Using A Plotter To Make Patterns For Channel Letters?

[Blake]

Does anyone use a pinch plotter to make patterns for channel letters?

How far can you plot strait? wallbash.gif

Does anyone use a Ioline that will go the 150' they say it will?

[derf]

The only plotter that I have ever gotten to go that far is my old Gerber 4-B ( gear fed ) My Graphtec fc-2100 would go 30-50' if I pulled the wheels in like an inch and slow it way down.

I am getting a new FC-7000 next month and they say with the auto tracking they can go up to 50'

[Erik Sine]

Is this a pattern for channel letter production or installation pattern?

[Freddy@NDS]

The only plotter that I have ever gotten to go that far is my old Gerber 4-B ( gear fed ) My Graphtec fc-2100 would go 30-50' if I pulled the wheels in like an inch and slow it way down.

I am getting a new FC-7000 next month and they say with the auto tracking they can go up to 50'

We have a couple of plotters. The old reliable friction fed Summa Houston Instruments DMP-161 which has been reliable beyond our imagination can easily run a 150' long pattern without loosing the track. What's nice about this 1980's circa plotter is that it has eyes which automatically tell the plotter the beginning and end of a sheet. For 1980's technology it is built well and has been a workhorse.

We have a more modern plotter (USA Cutter) that works well but in no way compares to function, construction, or ease of use to the old Summa. It is also friction fed and seems to loose tracking within about 8 feet.

If you need length, I would seriously consider, as others have mentioned, the perf feature.

[Blake]

It's a install pattern using the heavy brown paper with the red grid lines.

[Erik Sine]

Your crazy to plot it, I doubt i'd be straight. You have the good pattern paper, why not just use the lines? I wouldn't trust what comes off the plotter it skates all over the place.

[Goatboy]

Few basic questions for you..first when you send the plot does it offer a sequence plot function? Are you running center lines? How far can you plot before it starts to skew? What action causes the scew?

Im not saying your machine is capable to plot 150 feet but in reality they can be set up to achieve 150 feet thats what I meant about file set up. Generally 20-30' will go pristine if you have all the planets aligned and your horseshoe on the wall. I use standard butcher paper with my files set up in corel(using intersect) with breaks every 4 feet so that Im not forcing the plotter to feed excessive lengths. Most plotters will actually plot at the desired slow control speed but feed media at a much higher rate(the time of failure for most pinch roller plotters). If you can adjust your actual feed rate that will help greatly. Some plotters will offer this others dont. I found between segmenting the file and pre feeding out my media then rolling it back I might lose an 1/16 every 50 feet.