# What can you do with a vinyl cutter?



## GeordieLad

Guys

stoopid question of the day.....

By accident I find that I will be in possession of a Roland GX-24 as of Thursday afternoon (paying full retail, just didn't realise funds were going to be available)................

I expect to be making shirt decorations from vinyl and cutting Opaque laser printed transfer material.

My questions is (since the cutter has to pay for itself) what else could I make /decorate with this piece of kit? Car stickers, safety notices......

I'd love to see some examples of what others have done and perhaps learn some vinyl layering techniques, would definitely be grateful to pointed at any web sites that have ideas and/or tutorials. I will definitely feedback anything I learn into these forums.

much obliged

Craig Rippon
Custom Tees
Brisbane, Australia


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## Chani

I don't have any pictures of examples that we've done, but yes, you can make signs and car stickers and other things with your plotter. 

They're very versitile machines!


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## theflowerboxx

Here is where you can learn about sign vinyl from the pros. Signforums.com (Powered by Invision Power Board)


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## mystysue

we make alot of cut vinyl signs.. just a few examples of what you can do.. are..
parking lot signs.. directional signs, menu boards for resturants, aframe signs, real estate signs, banners, backlit signs, window lettering, car graphics, magnets, .. just to name a few....
any thing that can be cad cut and laid on a substrate can me made with your vinyl cutter..

just a couple weeks ago we did 24 megaphones for the USC cheer leader team. all with cut vinyl.

ill try to bring the pictures home from the shop and post some.. so you can see..


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## GeordieLad

I would love to see some piccies, thank you.


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## tdeals

Home decor can be done with vinyl that I find quite slick! Just learning about this recently. There's an active thread about that going here:

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/vinyl-signs-decals/t39777-2.html#post235006

Decorating items, such as video game gear/controllers, model cars and many other items can be done with vinyl too:

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/vinyl-signs-decals/t28953.html

Vinyl Cutter + Wii (NOTCOT)
(This person used a Graphtec CE5000 cutter a friend gave them as a gift and went to town with it!)

AB


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## Chani

AdriaticBlue said:


> Vinyl Cutter + Wii (NOTCOT)
> (This person used a Graphtec CE5000 cutter a friend gave them as a gift and went to town with it!)
> 
> AB


I want those kinds of friends!


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## dcurtisroland

AdriaticBlue said:


> Home decor can be done with vinyl that I find quite slick! Just learning about this recently. There's an active thread about that going here:
> 
> http://www.t-shirtforums.com/vinyl-signs-decals/t39777-2.html#post235006
> 
> Decorating items, such as video game gear/controllers, model cars and many other items can be done with vinyl too:
> 
> http://www.t-shirtforums.com/vinyl-signs-decals/t28953.html
> 
> Vinyl Cutter + Wii (NOTCOT)
> (This person used a Graphtec CE5000 cutter a friend gave them as a gift and went to town with it!)
> 
> AB


Adriatic,
Good to see you're experimenting. You can try iPod wraps, game controllers, laptop wraps, print/cut heat transfers for anything sublimated (mouse pads for example).
If you're really interested in experimenting, try cutting stencils for paint masking and airbrushing, or cutting colored window films to mimic stained glass. 
Remember, if it's a two ply material, a vinyl cutter can handle it. We only call them vinyl cutters, because vinyl was the first two-ply material to become well known. They could just as easily be called CAD/CUT cutters or window tint cutters!

You're only limited by your imagination.

Hope this helps,
-Dana


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## tdeals

dcurtisroland said:


> Adriatic,
> Good to see you're experimenting. You can try iPod wraps, game controllers, laptop wraps, print/cut heat transfers for anything sublimated (mouse pads for example).
> If you're really interested in experimenting, try cutting stencils for paint masking and airbrushing, or cutting colored window films to mimic stained glass.
> Remember, if it's a two ply material, a vinyl cutter can handle it. We only call them vinyl cutters, because vinyl was the first two-ply material to become well known. They could just as easily be called CAD/CUT cutters or window tint cutters!
> 
> You're only limited by your imagination.
> 
> Hope this helps,
> -Dana


Thanks for the reply! I'm not experimenting yet though I'm reading and researching quite a bit about the world of vinyl. My goal is to obtain a cutter after getting the opportunity to demo the models of interest, then do some of these neat things I'm seeing once I purchase.


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## SewDarnHot

dcurtisroland said:


> Adriatic,
> Good to see you're experimenting. You can try iPod wraps, game controllers, laptop wraps, print/cut heat transfers for anything sublimated (mouse pads for example).
> If you're really interested in experimenting, try cutting stencils for paint masking and airbrushing, or cutting colored window films to mimic stained glass.
> Remember, if it's a two ply material, a vinyl cutter can handle it. We only call them vinyl cutters, because vinyl was the first two-ply material to become well known. They could just as easily be called CAD/CUT cutters or window tint cutters!
> 
> You're only limited by your imagination.
> 
> Hope this helps,
> -Dana


 Hi,
I know this is an old post but I am getting a cutter soon and have a mug press. What type of vinyl can be used for sub printing.
thanks 
-KimberlyAnn


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## sunnydayz

Here is a really great thread that has a ton of ideas for things you can do with vinyl. http://www.t-shirtforums.com/vinyl-cutters-plotters-transfers/t54840.html. This thread pretty much covers everything you can do as alot of people has some really great ideas, some I did not know  Hope this helps.


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## redsweater

You can stick vinyl on anything non-porous. Some of my most creative projects have been placemats (I bought clear vinyl from a fabric store and added cut vinyl designs) and shower curtains (start with a solid plastic one and decorate). You can do things like mailbox numbers too. If you search for sign shop websites they can give you a ton of ideas and pictures.

You could go crazy and stick vinyl on other home items like blenders and toasters... but I'd stay away from toasters and other things that get hot because that will make the vinyl harder to get off later.

The main thing to know is that you'll want to use vector artwork, like what is created in Illustrator or CorelDraw. That way you don't have to convert anything and lose quality when you send it to the cutter.


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## recrisp

There's someone on another forum that sells these, I plan on looking into it at some point, when I have the time.
*UltraDome*

Go to the Products page to see the costs, which is cheap, but, I don't know if "you get what you pay for". 

Probably for small shops, crafts, and for those that just want to play around, it would be fine I would think.

Randy

*OOPS!*
I meant to put that post in the one that was linked above that mentioned the "doming", sorry...


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## BBDee

WE had a sign shop and also did sublimation. But we got into doing sport jerseys, putting names, numbers, and cheerleaders their shorts. At times that keep two people busy. The other thing was racecars, dirt track car every week. With all the new cut materials for heat pressing there are a lot of things to use your cutter for. It does take some practice and a good (but not real expensive) cutting program, EBay is a good source, look at vinyl cutter,


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## SewDarnHot

Thanks a bunch.
I knew of the obvious - Walls, cars and shirts but I never thought of things like placemats, shower curtains and glasses. great options.
As soon as I get my cutter I need to make a bunch of "samples"


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## bd777

Can you cut out re-usable, detailed stencils? Will it cut mylar or other popular stencil material? With small, curved details and such?


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## Corel Whisperer

bd777 said:


> Can you cut out re-usable, detailed stencils? Will it cut mylar or other popular stencil material? With small, curved details and such?


 BD, you can depending on the cutter. You might want to make this a new post to get more replies.


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## GN

I used to cut stencils for the Department of Defense helipcopters. All those markings on blackhawks, apaches, Kiowas etc.. were probably cut by ME!! 

I also did stencils for the Indian Airforce and Panama City, FL Police Department helicopters.


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