How to cut the mark in vinyl

DRAFT

If you run a shop inside 270 and want the mark in your window without waiting for us to bring a cling, you can cut it yourself. Here is how we do it.

The file

Use in270-mono-limestone.svg or in270-mono-asphalt.svg from the download kit. SVG only. Do not use a PNG for cutting. The path data is what the cutter reads.

If the sign will be seen at more than about ten feet away, use the small-size version (ring, I-70, I-71 only). The four interior routes get too fine to cut cleanly under a couple of feet across. The kit files at 32 and 64 pixels are already the small-size version.

The material

• Oracal 651 (glossy, permanent, 6-year outdoor). Any color you like, but keep the mark's ink one solid color. Do not try to two-color it.
• Application tape (Oratape MT80P works, or any low-tack transfer tape) to move the cut piece from the backing to the window.
• A squeegee. Bank card in a pinch.

Cutter settings

These are our numbers on a Cricut Maker and a Silhouette Cameo 4. Your machine may want a hair more pressure.

• Cricut: material = "Premium Vinyl", pressure = "More", blade depth 3.
• Silhouette: blade 3, force 8, speed 5, single pass.

Test cut a small square first. If the backing tears, drop the pressure. If the vinyl lifts when you weed, raise it a step.

Weeding and applying

Weed the negative space around the strokes. The ring is a closed shape; the interior routes are separate strokes. Do not try to weld the routes into the ring, or you lose the road.

Apply to a clean window: mild dish soap, rinse, dry. Peel from a corner. Squeegee outward. If a stroke goes down crooked, the whole mark reads wrong; it is easier to lift and redo one stroke than to live with it.

Send us a photo when it is up.