The sign is 96''x26.375'' and has an eliptical panel, flourishes, fancy border,I did eliminate the outside border though.
I use an Ioline 24'' and Anchor #153 stencil.

STEPS FOR CUTTING LONG SANDMASKS ACCURATELY WITH A FRICTION FEED PLOTTER(revised)

#1 The Anchor resist is covered with powder. Wipe this off with a damp rag a couple of times. Wipe off the back of the clear carrier and the rubber stencil.

#2 Make sure the 2 pinchwheels(24 lb force) at the edges are riding on the carrier(there is about .5 inch on each side). Make sure the pinchwheels and the gritshaft are clean

#3 Ioline provided us with some 8 lb. pinch wheels to go across the middle of the stencil. They will not mash the rubber and distort it. Use these

#4 make sure the stencil is tracking straight before pressing the "plot" button.

#5 Make sure the stencil can move freely in front of and behind the plotter with no obstructions..

#6 As mentioned above, borders seem to compound the problem

#7 Set the cutter on minimum speed.

#8 Set the cutter's acceleration to minimum

#9 Use a sharp 60 degree plotter blade

#10 Use only enough downforce to cut the rubber (just barely scratching the carrier).

#11 break the plot down into several sections Thanks Dave

#12 PRAY

#13 If you're sure you've taken all the above precautions, (plus maybe a couple more) press the plot button.

#14 If all of this doesn't solve the problem, pop a couple of Xanax or find some inanimate metallic object, destroy it, reduce it to atoms with your bare hands, take a walk, meet with your support group or psychiatrist, come back........sit down..........Take a few deep breaths.........and design something with inset borders, outlined letters, flourishes, a nice curvy shape, and a semi-detailed logo/graphic, save it on a floppy and take it with a roll of sandblast stencil to the next trade show. Have each of the plotter reps cut the design on the sandmask with his machine to see which one will track accurately.

#15 Buy that machine!

If all goes well, eliminate or postpone step #14 but do not leave out any of the others.

Thanks Dave!

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Wayne Webb
Webb Sign Studio
creators of "woodesigns"
"autograph your work with excellence"
webbsignstudio@digitalexp.com