# shop layout? basic tools?



## queenVee (Aug 16, 2007)

My Uncle gave me a piece of his shop to start my business.. Got about 1200 sf... Getting a Roland Versacam VP 540 ..we plan on doing decals, Wraps, banners, t-shirts.. we are cluess on a shop layout? 

What size table do we build?
What basic tools do we buy, Squeech's 
scissors? etc
Whats in your toolbox that you have to have?
storage bins, tables, 
How do you hang up the Rolls of material
got an empty shop and 2 desks.. but dont know how to set up shop?
Help pleas


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## joeshaul (Mar 1, 2008)

Most of my tools don't take up too much space, I have one small box for Vinyl goods and a 100 cd "cake box", which I flipped upside down to hold my smaller stuff and my knives. Here's a breakdown on what I have:
A heat gun, used for conforming vinyl, some people use a propane torch for portability
X-actos
Straight edge razors
A few different sized squeegees
Decal scrapers (kind of a smaller squeegee, strange shaped)
A few bottles of RapidTac (usually use this for decals as I've had lots of "oops" with dry apps)
Various tapes (masking, double sided masking, and double sided foam).
Some adhesive removers
An edge sealer pen
General purpose cleaners (a clean substrate is the most important thing)

I also suggest a gallon bucket of some kind for the soap+water mix, as it'll be better for applying to vehicles for wraps since you'll be using a lot.

My vinyl area has the following: 
A vinyl rack (local vinyl dealer should have some, or be able to get some, basically it's a tall rack with u-shaped hooks that you slide the rolls onto, also holds your laminates and transfer paper).
One 4'x8' table for cutting/weeding (has cutting mats on it), since you have a 54" machine, you might want something a bit bigger. 
Then I have another 4'x8' which has my computers on it. 
You must also have space for your vinyl plotter/cutter and a laminator. 

Believe that covers most of what all I use specifically for vinyl. As a side note, I found wraps to be expensive and frustrating, since I had no prior experience with them. Due to the variety of other things our business does and our target markets, I leaned our business away from wraps, but if someone were to come in and drop $2500 on my lap to do one, I'd sure give it a good try 

If you haven't done wraps before, and don't plan on hiring someone who has the experience, I highly suggest taking a class on it. The ISA Expo had many different companies offering wrap training when I went last year. Roland also offers a wrap seminar. 

I had some minor vinyl experience before opening our shop, and my first wrap attempt was quite horrible, although over time it came out looking better and better (gotta love air release). I still made some pretty big errors and had to redo material and the like. Experience is the best teacher and I've heard many times before that it's a lot better to work under someone doing wraps for a year, so you make your mistakes there with their money and you also get to pick up the tips from more experienced individuals.


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## queenVee (Aug 16, 2007)

joeshaul said:


> Most of my tools don't take up too much space, I have one small box for Vinyl goods and a 100 cd "cake box", which I flipped upside down to hold my smaller stuff and my knives. Here's a breakdown on what I have:
> A heat gun, used for conforming vinyl, some people use a propane torch for portability
> X-actos
> Straight edge razors
> ...


Hi Joe, 
thank you so much.. My Uncle and I are trying to plan out the Shop Layout.. we are going to build a table.. guess a bigger one like you suggest.. under your 4x8 table do you have any storage or drawers?? trying to utilize the space under the working table...???  

Veronica...


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## joeshaul (Mar 1, 2008)

It's open, but not the sturdiest of designs (home made), allows us to store boxes of products underneath, however does wobble every once in awhile which is really bad when cutting anything on it. For the most part it's used for weeding and also as temporary placement for things. 

A company that I worked for prior had a nice solid table that was enclosed all the way around (except for some knee space) but it had no storage capabilities. One thing that was nice is they rigged up a transfer tape roll to the end of their table using some clamps and cylinders. It allowed one person to quickly and easily apply tape to their vinyl. Unfortunately I haven't made anything like that yet for our table.


