Stencil Cutting PETG (Free Quote)

Description

Stencil Cutting PETG (plastic 1mm)

1. Fill in your details below to get a free estimate
2. Price is confirmed with the final proof sheet
3. You pay after you approve the proof

If you cannot upload files, please clear your web browser cache (Ctrl+Shift+Delete). Even better email that to us at sales@self-inkingstamps.co.nz

We will send a proof and estimate back to you during the next working day. If you haven’t received an email within 48 working hours please check your SPAM/JUNK as they sometimes end up in the spam box.

• Custom Laser Cut
• 1mm thick PETG flexible plastic
• Maximum overall plastic size 800 x 500mm
• Maximum image size up to 700 x 400mm allowing 50mm border to edge for overspray area
• Text and or Image
• Image quality must be high for vector image cutting. Pixelated images make poor stencils
• Not a steel stencil
• Priced From $85.00 plus freight
• See below for how the stencil is priced and what can influence that price.

Custom Made Stencil.

Create your own custom made stencil. These can be just text on its own. An image. Or combination of both text and image.

If you have an idea for a stencil to mark something enter the details in the fields above and send it off to us for a free estimate. Once we receive the information we can go through and check whether we can actually make it. Then calculate a cost for production. Usually this is the next working day to reply to you.

These stencils we make are designed around the thought of spray painting with them. With that in mind there is a 50mm border around the outside edge. As a custom made item that can be changed. Let us know if you have a different size in mind for your stencil.

How long does it take to get my stencil?

For very simple designs this can be done in four working days.

• one day to assess the cost and give an estimate
• one day to create design, or a re-design, which can be laser cut with all links inserted for production. This will include a quote price
• Once approved one day to cut the stencil.
• After production and payment received on the next courier pick up for next working day delivery usually.

How much does a custom made stencil cost?

What does a stencil maker include to calculate the cost of a customised stencil?

• Size. This affects both the amount of material to be used and the time to laser cut. The material cost is accurate straight away. For the estimate an educated estimate of machine run time is made. Once the final proof is made we can calculate the actual laser machine running time to get an accurate quote price.
• Image. Here there are some variables. If a vector image is supplied in the exact final cut shape it is very simple and lower cost. Even a vector image can have considerable work to remove stray artifacts from layer upon layer of colours of complicated images. A bitmap requires all those pixels to be converted, smoothed, separated and then a cut line to each side made.
• Links. Then all the links need to be made to hold it all together. If we have to put all the links on then we have to change the image size we have to start again. No thanks. The amount of graphic design time can highly affect the cost of a stencil.
• How intense the image is to cut out. Long straight lines are fast to laser cut. However the machine has to slow right down to change direction and very intense zig zaggy lines take alot longer to cut. Letters are quite quick while feathers or leaves on a tree are much slower.
• Minimum line cut distance apart. Each side of a letter has a cut line, up one side and down the other. These must be 1.5mm apart or the PETG plastic will not cut on the second cut line and just melt into a blob. We must check all lines are further than 1.5mm apart. For small images often this means we cannot make them.

Will my image look the same when it is a stencil?

Usually the answer is no it will be different. A stencil is a fragile object often. Little tiny pieces have to be held in place. The pieces holding it together we call links. These are links between the outside frame and internal parts.

Think about an O. The centre part must be held in place somehow other wise all you have is a solid circle. The links are created to hold that centre part in place. Often this is in the centre at the top and bottom. The more links are there the stronger the stencil will be. However the more links there are the more distortion of the appearance of that original object will be. The links have to be a minimum thickness otherwise when laser cutting the plastic the heat generated will just melt the plastic on the second side of the cut instead of cutting right through the material.

Links will cover up parts of your image.

If the stencil size is small the link size will cover a lot of detail. A logo stencil which is small may totally change in appearance and not be like your business logo.

If you have a particular font you want to use every single link must be graphically designed to that specific size of font required at the minimum width to stay strong. A stencil that falls apart in transit has no value to you. As a stencil maker we prefer to make these stencils stronger for reusing many times.

We see some amazing and beautiful images which as a stencil are just awful and the links totally wreak the outcome of an image and makes it not worth making. Very sad.

