Shortcuts can lead to problems. About 25 years ago I inspected a graphics failure on a corrugated trailer. The vinyl had lifted from the valleys of the corrugations and was cracking and peeling from the trailer surface. The installer had taken one of those shortcuts. He had tacked the graphic into position at the corners, allowing the film to bridge all corrugations. After heating the vinyl with his torch, the installer used a rivet brush to force the film into the valleys. Here’s the problem — vinyl will only stretch so far. Overstretching puts too much mechanical stress on the film. Sooner or later, the vinyl will lift or tent in corrugation valleys. To avoid these problems you should apply vinyl graphics in a relaxed state using the method described below.
Outgassing Paint and Vinyl Graphics
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The Super Bowl of Signs
Next generation scoreboards are offering new opportunities for sign makers who can design and install monstrous LED signs. Find out what it takes to design, build and erect stadium signage and decide if you have what it takes to cash in on the opportunity for high-tech LEDs. LED technology ushered in a new era of […] Read more »
How to Select the Right Overlaminate
Selecting the right overlaminate for a particular graphics application requires just as must consideration as selecting the right digital print media. And for many, it can be just as confusing, if not more so. For starters, just page through any distributor catalog, and you will find a wide array of options, nearly as extensive as […] Read more »
An Alternative to Spray Adhesive for Textile Printers
Many years ago, I had one of those bright ideas that backfired on me. Instead of extruding lines of adhesive across the web of a production line laminating one sheet of paper to another, I replaced the extrusion heads with six spray values. I learned an important lesson. Anytime you atomize something, it gets into […] Read more »