Printed out all the stencils for my Bank Shot restoration! Tried them out on the cabinet and they look great! Wish the Oramask backing was a little more transparent. Now time to prep the cabinet...

I cheaped out in the essence of maximizing my roll of Oramask. Hoping lining them up works out. The bigger longer pieces (not pictured) I lined up and taped to the cabinet, then cut the edges/corners for easy alignment when I get to that point.

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Did my SI stencils in two pieces. Just takes a little patience.

Shawn
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Anyone have trouble getting true curves? You can see pretty easily defined different lines instead of a curve.
I make these in Illustrator by creating two points and using the convert anchor point tool to get the curves I desire.

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Curves should be perfect, but I use Inkscape.

Did you you the trace function in cameo or did you export from AI to a DXF and then import the dxf in cameo?
I had problems like yours before I started using dxf files, now i never use the trace function.

Many possible causes, but the cutter should not be one. Those look like a point to point issue in a line segment. I also doubt it’s a trace issue unless your art has a weird contrast issue around there. I would triple check the source file for line joins, if you have joined paths it’s easy to forget to convert to a spline at the join and end up with point to point linear interpolation (looks like your pic does).

If you don’t solve quickly on your own post exact sequence and software so someone using the same work flow or similar, can help.

Also, don’t make your stencils like this in illustrator. Long experience by many has shown that using a continuous line segment and rapidly clicking around the art your making a stencil for, then using the available tools to finely manipulate curve type/bezier points (maybe misrembering technical term here) you can adjust/move/add/delete points to get it perfect. I bet a very good beer this is due to your drawing process.

I just got a silhouette 3 and I have to say I am having a lot of trouble with their website. The install instructions say, "Connect the Silhouette to your computer with the included USB cable as shown below:

As the Silhouette CAMEO® 3 is powered on and is hooked up to your computer via USB cable, the free 100 images will automatically be loaded into your library."

but nothing happens when I connect and turn it on other than it has some tutorials on how to load/unload/use.

There seems to be 3 websites: silhouette america, club silhouette and the store and each has a separate login but sometimes they want a different account and sometimes they complain that account is already in use.

I did receive a free "complementary trial subscription code" but I can't find anywhere to use it or what its supposed to be. Literally, thats all it says: "Thank you for registering your machine with Silhouette America. Below is your complementary trial subscription code." - no link, no explanation of what it is, no nothing.

So I just ignore all the online stuff? It seems like it doesn't apply to pinball scanning/cutting anyway.

Unless you are planning on spraying "Live Laugh Love" on an old wooden pallet, not really worth the hassle.

Ignore the web site...scan the PF using your chosen scanners software (or photoshop elements) and trace using the software Silhouette provides.

Redoing Drop Targets on Count-Down.

Metallic art, I may go with metallic paint, but am concerned about durability. Here are pics of metallic gold leaf cut using Cameo 3.

I like the idea that the paint would lie flat, as opposed to the decal which is raised. However, there decal is more reflective and easier to place and less prone to errors such as overspray, smudging etc.....decisions, decisions!
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you could always put a piece of adhesive mylar over the entire target face after applying the metallic bullseye rings to protect it

i was considering that, or perhaps spraying a clear gloss. I'll have to see how those affect the reflectiveness of the foil.

Either way, it's great to have the Silhouette cutters for these. Practically pays for itself on this project alone.

I don’t think the clear will hold up to the ball smashing into it. I could be weonf. I use Mylar. You can actually cut it with the cutter and it will be a perfect shape to apply.

I've used adhesive backed mylar sheets in the past for spinners. I think that I got it from Staples, but can't remember for sure. Will search in the morning. I did a couple of tests with clear gloss enamel. The color from the foil ran and smudged a bit on the first attempt, but was ok on the 2nd when I laid down a thinner coat.

ok, Final decision. I laminated the gold foil with clear adhesive backed laminate. Then cut using my Cameo 3.

Here are results....before and after.

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I am looking at adding a Cameo cutter to my toolset for restoring playfields. I already have a playfield scanner, and I have an old i5 laptop that I use in my shop with the scanner and my eprom writer.

So is this a piece of equipment that you should buy new, or can you get by with a used unit? If you go used, and get a older model Cameo, are there any substantial differences in the output capacities I should be aware of?

Just shop around for a good price, then go to some place that price matches. I picked mine up at JoAnn Fabrics for about $100 less than the going rate at the time thanks to their price match policy.

