Suggestions needed for black reflective

[James Burke]

Well, I have to admit I'm un-educated when it comes to vinyl since we do mostly sandblasting (stone). Heavy monument stencil material is our medium of choice for the majority of our work.

It's time to letter the new (white) shop truck and I was thinking it would look good with black reflective vinyl. Our logo is artistic text only with a small geometric shape (triangle).

Wensco is my supplier of choice, and they offer FDC 2407/2457 series, and 3M Scotchlite Premium 680 series. The 3M is $60 more per roll than the FDC, but I'm looking for durability and longevity and am willing to pay a little extra if it's really worth it.

Any input and advice would be appreciated.

Jim

 

[Kyle Blue]

We've had customers use the Avery Black reflective before. I've heard no complaints. I think your logo would look just fine on black reflective.

 

[bayshorecreations]

How big of a roll are you planning on buying? I have a roll of Avery (I think, have to check the brand) here that I used a few feet of and have no use for the rest of it if you are interested in buying it.

 

[Jillbeans]

Use the 3M.
The F-word sells it by the yard.
Love....Jill

 

[James Burke]

How big of a roll are you planning on buying? I have a roll of Avery (I think, have to check the brand) here that I used a few feet of and have no use for the rest of it if you are interested in buying it.

I run a Gerber GS15 plotter and only need enough to letter two doors with the logo shown along with the city and telephone number at the bottoms of the doors. I also plan on putting two 8 to 10 inch square QR codes at the rear of the box.

I would imagine twelve feet would be more than sufficient, barring any hiccups.

I might have a line on some from a local sign maker, but let me know what you have.

Thanks,

Jim

The F-word.

Has he made his way into the urban dictionary?

 

[Mike Paul]

3M makes the best reflective out there.

 

[cajun312]

My vendor was having trouble getting a certain size and color 3M reflective for me, told me he had to special order it, it came in a FDC box but with 3M logos on the liner.

 

[petepaz]

not sure how or why but FDC and 3M are affiliated. i have a FDC catolog/swatch book and it has all 3M material.
we use nikkalite and have had no issues and it is very good price. also since you are using the gerber gs15 plotter you have to get material punched (that plotter is pin fed correct) so i think that narrows the options alittle

 

[James Burke]

not sure how or why but FDC and 3M are affiliated. i have a FDC catolog/swatch book and it has all 3M material.
we use nikkalite and have had no issues and it is very good price. also since you are using the gerber gs15 plotter you have to get material punched (that plotter is pin fed correct) so i think that narrows the options alittle

I'm also a little puzzled because I saw that the FDC and 3M Wensco catalog numbers were adjoined in at least two series of the reflective vinyl.

Yep...the Gerber is sprocket fed, but I'm not worried about spending a little extra for that either.

JB

 

[Gino]

We use mostly 3M, but also like the Oracal 5600 series.

It's your own truck, so if it fails a year earlier on ya, you can always do it again.


Food for thought........ Reflective vinyls need a little extra beef to them to keep them firmly planted on your truck. It's a thicker material [6 - 7 mils] and needs it in those wispy little letters. You might want to think about thickening up your second line of copy so it doesn't let loose prematurely regardless of which brand you use.

 

[James Burke]

We use mostly 3M, but also like the Oracal 5600 series.

It's your own truck, so if it fails a year earlier on ya, you can always do it again.


Food for thought........ Reflective vinyls need a little extra beef to them to keep them firmly planted on your truck. It's a thicker material [6 - 7 mils] and needs it in those wispy little letters. You might want to think about thickening up your second line of copy so it doesn't let loose prematurely regardless of which brand you use.

Thanks for the input Gino....will do.


JB

 

[Jillbeans]

Or you could layer an outline of regular black HP vynull underneath, which would beef up the letters and also aid in removal at a later time.

 

[Billct2]

What Jill said with 3M

 

[performancev]

You also need to know that most black reflects a sort of off white color when light hits it. This includes the sun . In the daytime or at night if the sun or lights hits your truck at the right angle your lettering will disappear on a white truck. I prefer to use nikkalite on white because it reflects gold . I also suggest that you take jillbeans advice as reflective is a pain to remove.

 

[Molenbeek]

we carry the 3M as well but that is also converted down for Gerber in the punched format known as Gerber 280- same stuff. its stocked in all our locations.

877-237-4464

 

[Mustang Guy]

Enduralite is a good alternative. Great price, lays nice and it reflects a gold color. Have had great success and can't beat the price.

 

[ucmj22]

Correct me if I'm wrong? But isn't black reflective about as useful as black translucent. I thought the idea behind black was that it doesn't allow light to pass through and doesn't reflect light. If it does, it is no longer black. I would put your lettering in standard black vinyl, and outline it it white reflective.

 

[thewvsignguy]

I can't remember what suppler told me this but FDC buys lots of other vinyl manufactures overstock vinyl and then re-brands it as their own?? We were looking for a specific Blue chrome that R-Tape made but was discontinued, we found the same film in a FDC catalog and after chasing our tails it was the same product from R-Tape.

Also as I remember Avery reflects a goldish type of color....


just my .02

 

[Malkin]

Translucent black is not actually translucent, but at least it's still black and performs it's job exactly like you would think.

Reflective black on the other hand, reflects light grey, making it unsuitable for many jobs because of the obvious contrast issues that would arise.
I learned this lesson well when a customer ordered a refl. black background with refl. white copy. The sign was completely illegible at night when hit with headlights.
The most common use of this vinyl that I see is for stripes on fire/rescue vehicles.

 

[Drip Dry]

I thought all black reflective vinyl lights up white (or grey) at night. If the truck is white and the letters are reflecting white, what purpose does that serve. How often are you really driving around at night. I say save the money and just use regular vinyl.

BTW... I never understood why they would even make translucent black vinyl in the first place. Isn't the purpose of translucent to see the color when it's lit up? What color lights up with black ? It's still black isn't it ?