Oracal 641 2.75 mil/3 year (slightly cheaper than the rest, penny wise and pound foolish?)
Oracal 651 2.5 mil/5 year
Glosstech 5 (from SSK, is this the same as GMI CV-300?)
GMI CV-300, 5 year 3 mil
Avery A4, 3.2 mil/4 year
Avery A6, ? mil/6 years
MACcal 8300 Pro, 3 mil/5years
MACcal 9800, 2.8mil/5-8 years (priced almost as much as cast films, is it almost as good?)
As I see it, these are pretty much the choices. I used to use 8300S which was a cheaper 3 year film. When the new pro came out, the price went up slightly, so I switched to Oracal 641.
I have always worked on very tight margins. Generally, my customers and I have found 3 year film lasts a bit longer than 3 years in some cases, even in the harsh climate of the northeast, of course some trucks I did a year and a half ago are peeling...
Not only do I save money buying the cheapest films, I get repeat business more often. So long as the customer understands the limited life of the film, this hasn't posed a problem.
My question is am I selling myself short? For an extra $1-3 per average job I could be using some "better" intermediate films.
Will they plot and weed easier? Will they stick to banners easier? Banners always seem to peel within a year or so on me, but as I told one client, local sign regs say only 90 days for banners. Then 30 days of no banners before you can put it out again for another 90 days. I've never had a banner fail in six months, which seems reasonable to me.
What film do you use and why? Thanks.
WARNING! UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU USE THE *GMI* VINYL, IT IS ABSOLUTE JUNK!!!
This water-based crap will shrink, peel and fade quicker than you can say goodbye to your customer. It claims to be a five year vinyl, but if you get 1 year out of it consider yourself lucky. I lost many customers when I fell for that false claim.
The best intermediate of the brands you listed is the Avery A6, and it's only $2 - $3 more per roll.
- John
Avery A6 is great but not the most glossy. Weeds and works easy and super with wet applications using RapidTac II (hows that for a plug Roger B.?)
I have had batches of Oracal 651 that are as shiny as cast and some as dull as 3-year. Glad I did not have to match shine to a previous job for same customer because it would not have been acceptable. The adhesive for 651 has proven superior to other intermediates I have used.
I have used 651 on vehicles where the customer wanted to cut costs and assured me the vechicle would not be inservice more than 2 years. You know the type - want something cheap to start a business on a shoe string with a 72 Chevy pick-up.
If you desire repeat jobs from the customer, do not use intermediate on vehicles.
If you value your image to get more jobs by incremental marketing - where people see your work and are impressed and get the phone # off the vehicle and call you...
do not use intermediate vinyl on vehicles because if it peels or fades the PROSPECT suspects poor quality.
Quality sells so use HP vinyl on vehicles. I have talked with sign people in the 4 corners of the country and down under and they overwhelmingly recommend (in alphabetical order - numbers come first)
3M - Gerber / Arlon - Callon II / Avery high performance
This in no way discounts the rest of the HP products out there...
but you were asking about intermediate any way...duhhhhhh...sorry to ramble.
I've used Orical 651, still have a lot of it on my racks and it's good vinyl, nice gloss, I have also used Bannercal but got away from it because I didn't have very good luck with weeding,same with Orical, but not as bad as Bannercal. I like Avery A6, it weeds very nicely but all of these have a very stiff feel to them. I just started using Arlon 5 yr vinyl and I have been very pleased with it. It weeds great, feels more like cast but like most intermediates, it's a mat finish. I will use this on banners & coro, but unless the customer wants to cut costs, (I've done my share of '72 Chevy P/U's) I use nothing but performance and I thank my competitors who don't. They're helping me put my daughter thru college.
As for GMI, never used it and MacTac, I had 1 roll 2 years ago, it was enough to decide MacTac will never come in my shop again.
I have never used GMI vinyl. And from what I am reading here I believe I will NEVER touch the stuff. (THANKS EVERYONE FOR THE INFO) Right now I am using Glosstech 5 (a 5yr vinyl) and Orical 541, and I quite fond of them both!! Both weed real well, the Orical is a little bit better though. I just got a free sample of Calon manufactured by Arlon vinyl, and that was the worst vinyl that I have used so far!!! I tried to stick it to a door and it peeled right off!! Talk about a weeding mess!! You could weed anything real fine if you wanted to! (THANK GOODNESS THAT WAS FREE!!) I can't believe this company sent this as a sample of their vinyl they sell. Anyways, looks like I am going to have to try Avery.
Amber
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My intermediate grade vinyl is Ameriban's BannerCal- made by Flexcon. It's 3 mil & has a 3-5 year rated durability. It cuts & weeds great. A 24" x 50 yard roll in colors is only $67. And I use it for temporary, short-term signage ONLY (Coroplast signs, Poly banners, Tyvek signs, etc.). I would NEVER even consider using intermediate vinyl for truck lettering. Repeat customers are a major part of my business, & the chance of losing even one would not be worth the risk.