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Thread: Material for store hours sign on inside window?

  1. #1

    Question Material for store hours sign on inside window?

    Hey all,

    This is my first post, I'm currently in the early phases of deciding whether or not I want to start a laser cutting/engraving business. I have access to a laser cutter at my downtown library and I have done a number of projects on it thus far. I know doing something for work is very different than doing something for oneself, so I'm evaluating how I handle doing laser work for someone else.

    A friend of mine owns a coffee shop in my neighborhood. He currently has some nice signage on his windows with the name & phone number of his shop. However, his store hours are printed on standard printer paper. So I offered to cut something for him in a similar style to the signs he already has. He swears that the current signs are laser cut from vinyl. The kicker is that our city has an ordinance stating that signage must be affixed to the INSIDE of windows, not the outside. So what I need is some sort of vinyl adhesive sheet that is adhesive on the FRONT, not on the back. That way he can affix it to the inside of his door, peel off the backing and the sign remains in place.

    I've done a lot of searching and found a few sign stores offering signs cut on "front adhesive vinyl" (which I believe is what I'm looking for). But I have yet to find it sold in sheets. Does such a thing exist? And I assume it needs to be non-PVC vinyl to be laser cut, correct?

    Thanks!

  2. #2
    Hi Joe, it's just typically cut vinyl and it's cut with the letters reversed. There is no special "Adhesive on the face" vinyl that I know of. You just cut it backwards and apply it to the window. The adhesive is clear, for the most part, so after it's installed, you'll just see the color of the vinyl. If it's white, it's a no brainer, colors can get muted a little, but white is easy.

    You'd want to find a polyester material. There are a couple of them out there, but none come to mind at the moment. That would be safe to put in the laser.
    Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
    Printers : Mimaki UJF-6042 UV Flatbed Printer , HP Designjet L26500 61" Wide Format Latex Printer, Summa S140-T 48" Vinyl Plotter
    Router : ShopBot 48" x 96" CNC Router Rotary Engravers : (2) Xenetech XOT 16 x 25 Rotary Engravers

    Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.

  3. #3
    The other option is to do some sort of hanging sign or a sign with suction cups. It won't look like vinyl but it will be something you can easily do on the laser. Doing vinyl lettering like you're describing can't be done on the laser and in order to do it on the laser, you need to source non-vinyl "vinyl" and I don't think it's worth the aggravation.
    Equipment: IS400, IS6000, VLS 6.60, LS100, HP4550, Ricoh GX e3300n, Hotronix STX20
    Software: Adobe Suite & Gravostyle 5
    Business: Trophy, Awards and Engraving

  4. #4
    Thanks for the reply! That makes perfect sense and is very helpful. Fortunately, I also have access to a vinyl cutter, so if I can't find non-PVC material I can go that route.

    Also, I found some excellent presentations on YouTube from Visual Solutions Source that really cleared up the process for me. If anyone else is looking into this kind of thing, check out their video: Vinyl Cutter Reverse Image (Window/Heat Transfers) Letter Transfer. As a novice, I also found their transfer tape presentation very useful (Vinyl Cutter Transfer Tape and Application - "How To").

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