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I've seen some people who have experienced some of the vinyl problems being addressed say they want to switch brands. I've also been asked if I planned to switch and I'm not really sure at this point. I've been very happy with avery and I guess it depends on how this thing is resolved. In the thought process I've had a lot of different thoughts, but this one struck me.
There are 2 kinds of vinyl users...those who have had a failure or issue and those who haven't yet.
Some swear by 3M. I'm glad they haven't had problems and knock-on-wood they won't. But I wonder did 3M NEVER have problems? Has their vinyl been perfect since inception? And if so, does that make them immune to problems in the future or are the odds just mounting against them?
Guess I'm just wondering about the odds here. I'd think with as long as 3M has been around, if there were never any issues, they may be "overdue" so jumping ship to 3M may not be such a great idea. If there were issues, was it handled to the satisfaction of those affected? And if there were issues, they were corrected and now everything is hunky-dorry, why shouldn't we expect smooth sailing from here on out from avery?
stay tuned for more miscellaneous thoughts on the issue.
-------------------- Chris Welker Wildfire Signs Indiana, Pa Posts: 4254 | From: Indiana, PA | Registered: Mar 2001
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posted
here's my opinion. I have always preferred Gerber(3M). I have NEVER had problems with it. I started using sparcal because of colors I needed that gerber didn't have. Then I changed vendors that also sold sparcal, but I could buy small quantities so I didn't have to have 10 yard rolls sitting on the shelf not being used. Then Avery bought(?) sparcal, my opinion- it's been downhill after that (A8). For the most part I use premium vinyl. I do however use Avery A6 for VERY short term/disposable jobs. No problems with A6. I also have used calon/arlon with no problems (choice because of particular color need).
-------------------- Share-in Y Reardon Carter's sign shop, inc. 2365 Francis Av., Naples, FL Posts: 29 | From: naples,fl,usa | Registered: Apr 2000
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Here's a case of developing false notions based on bias.
Spar-Cal was always almost exclusively Avery product! They simply bought Spartan International to garner a few divisions that Spartan had built up brand recognition and decent sales in...one of which was Spar-Cal brand computer vinyl.
So if you liked "Spar-cal" before the buyout...you should like it now.
Spartan International simply bought large logs of Avery vinyl, and converted it....cut it down and punched it and boxed it with the Spar-Cal name.
This is no big secret....a lot of people do that.
Avery makes a darn good product....hang in there...they'll get over this little speedbump.
posted
I've had problems at one time or another with nearly every brand of film out there.
The worst one ever was with 3M on clear liner in 48 inch logs. The liner had a random defect of not having any release characteristics in places. You could cut it, weed it and never realize it until you attempted to apply it. Then parts of the lettering wouldn't lift off the liner. It took 3M 6 months to finally agree to take it all back and make a full refund. It took us more than two years to return to the sales levels we were at before this defect cost us a lot of customers.
I've had Sparcal adhesive failures.
I've had FasCal HP film (Avery's predecessor) that the adhesive was not stronger than what's used on a Post-It note. You could literally fold the adhesive against itself, squeegee it down hard and then separate it from itself easily.
I've had Avery HP what was easily twice as thick on one side of the roll than the other.
I've had Oracal that wouldn't lift off the liner.
Manufacturing problems are part of the business. How the manufacturer deals with them is the main difference.
-------------------- Fred Weiss Allied Computer Graphics, Inc. 4620 Lake Worth Road Lake Worth, FL 33463 561 649-6300 allcompu@allcompu.com Posts: 427 | From: Lake Worth, Florida | Registered: Feb 2003
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