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## queenVee (Aug 16, 2007)

joeshaul said:


> It's open, but not the sturdiest of designs (home made), allows us to store boxes of products underneath, however does wobble every once in awhile which is really bad when cutting anything on it. For the most part it's used for weeding and also as temporary placement for things.
> 
> A company that I worked for prior had a nice solid table that was enclosed all the way around (except for some knee space) but it had no storage capabilities. One thing that was nice is they rigged up a transfer tape roll to the end of their table using some clamps and cylinders. It allowed one person to quickly and easily apply tape to their vinyl. Unfortunately I haven't made anything like that yet for our table.


thank you!!


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## mystysue (Aug 27, 2006)

hey Vee.. I tired to get in last nite to message you a bit about my shop .. but weve had a week that was wild lol..

ok.. I have a 1,800 sq foot shop..and will do a bit of a list like joe did.. to give you an idea of what we have.. You can then determine if it fits into your plans.. hehe..

Our shop has a customer area.. with premade signs and stands and examples. 
plus a counter with a cash drawer and shelfs under..
our desks are in a nook kinda area.. when im sitting at my desk i am looking towards the front door. Its away from the work shop area a bit .. so customers can come into that area to check out designs and such on the computers.. (NO CUSTOMERS ARE ALLOWED INTO THE ACTUAL WORK AREA, AS IT HAS TOO MANY TOOL AND THINGS THAT THEY CAN GET HURT ON AND THEN SUE ME ) LOL

In


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## mystysue (Aug 27, 2006)

oops.. i pushed send by mistake on that last post so this is a continuance..
Behind the counter area is our front work area..
It is where the plotters, engraver, versacamm, heat press and other misc. toys.. umm i mean tools..
It has two tables that are 4 ft by 8ft.. end to end so i have an area that can be 4 ft by 16 ft.
One of the the tables has one of those self healing cutting mats on it that is 4 x 8 ( i love the mats and highly recommend them.
The tables have a shelf under them that holds alot of materials and such.
On the end of one table is two huge eye hooks that a pole the size of a broom handle goes on that holds a role of magnet material.. We cut the magnets to size as needed.

On the opposite end of the other table is a metal shear to cut aluminum to size for signs.


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## mystysue (Aug 27, 2006)

The tables are in the middle of the room which allows work to be done from both sides and also gives us room on the walls to put shelfs and such..
Along one of the walls.. is a folding table that holds our graphec plotter (the old one that i aways say is an antigue) next to that is a little desk computer table that has the machine that runs that machine.
we store the 20 inch rolls of vinyl under that table on the floor.. (standing on there end) It has been done this way in the shop for 15 years without any adverse affects to the vinyl lol..
We use so much vinyl that it doesnt have time to go bad.
(the 15" rolls are stored on the shelf under one of the work tables)
along the same wall is the engraver, its puter, the heat press, the paper cutter, the cutter for plastics, and the corner rounders. 

In the back room we have a 4 x 8 foot work table that has 4' leafs on each end that fold up to make another 4 x 16 table.
shelfs with hard ware / hand tools / and things like that.. lol..
and one the other wall I have a wall easel for working on banners and such..
Its 4 ft high by 24 ft long.. (this is the greatest thing since white bread)


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## mystysue (Aug 27, 2006)

The Versacamm has a wall all its own in the front work room . and most of the vinyl and banner material for it we keep right near it.. as these things weigh more than you can posible image.


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## mystysue (Aug 27, 2006)

Basic supplies you may need or want..
1. squeegies for applying cut vinyl.. ( I recommend the gold 3M ones) cheap squeegies will not work as well and the gold ones you can keep the edges sharp on really easy. 
2. felt squeegies for applying digital prints and printed decals
3. xacto knifes 
4 rapid tac for applyin cut vinyl is a good idea if you want to apply wet.. ( i apply cut vinyl sometimes with the wet method but always apply digital prints dry...)
5. rapid remover for removing old vinyl adhesive from things.
6. this little thing called a little chisler you can find in sign supply books help to remove old vinyl. 
7. heat gun and small torch for doing wraps..
8. rivet brushes for applying wraps over rivets.
9. metal rulers, ranging from 18 inches to 48 inches
10. application tape.. ( i use both the kind that looks like masking tape and clear ) I have this in sizes ranging from 1 inch to 24 inches wide the supply place cuts it for me in any size i want .
11. Big Squeegee (that is the brand name) for applying large prints and laying application tape. (This is one item i couldnt live without)


