doing such!
They feel great on the legs too! Ha!Ha!Ha!Ha! Posted by Robert Larkham (Member # 2913) on :
Don't sit on the curb on trash day!
Tite Bond II woodworkers glue for sealing the edges of MDO.
Posted by cheryl nordby (Member # 1100) on :
Hahahaha Rob!!
Here's another: Don't squat with yer spurs on! Posted by AdrienneMorgan (Member # 1046) on :
Tom...I don't have a shop vac, will a drinking straw do?
OK...maybe not such a good idea, huh?
A;)
Posted by Brian (Member # 39) on :
I have used a rotozip bit in both my drill press for cutting out small letters (get the RPM's up there!) and in my router since I dont have a roto tool. Dremel makes an adapter the bit fits in and it works in the router 1/4"
For production style layouts cut a piece of coroplast (or similar) to the size you need and use that to measure instead of a tape measure. I cut one piece to the longest measurement andn then make tick marks for any shorter measurements needed - save alot of time with prodution jobs and more consistent.
Panty hose and rouge? Im startin to worry about this place!
Posted by Arthur Vanson (Member # 2855) on :
When dry-applying vinyl graphics, wider than arms length, and you don’t have anyone to help with alignment, there are a variety of solutions; cut into manageable sections, shuffle adjust with masking tape etc.
Lately I’ve been using Neodymium magnets on steel bodied vehicles or substrates. I find they can be easier to use than masking tape because you can slide the graphic into alignment. It’s best to use just one on each end of the baseline until happy with both vertical and horizontal positioning, then add a couple more near the top for security. Separate and snip an inch of carrier paper of one end and hinge as normal. I like the ½in x ¼” rods because there is enough magnet to get hold of when removing.
You can have great fun with these amazing magnets, but be careful they can be dangerous. It can be a bit freaky to have an un-braked vehicle follow you down the road when carrying one of the larger ones about your person
Joking apart they can nip quite hard and you should read the warnings with care.
With solvent based paint in a roller, just submerge it in a bucket of water. Next day just shake the water off and its ready. Ditto Lotti's post, dont put it in a fridge with food in it. Years back I had company over eating birthday cake that hed been in the same freezer with the roller covers and everyone commented on a funny taste & smell in the cake. I recognized it as blockout white. Yuk. The roller were even wrapped in a plastic bag with a twist tie.
Posted by roger bailey (Member # 556) on :
Hey Arthur, approach substrate, clean with Rapid Prep, measure & mark area, spray substrate liberally with Rapid Tac or Tac II,peel liner, place & posistion film, squeegee firmly center out in all directions,spray trans tape, peel at 45degree angle, your done !!!!
Just a thought.
Roger Posted by Arthur Vanson (Member # 2855) on :
Roger,
Rapid Prep, Rapid Tac? – never heard of them! How do you do a dry-application with such products?
Arthur
[ March 15, 2003, 04:21 AM: Message edited by: Arthur Vanson ]
Posted by Desire Rusovsky (Member # 2876) on :
You could also use the magnet of the fridge door the magnetic band which allow the fridge to be closely closed.
Really nice stuff and free.
Posted by Rick Beisiegel (Member # 3723) on :
Hey
It's 60 degrees in Michigan!!!!
Easy vinyl removal can be had with a cool little tool I got from Sharpline Converting. Takes the vinyl AND adhesive. I have removed 13 year old vinyl with it. It actually shoots steam through the pours and loosens it. No damaged paint, Goodbye heatgun! Just be sure to have a good lil chizler too. I am a distributor, but there are others too. It costs about $89.
Posted by James Donahue (Member # 3624) on :
I've got another one, couldn't resist. Stabbilo pencils aren't cheap, especially factoring in the aquisition hassle. So when they get short, I use a little brass pipe I got from the art store. It's a bit too large, so I crimped the end with a pair of pliars. Now I use them all the way down to a qtr. inch nub. I'm wondering if there's such a thing as a cheap-guy contest anywhere. I've got a shot at all time world's champion! Jim.
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
James,
See Mike Languein's "Lenny" posts. You'll probably only get second place.
My tip: I had an math challenged employee who could never find the center of anything. I started putting little vertical cut lines in signs cut on the plotter, making sure they did not cut into the letters. When weeding, he found the centers of the lines of copy. That didn't solve his problems of finding centers of substrates, however.
Posted by ScooterX (Member # 2023) on :
i almost never use a measuring tape to find the middle of things. on a large project (wall or window) i'll use my snap line -- tape down one end, string out to the other end, then fold it in half. the halfway point is the middle.
i find the middle of vinyl graphics by folding the piece in half and making a tiny crease in the top or bottom. (i had assumed everybody did this, but maybe not).
i use the snap-line string as a compass to draw circles (tie the pencil to one end and stick a pin where you want the center). just be sure to keep even tension all the way around. you can wind the pencil up to get inlines and guides for lettering, too.
Posted by Tom & Kathy Durham (Member # 776) on :
My tip is marry someone who understands you. My first wife didn't have a clue. The trick is to find one. I did (a signperson to boot) Down to basics. We went and found a hardware store going out business and bought the Large shelf brackets (16"), that go on peg board. We spaced them for all our vinyl rolls. You can get about 50 rolls on a 2'x8' peg board. Cost for all was about $20.
