# stencil materials



## bananathrash (Nov 7, 2007)

what you use, or ideas of what to use for stencils.. anyone?


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## Labea (Nov 7, 2007)

bananathrash said:


> what you use, or ideas of what to use for stencils.. anyone?



whats worked for me-
poster board paper, used for school projects and shit, pretty cheap i think... i used to just grab all the leftover posters from kids who would throw them away after a class presentation

and folder paper, like the kind for files, used as seperators, whatever.
these things can be really easy to get ahold of.

not quite sure if you were asking for that, but there you go!


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## shasellette (Nov 8, 2007)

cereal boxes and scalpels, or that clear overhead paper stuff
sometimes that works better depending on the design but certain types are melted by spray paint, its pretty weird


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## Grace (Nov 8, 2007)

Really any paper product that is tougher than your average bunch of construction paper. A cereal box is a great idea that I never thought of, but my stencils were always quite large so I used to use this stuff called tackboard. It's two pieces of posterboard with thin, dried foam in the middle. It cuts well with an exacto blade or just a reagular knife if you have a steady hand. Plus you can play around with shadows and angles and stuff because it comes away from the wall about a centimeter or so.

Other than that, a shit ton of spraypaint and the power to not care at all when your hands get covered in it.


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## veggieguy12 (Nov 8, 2007)

I like thin card, like cereal boxes (I dumpstered some pastry/cake boxes that were never folded). This Kinko's I just went to had some large sheets of laminate, and that would work too; I went there with my design drawn on cardboard, but I photocopied it onto paper, then *laminated* the *paper*. This is my favorite medium, especially since I could just print/draw any design onto an 11x14" sheet, and use the self-laminating machine (intended for badges, licenses, certificates) and then leave having paid merely for the copies (prepaid by a magnetic card required to run the copier). Even for a large design, the advantage in transporting a small stack of 11x14" laminated sheets outweighs having to assemble the design when spraying it up.
Also, Staples stores (maybe also OfficeMax & Office Depot) carry an Exacto box-kit, with three different handles and several blades; seperately, these stores also carry comfort-grip handles, and refill-blade packs. Cost is not an issue.


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## Mouse (Nov 14, 2007)

when I make shirts I just get the pictures I want and print them on normal computer paper and cut it out from there, tape it on the shirt, and paint. obviosuly you can only use this type of stencil once and then it's ruined.


last time I was in a pinch and needed a large stencil I used newsprint paper (go to your local newspaper and ask if you can get an end roll... they'll usually give you the leftover rolls for free.) I didn't think it would work at first cuz it's sooo thin but it came out fine. 


if I wanna make multiple use stencils I use plastic. you can get big sheets of clear plastic from art supply stores. they come in varying thicknesses so whatever suits your needs best is what you'd choose. 


for super cheap, cardboard is always a good bet, but it's a bit harder to cut and bulky to carry.


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## ogre (Nov 17, 2007)

watevers at hand really wil work cardboard, thick paper anything thick enough that it wont bleed through you can always use masking tape and spray around the design


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## general.manifest (Jan 6, 2009)

HO HO. Get yourself to a hospital. Make some friends in the Archives or the X-ray departments, and get some old x-rays. They're usually 24x18 inches. They're thing enough to cut easily with an exacto knife, or a sharp mutli tool knife (sharp!), and strudy enough to take some serious abuse and not get all the flop when you press em against a wall. I got like 100 once in the trash at a hospital, and then I talked so someone who works in imaging. A lot of places have switched to digital x-rays, but they have to keep files for x-amount of years....so they're throwing em out everyone now and again.


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## bikegeek666 (Jan 13, 2009)

bananathrash said:


> what you use, or ideas of what to use for stencils.. anyone?



boxes from bike tubes for small ones for patches...anything thin and easy to cut, really. i dumpstered some christmas decorations the other day that work perfectly. shoe boxes. transparencies, like schools use (shit, i know a couple of people who work in schools...i should make a request....). for big ones, i've heard of people using refrigerator boxes, but i think those are hard to cut. 

some people use all sort of crazy shit to cut with, i've seen one awesome artist's work, made with a kitchen knife and fridge boxes. 

i use an x-acto or a really sharp, but not too big knife for ones that are simple designs (not that any of mine are fancy)...the blade on my leatherman works for that.


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## katiehabits (Jan 13, 2009)

ya transparencies from overhead projectors work great for makeing stencils. use an x-acto knife or a good thin sharp knife. if you fuck up or cut through the wrong place just use clear packing tape.


