You are going to need vinyl. These days vinyl has so many applications there is a good chance you have not heard of all of them. Signs, banners, window lettering, wall decorations, vehicle graphics, product decals, t shirt transfers, tattoo stencils, painting stencils, and awnings are just some of the applications and there are different types of vinyl for these uses.
Vinyl available from USCutter
BGS Our economy line. BGS short term (1 to 2 year) intermediate/calendared outdoor vinyl. This is a good brand if you are just starting out and you are know you are going to be wasting some vinyl as you learn to use your machine. Its also great for any temporary or 1 time use (events) applications. You can use it on decals, banners, or temporary signs. Its ok to use on auto glass or store glass in the short term, but there will be more work in getting it off as intermediate vinyls leave the adhesive behind during removal. Avoid putting this on vehicle bodies, or any surface that will require it to be removed without damage if left on for a significant amount of time. We offer 12 BGS colors in 24 x 10yd, 24x 50yd, and various sampler packs.
Oracal One of the finest and best priced vinyls in the industry. We are an Oracal Premier distributor allowing us to offer our customers the best price possible. Oracal offers a huge variety of films including their 751 Premium series when you need the best for vehicles and long term outdoor applications as well as 631 Exhibition Cal. This is one of the only matte vinyls on the market with a huge color choice. The only way to go when you have indoor application and you dont want reflection. The 631 also features a removable adhesive making it simple to get off walls without damage. Oracal has many other specialty films including reflective, fluorescent, brushed metal, polished metal, transparent, translucent and more. Consider ordering one of the Oracal color charts with your order. Oracal is available in a wide variety of widths 15, 24, 30, 48 and lengths 10yds and 50yds. We also offer Oracal starter packs.
Calendared or Intermediate Vinyl This is typically used for short term 3 to 5 Year outdoor or permanent indoor situations. Calendared vinyl is typically a thicker vinyl and more difficult to use with extremely small graphics. Characteristics of this vinyl are its tendency to crack, peel, and fade outdoors as it gets beyond its expected life. Do not use calendared vinyl on any surface where the vinyl will eventually need to be removed and the vinyl will need to stay on past 1 year or in extremely hot sunny conditions. If left in place the vinyl can separate from the adhesive with the adhesive remaining on whatever surface you left the vinyl on. It takes major adhesive remover and a tremendous amount of work to get the adhesive off. Primarily avoid putting it on vehicles and windows. But if your application is short term, temporary, or disposable you should be using the lower cost calendared vinyl. Our calendared vinyl is made up of our BGS and Oracal 651 lines.
Premium, cast, or High Performance Vinyl:
This vinyl is more expensive and is defined by its long term outdoor durability 7 years. It is a thin vinyl (1 mil), extremely flexible, easy to weed, and ideal for small, intricate graphics. There are usually greater varieties of colors available. Premium vinyl should be used on anything where durability is important and for graphics that may need to be removed some day, like on vehicles. We carry the brand Oracal 751 for our premium vinyl.
Specialty Vinyl
Translucent:
To be used in any application where the surface is illumined with a light source from behind. Most of these cases involve lighted cabinet faces, channel letter faces, and push thru acrylic back lighted signs.
Reflective:
This film was first developed to help motorists see traffic control signs (stop signs) at night. The reflective vinyl uses million of tiny particles to reflect light back to the source when applied. Reflective vinyl does not glow on its own or pick up ambient light. It works only when viewed with a light source, like sitting in a car with the lights on. Today the most popular applications are on vehicles where the graphics appear to pop of the surface when viewed a night with your vehicles headlights. This a more expensive vinyl and is harder to cut, and will dull your blades more quickly than other vinyl. We Carry Oracal 5300 Economy reflective.
Frosted/Dusted gives the effect of etched glass. Great for privacy on windows with the benefit of allowing light in. We carry an intermediate BGS version and Orcacal.
Transparent: Can be used in applications similar to stained glass where you allow light through colored glass. Artistic representations. Orcacal
Positionable Vinyl: This low tack adhesive allows you to move the vinyl after you have applied it. Great for short term vehicle graphics. Oracal 631 Exhibition Grade.
Perforated Vinyl Holes allow you to see out from close up, but not for those on the outside to see in. Used for privacy on glass and often on widows for vehicle wraps.
T-Shirt Transfer Vinyl: To be used with a heat press to produce t-shirts without the mess and space of screen printing. Our brand is the industry standard Siser EZ Weed.
Application/Transfer Tape 131
Whatever vinyl you choose, you need to weed it then get it off the backing paper and on to whatever surface you are going to apply. This is where application or transfer tape comes in. Transfer tape is relatively inexpensive compared to vinyl as it usually is packaged in 100 yd rolls. Application Tape is not something you want to have to cut down to fit your smaller jobs nor do you want to tile smaller pieces for a larger graphic. For this reason transfer tape usually comes in 1 increments. We recommend you start off with a smaller roll 1.25 4.25 for small text, a 9 12 roll for larger text, vehicle graphics, and direct applied vinyl, and some 18 24 for large applications like signs and banners. We carry R-Tape, regarded as the industry standard. We stock 3 different types of R-Tape.
General Purpose 4075: Appropriate for most applications and people just starting out.
High Performance 4076: For professional use. Higher quality ensures that your tape will lay flat on your vinyl and not wrinkle or peel.
Clear: Higher tack has the benefit of allowing you to clearly see the surface and the graphics you are applying. Helpful for beginners learning how to register vinyl on surfaces and for multiple layers. The tradeoff on using clear is that it is trickier to worth with due to its higher tackiness and rigidity.
