Best Stencil Technique

[braille]

A friend of a friend came up with this:
Cardboard, while cheap, plentiful and classic, has its drawbacks.
It's hard to do detail, it gets soggy, gets creases, etc. etc.
cardstock is better, but still fibrous and subject to the elements.

Solution:
go acquire some of those acetate "for sale" (or better yet, "no trespassing") signs. design your stencil on the back w/ sharpie/ whatever.
go acquire a soldering iron with a fine tip, ideally one suited for small electronics.
plug it in, get it good and hot. go over the lines on the acetate with the soldering iron, being careful to remove the goop that will accumulate on the leading edge.

now you have a durable, thin, extremely detailed, infinitely reusable and tube-able stencil. go have fun.

 

[5ifth]

i like to design mine with illustrator, for those nice crisp vector lines
but no matter how good the design - doesn't matter if it is cut it up sloppily
i print mine out on a regular 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper
tape that paper down to some kind of cardstock - but not too thick

i like manilla folders best, the kind of board on a cereal box is ok, alittle thick though
stuff from the post office will work well (free blank stickers there too, once you cut off the red and blue us mail stuff from the to/from stickers)

a sharp x-acto knife is key to cutting out the design. some patience and BO! you got a nice stencil
a good trick too for a real nice clean look - and also especially helpfull if its a more intricate design - is to spray the back of the stencil with an adhesive spray. then stick it to the surface that you are stenciling, and peel off when done. it will stay sticky for a little while too
i like to keep mine in a folder so they stay flat and pieces dont get ripped off
spray paint with a long sleeve shirt as you can easily hide the can in your sleeve

also cool: moss graffitti
http://www.storiesfromspace.co.uk/data/ ... ffiti.html

Post edited by: 5ifth, at: 2007/04/16 20:10

 

[braille]

wow, that moss stuff is crazy!
hmm.. I wonder if I could print something out on one of those signs...

 

[bananathrash]

i tape vinyl, cut the tape into what i want, and smack it on a window screen.

 

[Kendall]

just draw your design, laminate it, then cut it out. It lasts a lot longer.

 

[xmattx]

i used to use old xray sheets. i never had a problem, and if you can present yourself right, the technicians have no problem handing over as many as you need.

 

[danvan]

i was blessed with massive meter long rolls of acetate from a dumpster

that works fantasticly

other than that x rays work just as well like matt said and if you say something like you are useing them for an art project (your not even really lieing) then your sure to be able to score heaps of em

 

[Bendixontherails]

Widerstand wrote:

put your stencil in the bottom of the bag along with the spray paint then you can just set your bag down and reach into it (as if your getting something) but your painting and then you pick it up and go!

that's awesome! i gotta try that.

and hey, if you want a small spray can to be more covert, take one of the small pump bottles they make for spraying olive oil over a salad. they pump up, and then spray without propellant. it rocks. you just use any paint from a non spray can and water the paint down a little bit. easy peasy. and it's quieter.

 

[CaseyCatastrophe]

This thread is bomb. B)

 

[Crazycoon]

Wow wheat paste and ordinary paint in a spray bottle... Im in heaven!!!

 

[Crazycoon]

Wow wheat paste and ordinary paint in a spray bottle... Im in heaven!!!

 

[Crazycoon]

Wow wheat paste and ordinary paint in a spray bottle... Im in heaven!!!

 

[FrumpyWatkins]

Crazycoon wrote:

Wow wheat paste and ordinary paint in a spray bottle... Im in heaven!!!

He was so excited he triple posted!

 

[Crazycoon]

oops I dunno how that happens

 

[iago]

there are these sodering iron like things that are made for making plastic stencils. i use transparency film or paper what ever but it cuts extremely thin lines but if you use them to much the lines get clogged and shit.

Post edited by: iago, at: 2007/05/06 14:22

 

[Bendixontherails]

I tried the shopping bag trick today. awesome. I am making a mod though, so it's super-stealth.

since my stencil is made outta thick 'no trespass' sign, imma use a roller.

im workin on a paint pan for the roller out of a halved pvc pipe, setting in the bottom of the bag.

silent, but deadly.:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:


OH... or maybe just a big paintbrush in a cup of paint...

Post edited by: Bendixontherails, at: 2007/05/06 14:32

 

[Clit Comander]

i ussually, just dumpster dive for cardboard, but thats a great idea, would a wood burnner work?

 

[Kendall]

For big sidewalk/road pieces I read somewhere about getting 3+ people, one in front, one at the end, and however many doing the painting (with roller brushes or spray cans.)

You roll the stencil out, and the painters start painting as soon as they can. The person who rolled it out rolls it back up from their end as soon as the painters get done with each letter/part of the picture.

A lot of work could get done really quickly.

Hypothetically of course.

 

[Clit Comander]

oh yea hypithetical

 

[Clit Comander]

oh yeah and my buddies got ticketed once for stealing signs like those so be careful