Printer for Full Size Plans

I am trying to find someone who can print full size plans for me at low cost. So far I have drawn blanks.

The design is for a stitch and glue plywood dinghy about 5m long. I have completed the design in Rhino and the full sequence I want to complete is:

1. Build one and take photos.
2. Set up a web site to show how it is done.
3. Publish the full size plans for purchase.

The plans are used to trace both the plywood for the sides and bottom and the female frames the boat is built in.

I need the use of a printer that can print at least the width of plywood (4ft or 1.2m) and the length of the dinghy. I have found printers that can do this (Hewlett Packard 5500) and print services who offer the service. My problem is in price. The printers that can do it are set up for colour (which isn't necessary) and the print services are oriented to supplying banners etc. This all translates to costs per print in the range of $A400. This is unrealistic in the market for dinghy plans.

All I need is a black and white print on cheap paper. The best outcome would be to print on fanfold paper. But there does not seem to be standard fanfold in that size. Does anyone know of anyone who can provide the service I need?

 

I have done several projects that required full-size plots and, yes, it is expensive. A black ink plot on 1.5m-wide white bond paper is around AUS$33 per linear metre here in eastern Canada. The last time I did this was to provide full-size frame patterns for a builder, and I billed him just over AUS$700 for nine frame patterns.

If you think that is bad, price how much it would be if it were to be plotted on Mylar!

 

I would keep looking locally. Duluth is not that large of a city and I found two places that would plot black on velum 48” wide for $.40 an inch and mylar for $1.00 an inch. They have a one time $10 setup charge, and you have to supply the plot file, which requires that you install the driver for the plotter that they use. I have had good results with full size canoe station drawings on 48” x 36” stock, the accuracy was very good. I have never tried to do one 8’ long. I got the prices for a person that wanted full panel plots that would have been 20’ long on mylar. I was concerned about the accuracy and talked him into CNC cut files instead.

Gary

 

Gary, that works out to be about AUS$27 per square metre, which is a lower price than I quoted, but still pretty steep.

In similar situations as b_rodwell finds himself, I have convinced the client to get full-size station layouts and instructed him how to do a panel layout from a scale drawing. With S & G construction, there is a bit more leeway in tolerance than with welded structures.

 

Mr Rodwell
Go to your local larger sign shops! They will have vinyl plotters that can draw your patterns for you. We in the industry have both rollerball pens and felt tips we can install in the plotter instead of a knife. If you are lucky enough to have a shop with a Gerber Odyssey your in luck those machines have electronic eyes to track the material. I will caution most shops use 50# white butcher paper (install patterns for channel letters) but if you tell them what you need they can get the right media! You will need to provide an EPS, AI, CDR or even a DXF so long as it is a vector format they can use it to talk to the plotter. This should be cheap to plot as you are not "printing" printers use 4 colors CMYK to make a composite black thats why it is so expensive! In Alaska we get about $22-28 bucks per sq ft. gets high quick eh? if you came into the shop I worked at I could do that for 50-60 bucks or about and hours shop time. when you get rich a famous you can get a plotter for a song alltho the Odyssey is about $11k US it is a top drawer machine.
good luck 8Knots

 

I should have added that in most instances I find it easier to lay it out on the sheet material than to use a full size pattern. A full size pattern makes a great reference but transferring the lines to the stock is always more of a pain than just doing the layout.

Gary

 

YES i agree with our duluthboat mann. Full size prints are certainly wonderful for very small crafts. But com on boys and girls when it's too wide, it's too wide! let play the scale,let pla the yacht designer... Let sing the birds and scale your drawings.Do not let socks smell thru the drawer! lucas,back from paris boat show

 

I've used a local architecture firm to plot some stuff before. Cheaper than a printing shop.

 

solution can be done

if u r ready to give the part of code which is drawing for u i can try for u

 

I guess I've had it easy down here in RI. My local marine hardware manufacturer has a plotter that friends could use in down times, on the condition that we spec their hardware occasionally. When the old pen plotter was retired, it decided to come live with me. Calcomp 1043GT, takes 36" wide by however long you trust it. It does have it's problems, but as I've been using this one on and off for 15 years, I know most of them
Steve

 

Hi there,

If you have the boat modelled in Rhino, then I imagine you might have all the panels and plywood parts modelled (accurately AND fair)
You are already most of the way towards computer controlled machining (CNC) the parts and doing away with full size plans and/or lofting altogether.
You can export a CNC suitable cutting file from Rhino fairly easily. Speak to a company with a flatbed CNC (most serious cabinet makers have them now) and for a slab of the nectar they will cut it for you. Failing that there are plenty of CNC contract cutting companies around, prices vary but expect to pay something like AUS$20-25 a 12mm 1200 x 2400 sheet of plywood, thinner ply is cheaper to cut, thicker is more. Cost generally is related to total cutting time of the machine. They might charge you a little bit to convert the CAD file to a Cutter file.
If you take it one step further you can do the strongback, supports, and anything else. Do all the thinking on CAD (Rhino) and you will be able to put the whole boat together like a big jigsaw. Much faster than you could using traditional lofting cutting etc.
You'v spent the time developing a 3d CAD model of it, why not use the information as it is instead of downgrading it a couple of times into 2d. (printing the plans, transferring the plans back onto the plywood, then cutting by hand - I'v never seen a hand cut as steady as a computer cut.)

Rob
PS. Rhino "unroll" and "convert nurb to arc" are the tools to help you. If you want more help on that, speak up.

 

Whoops...

Sorry, I just read you first post again. When I read it with my eyes actually open I realise my answer dosen't really relate to what you are doing...
Unless of course you want to provide CNC ready computer plans for people.
(now there's a can-of-worms idea)
Rob

 

Hey MMD
There is a sailmaker in Bedford (forgot his name) that has one of those Carlson plotters he uses for fabric work. He told me he could do mylars or plotting for me at a reasonable cost. Check him out...sorry I don't remember the company name but how many sailmakeres can there be in Bedford?

 

I expect the full size plans to be used after the plywood is scarfed. I can't see that it would be useful to supply CNC files. Following the suggestions from the group, I have found someone who can do it for me. It is using the machinery that is normally used for vinyl cutting. Thanks.

 

We print plans everyday, shoot me an email with more details of what you need to print – I’m sure we can do it.

Joel