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!

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.

scan1_2 (resized).jpg

scan3_2 (resized).jpg

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!

And for those of us who do not need the bleeding edge technology, this should force prices on 3s down as some people dump them to upgrade.

I've got a couple more questions as I inch toward pulling the trigger and getting a Silhouette. Per the discussions above I'm thinking that I will do simple areas with frisket, stencil the more complex areas, and probably waterslide the keylines around the inserts. Anyway, I've got an HP4670 scanner, and have scanned all the playfield, with additional scans of the areas that I'm most interested in cutting stencils for. I've played with those scans in Gimp to clean them up (playfield is in pretty tough shape), and upon recommendations here, have been playing with Inkscape to vectorize them for their use in cutting stencils. My question is - what scanner resolution are most folks using? Mine defaulted to 200dpi, but I know the scanner is capable of 2400dpi. I went back and re-scanned one area at 300, 600, 1200 and 2400 just to play with those, and I have to admit - correcting flaws in a scan at 2400dpi seems MUCH easier, however, the time to scan, and the size of the resulting file is pretty horrible. It's also rather interesting to see all the flaws in some of the original artwork when examined closely. A question more to the capabilities of the Cameo itself - what's the finest detail that it is capable of cutting? There is some rather small lettering - maybe 1/4" or so - that may be beyond it's capability. And mine as well! Those may get the waterslide treatment as well since the smallest lettering is solid black. I'm hoping that some of the larger letters that are outlined in a contrasting color will lie within its capabilities.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

600dpi it is then. I've been working with a couple of scans at that resolution, and it looks good. The borders between colors and keylines are generally sharp and easy to trace along. Maybe I'm overthinking this, but due to a lot of flaked paint, planking, etc. I'm trying to basically redo each scan to fill each color with one consistent shade, then I'll go from there. I have one scan where the lines are very blurry for some reason, but I think with some care I can get decent results even on that one.

As far as keylines go, does anybody have any idea how fine a path the Cameo can cut? Most of the lines are either straight, gentle curves, or circles, but some are quite fine - on the order of 1-2mm wide perhaps. That's two cuts, one on each side - can this unit perform?

Thanks to all the great support on this site - here, and the other topics I follow!

To echo the others, that's a great piece of work. I haven't yet pulled the trigger on getting a Cameo for my playfield resto, and have given only passing thought to the apron. This might be the tipping point! I'm guessing you started with a scan?

Perfect! I have that scanner, and have been working with playfield scans to clean them up. I've practiced using Inkscape, but not proficient yet. Did you use the base Silhouette software, or one of the upgraded versions? I downloaded the free version just to play around with it, but have gravitated toward Inkscape since it seems more robust and easier to use for separating the colors. Obviously some version of the Silhouette software is needed to drive the cutter.

Sure sounds like another toy in my future! Thanks for those great pics - amazing work!

Thanks to both. I haven't produced anything useful in Inkscape yet, so I would have stumbled on this eventually. I started by importing my cleaned up scans into the freebie software, and was not happy with how it felt, so I moved to Inkscape.

Not sure I have the optimum workflow yet; it's been quite a learning curve. Scan, import into Gimp, clean up the scan, import that to Inkscape.. Then import the different colors into the Silhouette software, and cut.. Quite the learning curves on all these things, but I sure have seen some fantastic results posted here!

Just scored a Cameo 3 on Ebay yesterday!

Now that I've taken the plunge, has anybody experimented with practicing on materials other than the Oramask or Gerber materials? I'm just looking for some cheapo material with the idea of getting some practice with converting scans to something resembling a stencil?

Huh.. Never thought of - gasp! DRAWING! What a good idea! True about the settings, but as I recall, there are lots of settings elsewhere in this topic that should either work immediately, or serve as a starting point!

Thanks!
Bill...

Are you planning to add the registrations in the Silhouette software, or some other place? I guess it depends on where you separate colors into the individual stencil cuttings...

I've just been playing thusfar, mostly with the scans I did for my apron. Only two colors (plus base), so after I cleaned up the scans in Gimp, I separated the two colors into layers there, imported each individually into Inkscape for scaling and export to SVG, then imported the SVG files to the Silhouette software for cutting. No attempt at registration marks yet.

I've finally gotten around to cutting my first stencils, and I have to say how impressed I am with the capabilities of this little machine. It accurately cut some fine lettering around 3mm tall using the recommended Gerbermask Ultra. Being a complete noob at this, I have a question regarding weeding, and am looking for some hints/advice. I've had a couple of instances where, for example the center of an 'O' should remain as part of the mask, but wants to stick to the letter being removed. Is there any trick to keeping a small artifact like that in place when weeding, or - as I'm looking at - sticking it back down? The vinyl seems to stick to everything like tweezers, fingers, etc. but I can't seem to make it stick back to the backing again. I'm concerned that when I apply the transfer tape if these small artifacts will become misaligned if they are only sitting loosely on the backing paper.

Goody, a chance to buy more tools! Or, as a buddy used to say, to buy the next-to-the-last tool!

Smacking myself in the head - great idea! I guess I've been too - wait for it - down in the weeds<LOL> to think about alternatives.

Thanks to both!

Ok, here's a fun one. First set of stencils I cut with the Cameo 3 were just about perfect. Could not believe that it could do such fine cuts without cutting through the backing. Using Gerbermask and settings found in here. Now I can't get anything to cut without randomly cutting through the backing, pulling cut vinyl off the backing etc. All I can think of is that I need a new blade since I picked this unit up used. Any other suggestions? How long should a blade last, anyway?

Thanks!

I couldn't find a difference between the two, so I picked up a roll for just that reason - cost. I haven't done any serious stencils with it yet, but as far as setting up the Cameo 3, the settings that were given for the white work fine for the yellow.

Looking for some troubleshooting suggestions. Trying to cut a fairly good size (about 8.5 x 19) stencil, and for some reason my Cameo 3 is unable to feed the material (Gerbermask Ultra) smoothly. I've cut smaller stencils before, and even successfully did one this size some time ago, but the last few attempts have been a disaster - material wrinkles, the cutter rips through, that sort of thing. Using the same parameters as I did before, the ones recommended in here somewhere. I've checked that the rollers are clean and locked in position, the material is lined up properly, but any cuts that approach the right side of the carriage seem to be the issue. Is there something I'm overlooking?

And a somewhat related question - has anybody done any servicing/troubleshooting on the Cameo itself?

Thanks in Advance!

Good ideas, both! Thanks! It got me to wondering - does the fact that I've cut a piece off a roll and it has a bit of a curl possibly make a difference? It's not much, but still... I've got a fairly smooth tabletop to put the thing on, but perhaps a piece of plastic would help; depending on thickness it could be close to the height of the slot in the rear, minimizing the chance for curling.

Sorry for the late response, but thanks so much! I picked up a 12x24 mat and the problem seems to be solved.

I'm intrigued, and thinking of upgrading to the Graphtec blades, and wondered about how to set them up. I'm guessing that they are not like the autoblade and must be manually set. Do the same cutting depths and other settings still work, or did it take some experimenting to get the cuts working properly?

Good info, thanks! I'm only cutting one material, so no issue there. The stock blade has made some pretty good cuts, but I'm looking at some fairly small lettering, so this looks like the way to go.