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## moe (Jan 20, 2009)

so basically it's a cutout design from a hard thick material. i have to cutout the same design onto like a cardboard paper or those clear plastic laminated fuckstuff, cuz i printed out my design off the comp. without that complicated shit of photoshop, but i understand it would bleed through if i use regular paper, so yeah. i swiped one of those small thin razor blades from my dad's toolbox. im almost done with this project that should've been done like a month ago, ha, so im on that quest to get m some fabric paint? or something else that wouldn't wash? yeah.

if you'd like know, or don't really care, the shirt im making is a crass shirt. fucking better than going to some punk store and getting one for 35 bucks. i was mad as hell when i found out that this was the price of that shirt.


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## Gypsybones (Jan 21, 2009)

I use bristol board for most of mine cause it lasts for a long time, is thick enough to get good detail, and is not to heavy that its hard to cut. 

but if your gonna do graph then try to find a big shopping bag, like the ones from department stores. 
you can cut shit out of the bottom, then you just spray in the bag on whatever and carry it around, no one will be the wiser.


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## syphilust (Jan 25, 2009)

I really like using large board then making the stencils at home and wheatpasting 'em up. I tend to get pissed off at seams in cardboard so the best paper I've found is the thicker movie posters which are always in blockbuster dumpsters - they're large but good to cut up too. tar paper can be found in gigantic rolls in dumpsters all over the place in the summer after buildings redo their rooftops, that stuffs amazing because it can roll up easily but is still thick (kinda sucks if you leave it rolled up and paint dries tho). use a fireworks (or any) tube to roll up finished stencils to carry around. for wheatpaste I like using gatorade bottles (the kind with the weird top that feels like a baby bottle - good for squeezing it out) and a medium sized brush. 

michaels (box store craft shithole) is pretty much a free store and also has the x-acto box sets and other great things, like packs of micron pens and sharpie paint pens, right now im really into their powder paint -throwing it on walls, squirting water to make it drippy and im really into splatter art right now! plus they have elmers aerosol glue which is super useful for intricate stencils because you can have a tight fit to the wall (or wherever) but still peel it off after while having both hands available for other stuff and not having the hassle of tape! oh, and i just saw some "eco" paint/brushes there, whatever that means.
oh! plus they have projectors that are crappy but at least can be free (if you have five fingers - i just put the box in a big cloth bag with a bandana on top and walked out). they're great for needing to trace an image (yer own, letters, something from a mag or whatever) on a larger scale and being able to add larger bridges. the first projector i had i just got from my old school (the big ol' diarrhea yellow boxy kind) as they're all going to digital projectors now. the second one i got was the same type taken from an electronic recycling place (those places are great for other stuff - old photocopiers full of toner which is carcinogenic shit but can make some great dye for art, circuit board to make into whatever (i got a bunch once and made earrings n crap and sold them at a folk fest and made a killing), typewriters, tvs for destroying, parts...)

oh yeah, and check city websites for dates and places for household chemical drop-offs. they gets TONS of paint cans and i've found they'll give em to you if you just say your an artist (ie canvas, not graffiti), poor, and mention it'll cost them less to not dispose of it....


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## bikegeek666 (Jan 29, 2009)

good call for a paint source.


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## dime (Jan 29, 2009)

x-ray film is great to use


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## iTch (Jul 17, 2009)

I started with manila envelopes, leaving both layers for durability, but they wore out, especially with spray paint. I eventually got some vellum paper that my dad stole from Boing. It's VERY thin, clear, and incredibly strong plastic, makes the most durable and detailed stencils around. Only flaw is I don't know where one would acquire it, as I was given mine. That and sometimes it won't hold straight when trying to tag a wall or something. Maybe try a fabric store? I hear they carry it for projects and even stenciling, but it might be expensive or too small.
Also, stencilpunks is a good website for already made stencils of bands and such


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## freepizzaforlife (Aug 9, 2009)

if you're going to be stenciling cloth, go buy or steal a roll of freezer paper (stuff they wrap meat in) from a safeway or wal-mart or something, some screen printing ink, and a foam paint brush, or a regular paint brush, foam works best.

trace your stencil onto the non shiny side of the freezer paper, then cut it out with the bridges still intact. after this iron it to whatever you want to stencil, then cut the bridges out. go back over one more time with the iron to make sure everything is sticking to the cloth, then brush your ink onto it, and wait for it to dry. peel off, and check it out. you can do multiple colors with this method too, and the ink wont bleed, etc etc.


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## informationsniper (Oct 8, 2009)

cardstock with packing tape on both sides.

takes some time for bigger stencils, but they come out pretty durable


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