I guess these are related to cnc machines, I will soon find out. I am waiting delivery on a Master xy-380p from dcsign on ebay, 36/32 inch machine. It was $563 delivered with extra blades. I did a fair amount of research on these and just can't afford the Roland or a nicer machine. I'll do a review on this after I get it.
My question, where is a good place to get inexpensive vinyl material to practice on?

There are often 'deals" on short rolls of vinyl on EBay. If not, for pure practice pick up a roll of "Paint Resist" vinyl. It only comes in white and is thinner than most exterior sign vinyl but you can practice cutting paint stencils and masks. You do need to pick up some "transfer" film. After you cut the vinyl you need to "weed" it (pull out the parts that are not part of the design) and then apply the transfer film to the top and peal off the backing paper. Then apply the design to the clean surface, burnish it down and peel off the transfer paper.

For more information on using vinyl cutters and all the tricks, join the yahoo Signmaker group.

You can also run down to your local plastics supplier (Regal Plastics, etc.)....ask about discontinued or cut-offs.....they are usually in the warehouse area where you pick up your materials....they have a special shelf...

I have that one myself it's a GREAT machine, it's a real work horse for me.

Thanks for the replies, I started this list of interesting information and suppliers, there are many out there.
CNCadmin its good to hear you like your machine. The reviews seem to be mixed, mostly favorable though. If it even sorta works I'll be happy, the cost differential is huge across this spectrum.
I did order a copy of Coreldraw 12 (about $65 shipped) off from ebay to suport the Flexistarter that comes with the machine. Dcsign apparently has direct drivers for coreldraw, I'll find out soon.
I ordered materials from both sign suppy store and sign warehouse.
I'll update as things come in.


http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/signmaker/
http://www.signindustry.com/mb5/
http://www.signsupplystore.com/
http://www.signwarehouse.com/