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Well, my long awaited sp-540 got here last thursday! I have been having a lot of fun and not getting a lot of sleep. Its amazing all the cool stuff you can do, I am sure I have only scratched the surface. I would be interested in the different things you do with yours and how you charge for them.
However, that is not my question. How do you get your media in the machine straight so that it will track a long ways without running out from under the guide rollers? It seems to be a hit and miss deal for me, I am sure there is a trick I haven't caught on to yet.
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run it thru,,, till the leading end can reach underneath,, tine it up with the eddges on the end going into the printer..
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
with a newer large roll of vinyl.....load your vinyl in the back and feed it into the machine out the front. make sure the roll is still tight and no slack hanging of the back. Then grab the vinyl with one hand directly in the center and pull towards you just enough to cause your roll to spin. If you have long arms, use one arm to try and keep the roll tight while you pull in the center of the roll from the front side. This should center it pretty good. Then you can lower the rollers at this point. I can get a good 15-20 feet this way.
-------------------- Bruce Evans Crown Graphics Chino, CA graphics@westcoach.net Posts: 912 | From: Chino, CA | Registered: Nov 1998
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I do the same as Bruce suggested, but just use your finger and thumb to pull the vynil through. Also you must not try to centralise the media when you pull, let it lay naturally, and reach over and pull the role sideways to correct any misalignment, rewind if needed and pull through again. once you have it right you should work the whole role without further corrections
-------------------- T.J.BARKER ARTLINE SIGNS PLOT 2 PRIORS LEAZE LANE HAMBROOK WEST SUSSEX UK 01243 572769 BARKERARTLINE@AOL.COM Posts: 80 | From: CHICHESTER WEST SUSSEX U.K. | Registered: Oct 2003
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The best way that I have had to make my vinyl run straight is to purchase a set of "Summa media flanges". These flanges have a expanding rubber plug that grip the inside of roll and hold it firm. They also raise the vinyl of the rollers sothe vinyl does not get slack on the roll. After the plugs are in and the vinyl is on the rollars I adjust the white plastic guides up to within 1/32 of the flanges. I then feed the vinyl and then do as suggested above grab the vinyl with thumb and finger in the middle and pull snug - then clamp.
Using the flanges and setting up as above I have run through a full roll of vinyl with it only tracking off maybe a 1/16 to 1/8..
Good luck with the machine and have fun!!
Mark
-------------------- Mark Pinkse Laird Signs Iron Bridge ON. Canada Posts: 52 | From: Iron Bridge, ON Canada | Registered: Nov 1999
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Blake, As I sit here typing whilst looking at our VC540, The media is 1" away from the right edge with all 7 rollers in place.
The "media clamp" (that little flat thing a ma bob with the slit in it that holds down the edge of the media) is a 1/4 inch away from the right side and the slit is right on the edge of the media. On the left side, the media clamp is also centered over the media so that the slit is right over the edge.
The VC540 is "just a printer"....the neat things you can do with it happen in CorelX3, PhotoPaint and Illustrator!
Now you need to get some DIGITAL JUICE background effects to place your lettering on top of and then wrap your vehicles!
Bite the bullet and get a roll of ControlTac with Comply and the laminate that goes with it. Its a $1000.00 you will be glad you spent, and you will make $12,000 back on it...or more!
We are learning too, as we have had ours for a few months now.
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