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
This is a tip from my brother, Dan. If you are like him (and me), you can never find a tape measure when you need one, even though you find it impossible to leave Home Depot without a brand new impulse-bought 25' Stanley hooked to your belt.
Dan purchased about twenty 1/2" x 12' tape measures at Harbor Freight for something like $1.49 each. He sprinkled them liberally around his plotter, on the dashboards of his vehicles, by his computer, by his saws in his workshop, by his substrate storage, by his weeding and work tables, etc. Now, there is always a tape measure within reach when needed.
Posted by David O'Hanlon (Member # 2754) on :
Use electrical heat shrink to replace the "flooglebinders" on the end of bootlaces.
Posted by Bill Cosharek (Member # 1274) on :
Anybody think they have too many fonts? Well, you might be right; but not necessarily. While browsing a few font sites on the web, I found an excellent utility on the Letterheadfonts' site called "The Font Thing". Its a free download which makes font group creation simple. It differs from Font Navigator in that it doesn't install the groups. It just loads them into ram memory for current sessions. (Actually, it has the option to install them too. But I find that unnecessary as the load method works fine by itself.) If you shut down the computer you must reload them before opening whichever program you'll use them in. Its a lot easier than loading up the taskbar individually. And when you're done with them TFT can unload them if you don't want them kept open.
So now I'm cleaning out my windows\fonts directory of most decorative (not necessary for basic program operations) fonts & moving them out of windows directory, into another directory on another partition. Incidentally, I think partitioning is the way to go, especially with large HDs. Break'm down into smaller drives & defragging 1 at a time goes a lot faster; especially if you only defrag what needs to be. With the fancy fonts off of c:\windows\fonts, startup is a little quicker.
Here's some advice for using "The Font Thing" (TFT for short). I found this out the long way today (well yesterday now). In order to add fonts to groups, they cannot already be installed. Copy the fonts you want to move out of c\w\f & make sure they're uninstalled. Copying may not be necessary but insures you don't lose them. I tried over & over again yesterday to move 1 font into a group, but windows denied permission. Tried both boots & still wouldn't work. Finally noticed the font still listed in Font Navigator & after deleting from there, it made it into the group. (was already deleted from windows dir - but FN kept track of it anyway - why I don't know)
Another nice feature is the ability to preview fonts in any size by using a slider control to adjust point sizes.
Makes you want to acquire as many nice fonts as you can afford, knowing they don't have to be installed to use them. Works Great! Must go thru current collections first. Toss em in a remote partition & let TFT find em.
PS: For those here who have font creations on that site, really nice work. Also, look in SignCraft for font sites listed within, showing samples.
Just saw that www.letterheadfonts.com has a screensaver honoring Rick Glawson, free to anyone who wants it. A really nice tribute.
[ March 18, 2003, 01:40 PM: Message edited by: Bill Cosharek ]
Posted by Shirley Carron (Member # 2446) on :
this one's only handy if you have someone who sends you roses regularly....
When you get flowers and they have those little plastic tubes (usually containing water) save the tubes and the rubber caps.
If/when you're on a job site, you can fill them with water or a bit of thinner and 'cap' your paintbrushes as a tempoary fix until you can clean the brush properly.
You could also just get some from a friendly florist.
Next tip: create a file or files on your computer for your own collection of clipart. I start all these files with 'ca' and then whatever they contain. for example all the arrows, from corel, sign dna etc are all in one handy file in flexi called 'caarrows', that way whenever I need one I don't have to look 'em up from numerous other sources.I also have 'capanelshapes', 'cabullets' etc.(you get the idea)
Posted by Miles Cullinane (Member # 980) on :
Here’s my tip, which I learned on this site but there is no harm in repeating something like this.
If you are drilling in a location that is awkward to clean up the dust or the dust could fall in a delicate location then just tape up an envelope in the suggested position and it will catch most of the dust. Posted by Alan Ackerson (Member # 3224) on :
Last night I found out magnetic sheeting only needs to be scored instead of digging in to make a clean swipe through. Once the score is made through the top coat, the magnet "folds" real clean and nicey nice.
Chalk one up for a happy accident!
Posted by Robert Thomas (Member # 1356) on :
Sometimes, I have a hard time seeing the cut lines when I am weeding or doing a spray fade in vinyl. Try dusting with the appropriate color pounce bag, lighty, then wipe off the excess, some will remain in the cut so you can see it.
If I get some small stuff that's hard to weed, I stop, put it on my dash board of my truck and roll up the windows, or tape it to the inside of a shop window facing the sun. In a while, depending on the weather the vinyl shrinks away and you can see and weed it better. A heat gun works as well.
Cheers
Posted by DONALD THOMPSON (Member # 3726) on :
Always store your paint cans upside-down. When they skin it will be on the bottom and all of the pigment is at the top and easier to mix in. On painting sandblasted signs, use a dry brush to pull out the puddles. That is a good idea with the lights for heating up vinyl. I will have to pick up a couple soon. Thanks An old trick told to me by a house painter is, after you wash out your brush, tap the ferril on the toe of your shoe. Leave your heel on the ground and pull your toe up. The excess water will go on the ground.This is much easier on your elbow. This works best on bigger brushes, not lettering brushes.
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Otherwise I use Saran Wrap to keep the rollers from drying. Works well.
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(a signperson to boot)