Well I pulled the trigger on a used ebay unit that looks practically new. We will see how this goes.

That's what I did, no regrets.

These are a great addition to your arsenal. You'll never go back to cutting circles and curves by hand....

Well I got my Cameo 2 up and running tonight. My only real disappointment was the fact I couldn’t get Silhouette Studio to run on my windows 7 laptop. Launching the program would cause a blue screen of death. I think it is a video driver issue as I have problems with MS office not displaying properly either.

After getting Studio up and running on my Mac, I was able to adjust the blade depth, and actually cut a decal. The one I picked required transfer tape to put on properly, but I’ve got lots of it!

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Nice. Got a project you are planning to use it on?

A couple actually. I have a Firepower playfield that needs some minor touch ups and a Grand Lizard that is going to need extensive work. Unfortunately I have to get through a big project at home before I can turn my attention to either of them. I am hoping to get to them this summer.

I'm getting set up to do a restore on my playfield (1975 Williams Little Chief), and have been following Vid's guide to playfield restoration. I've been planning to go the frisket route, possibly with some waterslide decals for some of the lettering, but in response to a question I had regarding lettering with a border around each letter, it was suggested to me that I look at using a Silhouette Cameo, so here I am! I've read through this topic a couple of times, and as much as I'd love to buy my next to the last tool, the learning curve for this thing seems pretty steep. Vector graphics, weeding, etc. - a whole new vocabulary to dive into. On the other hand, it seems as though it might make for a better result, especially in some of the trickier areas.

So, a few questions. First, has anybody ever done stencils for an entire playfield? Or would I be better off just doing the more detailed parts, and sticking to frisket for the remainder? I'm guessing that I can take scans of the areas of interest (I have an HP 4670 scanner) and somehow create stencils from them; the question is, what other software do I need or should I look at that would make the process easier or more accurate? Any pointers as to overall process would be helpful. I've looked at some of the Youtube tutorials, but they didn't seem to apply to pins as much as I would hope.

Thanks in advance!

I use the cameo for detail areas. Large color fields are easier for me to cut by hand with frisket. It's true that you'll get waaaaay better results for things like letter outlines this way vs cutting by hand. Keyline stencils cut with this are great. I use photoshop to create the isolated lines I need from scans but a good free program would probably be fine, too. No need to recreate everything in vector format.

Little Chief looks like a great candidate for mostly using Frisket. Large sections with straight lines, simple colors. I would LOVE to work on something from this era.
I debated about full stencils for a Silverball Mania, in the end decided to use primarily waterslide decals for the detail work.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/polishing-up-a-silverball-mania#post-3834606

I start in Photoshop, create and adjust the art, then switch to Illustrator to create the DXF files for the cameo, direct import those and then cut away.

So my answer to this question is yes, waterslide for high detail items, frisket for the bulk of it.

Anyone here use CriCut? My wife has one but I cannot get her to make properly sized stencils for playfield work. I scan an area, make the stencil 1 but she always wants to know the size. I tell her it is 300dpi, cut it. That is how I do things on the bigger vinyl cutter of mine. I assume there is something when importing the jpg that she is missing.

Any tips?

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/silhouette-cameo-pinball-restorers-club/page/6#post-4532742

Yes, wife has one. Sizes were all over, and would never be the size that I designed it at. So I ended up have to measure the extents of the graphic (width & height) and give those to here to have it be the correct scale. I take these measurements from photoshop, or with calipers from the original pf.

Here's the mask cut:
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Here's the painted section:
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Also, the mask for the keylining on the C insert was cut on the cricut.

That's a fail for CriCut... IMHO.

Yeah, it's not convenient. But it's a work around, if that's what you have available.

If you can get your hands on a copy, there was a software called Sir Cuts A Lot that worked with the Cricut. I got it working for my wife's and it's a huge improvement over the Cricut software. It allows direct import of SVG files at the size they were created. You can't buy a new copy of the software. They got sued out of the ability to use their software with cricut products, but if you can find an old copy it still works.

The circut software see a outline boundary box around components. Each component in the software that is stand alone has its own box and when items are locked or grouped together that boundary box then updates to the group. I have had a few times for some reason after I draw my project in Adobe PSE at a 1 to 1 scale or in solidworks or autocad, the circut software will scale it down. The PSE software will let me know what the boundary box is for the drawn item so its actually easy to go into circut and just type in the numbers to redefine it.