Not every image can be made into a stencil.

What will be included in my stencil estimate?

Your estimate will include our assessment of whether the stencil can be made. If we are not happy with the potential end result we will tell you no it can not be made. We may discuss options to make changes so that it might work for you. We are passionate about making a quality stencil for you.

If we believe the stencil will be able to be precision laser cut with a quality outcome and able to handle transportation to you, be reused and be fit for purpose we will supply an estimate of price.

If the image is smaller than an A4 pages your image will be sent as a pdf proof sheet to actual scale to you. For simple text in the font Stencil this would be the final look of your stencil. For larger items it would be scaled down to fit a page and have the final measurements written on the proof sheet to check.

Why an estimated price?

The image can require considerable graphic design time to produce a file able to be laser cut. If this cost is too high for your project budget we need to know before we spend a lot of time designing your stencil image. Often this estimated price will be the final price. However we may also ask for a high quality image from which we may be able to get the best stencil cut lines from. If that cannot be supplied extra time is required for conversion from a bitmap (pixels) to vector (smooth lines).

If the estimate is approved by you the image is then prepared for production and may have to have more design time to get a high quality vector image for laser cutting. You will then be shown that final image appearance in a proof sheet and approval must be given before we will begin making your custom made stencil.

Image file type required.

To laser cut a stencil each and every cut line must be drawn. That is for each side of a letter or a line. These must be specific to cut them.

The file must be:

• Line width hairline
• Colour Red, RGB 255:0:0
• Vector lines
• fill – blank

If you can supply that information that is perfect for a stencil maker and we can minimise our design fee for you.

Don’t worry if that is gobbledygook to you.

We can convert a file supplied to these specifications for you. However that rule ‘garbage in garbage out’ still applies. The highest quality image will make the highest quality stencil cut out and at the lowest cost to you. A screen shot off the internet is usually not able to be made as a stencil. Screen shots and website images are usually the lowest quality possible to trick the human eye and lowest storage volume in a website.

If you can supply a vector image in say a CorelDraw (.cdr), Adobe Illustrator (.ai) or vector image on pdf we can use that.

Any other bitmap image will need conversion and we charge out time to convert the image to be able to manufacture it.

Our preference, in order, of an image file type to work with would be:

• Vector image – can be pdf
• .cdr (CorelDraw) Vector image
• .ai (Adobe Illustrator) Vector image
• .svg Scalable Vector Graphic
• Image in RGB absolute black colour
• .pdf very high resolution, say 300dpi or more (saving a low res jpeg to pdf is unsuitable)
• Very high resolution (300 + dpi, more is better) jpg or png file lastly.  (screen shot, word doc, email or internet images, usually 72dpi, are unsuitable)  the larger the file size the better is a way to check.
• If you have a bitmap or pixel based image and the image distorts we can retype the text.  Tell us what fonts are used and we can reproduce those portions.

What is the stencil made of?

As a quality stencil maker we have to use a material that will ship to you without damage. Also we prefer the stencil to be reusable. This means it must be reasonably robust without having too much link connection to hold the image together. We have been asked for stencils to be food safe. With all of that in mind we settled on PETG 1mm thick. No we cannot make a stencil from steel.

What is PETG?

PETG is Polyethylene terephthalate glycol. It is a plastic which is clear, flexible and can be laser cut to the shapes you require. It is a co-polyester material which is tough, chemical resistant and food safe.

If you need a food safe stencil like a cake stencil or a baking stencil this material is just what you need. We have clients who mark their bread or baking products before going into the oven by using the stencil with flour or food dyes.

It is also tough and good for a builders stencil or tradesman’s stencil. The actual design of the image can greatly affect how strong it is. These have been used to bend around a road cone to stencil a brand on a curved surface.

Constant development.

As time goes by we learn new techniques for stencils. We receive feedback from people using them. And with those experiences we can develop the best methods to design and cut your stencil. That feedback is important to be able to make a great stencil. Please let us know what worked well and what didn’t.

We can cut out a stencil for you. That is the easy part for us. But we do not use them every day in your situation.  What works for you might not work for a project for someone else.