Is any other team having problems with vinyl cuts not sticking to bumpers?
If you have, can you please tell me how you dealt with this issue.:deadhorse:
We used some sort of heat transfer vinyl for our bumper numbers, but I’m not exactly sure where online we got it.
The edges started peeling up a little, so we hit it with a heat gun and pressed it back down with a credit card edge, and it worked beautifully. (We used Dacron sailcloth for the fabric)
You need heat transfer vinyl and remember to cut it mirror, and you’d need a heat press to make it work…
Here is the material we use. http://www.signwarehouse.com/p/enduratex-hotmark-sir-heat-transfer-vinyl-15in-11ft-white
it takes 350degrees for 20 seconds, so more than an iron can normally do.
My team used heat transfer vinyl. I take classes off campus of my main school, where we have acess to a lot more technology, so we had a vinyl cutter I could use. I messed up cutting so I was able to use bumper scraps to practice ironing on the vinyl. I’m not sure the temperature but I tuned the iron to the right area so if I pushed down on each number for 30 seconds l, it would melt perfectly in. We took a lot of hits last weekend, and it scuffed the vinyl but hasn’t peeled or truly messed it up.
*Note- I wasn’t at the school that had the vinyl cutter and heat press so I used a normal iron for clothes.
It is important to match up the type of cloth you are using with the correct heat transfer product. For instance, the slick bumper material from Andy Mark is made of nylon, which is a difficult product to stick most heat transfer vinyl to.
This chart from Siser, manufacturer of Easy Weed heat transfer vinyl, shows the different types of product they make and what fabrics they work on. Only Easy Weed Extra, VideoFlex Glitter, and Glitter adhere to nylon, and it specifies “lightly siliconed vinyl,” which I don’t think describes the slick bumper material.
If you think it’s the type of fabric you have, you might try swapping out your fabric for cotton duck cloth, widely available in red and blue at JoAnn Fabric. Use a coupon and it won’t be too costly.
When vinyl type and fabric type are a good match, there are three other things that can affect the end product: proper temperature, dwell time, and pressure. Basic Easy Weed for cotton works at 305 degrees, requires medium pressure, and 10-15 seconds. We’ve had to go up to 320 degrees, heavy pressure (using a heat press), and 30-40 seconds for some heavy cotton fabrics.
Two words: Super Glue
It works for FRC Team 1501
We tried regular vinyl to see what it would do. If you heat up the fabric than heat up the vinyl a bit before sticking it, It will stay on very well.
Sorry to necro this thread. We have been using sailcloth for the past couple years for our bumpers. We have been using this with pretty great success: http://www.sailrite.com/Insignia-Adhesive-Backed-UV-Dacron-10
However, it’s just annoying to cut out numbers. Anyone know if a standard vinyl cutter would work with that material? (I have literally zero experience with vinyl cutters and have no idea how they work).
We’ve used a cricut for most of our vinyl adhesives - but for sponsor logos not the bumper #s. Works great for us.
EDIT: we did actually use the cricut for one number that got damaged in our first regional. Haven’t had any major issues with it to my knowledge. Some numbers are beginning to peel though
We had our number embroidered onto the bumper this year, easily one of the best bumper decision’s we’ve done. Doesn’t cost too much to do (free if you can convince the embroidery shop to sponsor you), and numbers will never come of, and looks amazing. I just wish we had gone with a different Font.
http://i.imgur.com/hiRgAWS.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/6kiWit4.jpg
Sounds suspiciously like soldering :p.
A vinyl cutter drags essentially a small razor knife over the vinyl to cut it, but it does not cut through: Only the vinyl is cut, not the backing material. (Some do cut through). Google “drag knife” to see the tool.
Vinyl is rigid in the X/Y direction when being cut, while sailcloth is not; indeed it gets kinds floppy and that’s why cutting letters is a pain.
It may be possible to spray-glue sailcloth to a rigid backing (like thin cardboard) and then cut it, but you’d first need a vinyl cutter, a drag knife that’ll cut that thickness (just the cloth, but usually a lot thicker than vinyl) and then have to play with it a bit. I’ve never tried it.
Note that a drag knife can easily be retrofitted to most CNC routers, perhaps even a mill, so that may be your only investment. I see things on Google like cutting leather with a drag knife, so…
+1 to sail cloth tape for bumper numbers.
We started off just using it for teams we make bumpers for (~15 a year), and it worked so well we adopted it for our team this year. Last year we embroidered our numbers and were surprised at how torn up they got. This year, using the sail cloth tape, our numbers held up through 3 Regionals and Championships and still look great.
How didn’t you cut them out? We printed out numbers on regular printer paper, taped them down to the sailcloth tape, then cut with scissors. It was just a bit of a hassle and can look not great depending on how careful you are with scissors.
We had the problem too. We probably didn’t use the right application method or vinyl for our bumpers but we didn’t bother to check that either.
Anyway, Super Glue or Scotch Weld or anything of that sort really. Quick drying glues are great.
The types that won’t come off of your hands if you rub the glue enough (i.e. NOT an Elmer’s type)
We use the same method as you. Print out the numbers on paper, and use that as a template to cut out the numbers on the tape. It is a bit dependent on who you get to cut them… We usually get one of the perfectionists to do it!
I’ve never actually looked into heat-transfer vinyl.
I have a 24" vinyl cutter (have my own sign shop) and we usually cut out the bumper numbers and use the outline (vs the actual numbers) as a mask and spray paint them after the bumpers are fabricated.
So heat transfer vinyl will stick to the FRC approved Cordura fabric?
We order our materials from Stahls.com and apply them on the material supplied by Andymark. We use a regular household iron.
Two years ago, we ordered Gorilla Grip 2 (80 micron). We had issues with adhesive to the Andymark fabric and were losing numbers with all the rubbing going on. We just shot some glue under the corners and stuck them back down.
Last year, we ordered Thermo Grip (190 microns). No issues at all. Highly recommend.
Good Luck.
We actually sewed our numbers on but when I was doing t-shirts I had some of the Cordura and tried various HTV products on it. I tested Thermoflex Plus which needed a double press but looked very durable, Thermoflex SSP which was very impressive but it the one I expected to just peel off (looked really good) and by far the best was Thermoflex Sport again with a double press but it looked like it was on there forever. The only thing with the Thermoflex sport is you would need to check the rules as it is perforated and could be seen as not a solid color.
So with some care and experimentation with temperatures, pressure and press times it can work very well.
In 2016, we also sewed our numbers on. We used 500 Denier White Cordura for the numbers. Before sewing the bumper covers together, we sewed the numbers on.
We were lucky to have access to an Epilog laser cutter. That made short work of cutting out the numbers. They can also be cut out using a hot knife. In a pinch a soldering iron can be used, but be sure to clean the iron before soldering with it.
The hot knife and laser cutter sear the edge of the nylon based Cordura. This seals it and prevents fraying after it is sewn to the covers. Since we were sewing the covers anyway, skipping the vinyl numbers and the heat transfer was one less technology we had to deal with during build season.
We didn’t have any issues during competition. We did have some fabric glue on hand in case we did need to do any repairs between matches.