When doing things like text with different font sizes I dont do it in one text window and adjust font size and line spacing, but rather 2 separate text windows.
First line is typed and a bounding box dimension is defined to match what i want it to be, then i do the second text under it in the font size i want with its own boundary box sizes. Then without actually grouping the items via a command you just drag a window over them and you can see the combined boundary box size and if i fits your requirements. If it needs adjusting you can nudge the text lines closer together to get the grouped box height to the correct number.

When tracing or when doing vector stuff i always check the boundary box size in PSE before I cut in on the circut. That way i can look in the circut software and verify they match.

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Yes, when I first started looking into a restoration, frisket seemed the way to go, and yes - lots of fairly simple lines and colors. Then I found a couple of areas with a fair amount of detail, including lettering with a border. It just seemed beyond what I felt I could do manually, but then again, I haven't laid down the first coat of clear to lock down the planking, peeling paint, etc. Just looking ahead. These two scans are the areas I'm talking about, and thinking might be candidates for creating stencils vs a lot of detailed frisket work.

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If it were ME, I would cut stencil for the red, yellow and white for the LITES DOUBLE and advances kick out... , I would take the quick way out and do waterslide decals for the text. In the lower ADVANCE BONUS, I would cut stencil for the yellow, blue & black, again cheat and do waterslides for text, it might be basic enough that you could stencil that if you were so inclined.
For the other area of LITES DOUBLE 1-6, I would stencil the red, blue & black, waterslide decals for the 1 - 6.
Purists will likely suggest stencil all of the text but I'm not a purist. Further I'm still a novice when it comes to the Cameo and my experience has not been the best when attempting to make stencils on it with very fine lines often required for text.

Almost totally agree with this approach. My only difference of opinion here would be to also stencil the 1-6. That text is plenty large and simple enough to stencil. I use waterslide decals as little as practical since they are more of a wild card both at time of clearcoat application and long term.

Additional tip: when stenciling outlined text, slightly increase the area of your inner color and lay it down first. Then do the same for the keyline. This ensures full and easy overlap. A one or two pixel expansion will do the trick nicely. This is also handy for replacing poorly registered keylines.

That looks like a perfect candidate for repair, both spraying and decals. I hope you post some “action” shots as I am getting close to that stage myself and worried I am going to f it up

Thanks to both for some great insight and ideas! This sort of back and forth is exactly what I'm looking for.

As soon as I can get that first coat of clear laid down I will! Right now I'm trying to find somebody to shoot the clear for me, ideally with some experience in what I need. Failing that, I'll gear up and go the Spraymax route. At least I won't be able to blame anybody but myself!

How do you guys apply large stencils? I've done the strategy of taking down one end and using a dowel rod to slowly roll it off, but don't get perfect results. I've considered just chopping up my decal in a few smaller sections and applying that way

I've done it this way and also the same as smaller stencils, using transfer tape over the entire stencil.

This method works well for cabinets (courtesy of Jeff the pinballpimp):

So I used a combination of transfer paper and creating some reference lines that I just line up the edges to. Worked much better! Thanks for the tips.

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Fixed this!
I was playing around with the export settings of Illustrator with no luck.
It would look OK in Illustrator then when it was imported into Silhouette, the lack of curves was visible.
Just updated the software and it imported fine!

I was finishing up the masking layer for a translite last night and it occurred to me this may be something others struggle with and if stated in here was early on.
I always had trouble weeding my work until I started using a piece of scrap to "collect" the weeds.
I take the scrap, remove the backing, place the adhesive side up and then simply touch the weeds to the adhesive to remove it from my fingers. It's amazing how the stuff clings to skin.
Anyway here is a quick image of an in process work, scrap piece on the left of the work piece, tuck corners of the scrap side down to temporarily hold it in place.
Hope this helps someone out there.

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RE stencil alignment. You should float them... use a spray bottle with water and a drop of dishsoap. Wet clear coat (sanded) the. Place stencil gently. You can float it on the water until aligned perfectly. Then squeege out water and perhaps let dry a moment or two. Spray edges of stencil with clear (not 2-PAC just clear acrylic) then spray color. Done!

Seconding your recommendation. I have a piece of blue masking tape sticky side up on the corner of the bench for this purpose.

My first meaningful use of my Silhouette, looks 10x better than the shitty mylar sticker they sell.

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