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## mystysue (Aug 27, 2006)

12. grommets for banners
13. grommet machine.. (I have a big one it works really easy but its not cheap to buy)
14. banner hem tape

If you are going to be making signs like metal ones and such.. .. the things that I would recommend are:
a corner rounder. (we never send signs out of here without round corners, and magnets for cars should aways have the corners rounded) 
a hole punch for metal (its so much easier and neater than drilling a whole and saves us so much time. )

I know there is more.. Ill add when i think of them lol..
I know it looks like im writting a novel...


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## mystysue (Aug 27, 2006)

joeshaul said:


> It's open, but not the sturdiest of designs (home made), allows us to store boxes of products underneath, however does wobble every once in awhile which is really bad when cutting anything on it. For the most part it's used for weeding and also as temporary placement for things.
> 
> A company that I worked for prior had a nice solid table that was enclosed all the way around (except for some knee space) but it had no storage capabilities. One thing that was nice is they rigged up a transfer tape roll to the end of their table using some clamps and cylinders. It allowed one person to quickly and easily apply tape to their vinyl. Unfortunately I haven't made anything like that yet for our table.


Joe this is how i apply application tape.. this is one of my favorite pieces of equipment.
The Big Squeegee Cut Vinyl Tool


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## queenVee (Aug 16, 2007)

mystysue said:


> Joe this is how i apply application tape.. this is one of my favorite pieces of equipment.
> The Big Squeegee Cut Vinyl Tool


Sue,
I would like to thank you so very much.. you have been such a blessing to me... If It wasnt for this forum and you having you t-shirt forum shirt on that day at the ISS show and the ride in the elevator we would have never met.. Believe me, I am thankful for this site and EVERYBODY who gives me advice.. including you Sue,... I took all your shop layout advise and will duplicate.. thanks.. 
Veronica...


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## mystysue (Aug 27, 2006)

aww Your welcom.. I love to help...
and thank you.. for your kind comments..


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## queenVee (Aug 16, 2007)

mystysue said:


> aww Your welcom.. I love to help...
> and thank you.. for your kind comments..


again thanks.. I'm here at the shop for the first time.. just a computer desk and a empty shop..lol...my uncle is comming over to help build a table and set up... totally went over your list.. Machine comes at the end of the month.. very excited...


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## mystysue (Aug 27, 2006)

think about the height of the table so its not to tall or too short for you too..lol.
also is the shop well lite.. if not and you are going to be doing weeding.. think about lignts for over the table.


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## queenVee (Aug 16, 2007)

lol.. guess you remember that I'm only 5ft tall. lol.. I know my uncle had to make the table alot shorter.. lol... and lights great idea.. I'm going to Harbor Freight today.. thanks Sue!
Qvee


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## curtrnev (May 28, 2007)

I would also recommend a L.E.D. headlight,when lighting is poor it can make it easier to see the cut lines.

Curtis


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## queenVee (Aug 16, 2007)

curtrnev said:


> I would also recommend a L.E.D. headlight,when lighting is poor it can make it easier to see the cut lines.
> 
> Curtis


thanks Curtis,
V.


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## allerta (Oct 25, 2008)

Somewhere on this forum, someone posted the idea of using gridwalls to store the vinyl rolls. I can't find the post, but that is what I did. I use plywood on top of horses that are built for my height, so that I can stand and weed without hurting my back. I already had gridwalls behind the table and so I added shelf brackets and now store the vinyl there that is currently in use for projects that are in progress. It is fantastic! Before I kept putting the rolls back in boxes as I switched colors and projects. So thank you to whoever passed on the idea!


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## allerta (Oct 25, 2008)

Oh, I also use a tabletop Ott-lite. In fact, I just ordered a few more Ott natural lights for other work areas because I kept moving the one I have around. It makes a tremendous difference in eye strain and being able to see what you are doing, especially when weeding white.


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