Printing Templates

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kirol
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue May 15, 2007 7:55 pm

Printing Templates

Post by kirol »

I have Ski templates that I have created using BoardcraftDesigner the only problem is I have ABSOLUTELY no knowledge of using any CAD program, I wouldn't even know where to start so I will be willing to pay a small fee (whatever the best price is and I have Paypal) to someone that I could send my files to and they could snail mail me a hard copy template.
rockaukum
Posts: 561
Joined: Fri Nov 03, 2006 9:23 am
Location: Placerville area

Post by rockaukum »

Have you tried a local print shop? I know in my area there are a few that will do it and I'd guess the price wouldn't be too bad. I know I have had problems with my inkjet printer not printing straight. Took the file to a neighbor and he printed it on a laser jet printer and all was fine.
Rockaukum
East_Coast_Style
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2006 2:37 pm

Post by East_Coast_Style »

my buddy has a large format plotter (normally used for cutting vinyl decals), and he can cut thin plastic on it with different heads. the templates are cut from simple black and white images, where the black is cut out. its pretty damn accurate, fast, and cheap. only downfall, is theres a little more work involved taking the thin plastic template to a usable hard template.

most sign shops have these kinda plotters, i would check with them to see if they could cut them. and you wont have to know any cad!
dante
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2007 10:27 pm
Location: Seattle, WA
Contact:

Cheap and effective printing

Post by dante »

You can get an old roll fed dot matrix printer from a used PC store for under $50 to get all the single sheet prints you could want.

You can also print on a regular printer with regular sized paper. If you do this I recommend selecting the cut guidelines option so you can be sure you are not losing anything when you cut away the margins. After you’ve cut the margins away you can lightly tack the sections together with scotch tape and use a spray adhesive to stick the full ski print to the wood/plastic you plan to make your template out of.

If all else fails I can get you a dot matrix print of your template.

…hope this helps.

Dante
boardcrafter.com
mark
Posts: 101
Joined: Sat Mar 24, 2007 5:37 am
Location: Western Mass

Post by mark »

My co-worker has the right equipment and would happily print an accurate, single piece, paper template. He'd like $5 a copy to cover paper, ink, and time, plus whatever shipping costs. Just e-mail a dxf or pdf or dwg file to the address in my profile.

I glue the paper templates to mdf to make a building template. You can see it in this thread.

http://www.skibuilders.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=992
Skierguy
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Sep 11, 2006 12:07 pm
Location: Nor Cal

Post by Skierguy »

This may be common sense but I almost screwed up the first base template I made.
If you use a paper template be sure that the template is straight before cutting anything. I taped my paper template down to the masonite I planned on using as a router template, as a double check I placed my aluminum straight edge along the center line of my paper template only to find the center line wasn’t straight at all. Had I not checked the center line for “straightness” I would have had one edge with a different turning radius than the other. Again I guess this is common sense but I thought I would share my experience.
That was one of my more spectacular Da Dunt, Da Dunts� Aaron McGovern �Focused
rockaukum
Posts: 561
Joined: Fri Nov 03, 2006 9:23 am
Location: Placerville area

Post by rockaukum »

Skierguy,
I had the same issue. Using a HP DeskJet printer it prints the ski but it has a variation of about 3/8" over the length of the ski. Need to use a lazer jet printer and get a straight copy.
Rockaukum
Skierguy
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Sep 11, 2006 12:07 pm
Location: Nor Cal

Post by Skierguy »

Thanks Rockaukum,

I was able to get the templates cut out straight. Just wanted to warn people to check all ski templates for straightness before making the cut...
That was one of my more spectacular Da Dunt, Da Dunts� Aaron McGovern �Focused
dante
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2007 10:27 pm
Location: Seattle, WA
Contact:

Printing Video

Post by dante »

I’ve received a few questions about this functionality since my last post. So I put this little video together to show how it works. This example uses a regular printer on standard sized letter paper but if you have access to a wide format dot matrix printer or a plotter you would not need to piece your template shape together as this video shows -you could do it all on one large sheet.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI06KOV-Fs8

-Dante
boardcrafter.com
bostonski
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 10:05 am

Post by bostonski »

Skierguy wrote:This may be common sense but I almost screwed up the first base template I made.
If you use a paper template be sure that the template is straight before cutting anything. I taped my paper template down to the masonite I planned on using as a router template, as a double check I placed my aluminum straight edge along the center line of my paper template only to find the center line wasn’t straight at all. Had I not checked the center line for “straightness” I would have had one edge with a different turning radius than the other. Again I guess this is common sense but I thought I would share my experience.
I just found this out the hard way. Wish I read this thread before. And I cut out one of my bases before I found the mistake! :evil:

Should have double checked.
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