Sign Maker Advice


Giving your toolbox the cutting edge


Sometimes, the smallest tools can be your prized possessions, helping you save time and effort on big jobs. It may be a squeegee, a small drill bit, or, in Paul Hughes’ case, a guard knife. The owner of Sign Making Tools has given his thoughts on this vital tool in his collection.


‘T


hat’s not a knife… this is a knife!’ is a quote from a famous film.


Well, I have one knife in my toolbox


that I feel sums up that quote very well – a guard knife or body guard knife. I will say the first time I saw this


knife – about 15 years ago – my first impression was ‘hell that’s expensive and what does it even do?’ Now I would not be without one and


believe its great value now knowing what it can do. It is essentially a snitty type cutter on


steroids. It is an encapsulated blade that stops you from cutting anything that is not passing through the cutting gap. This feature makes it perfect for the sign maker or vehicle wrapper. The guard knife’s most basic use is


cutting vinyl on its backing paper to size, making it more manageable for fitting – be that for a sign board or a vehicle panel – all without fear of cutting or damaging the substrate or paintwork behind.


But wait there’s more! ‘Any snitty can do that?’ Correct but a normal snitty cannot perform the guard knife’s next trick – creating hinges in vinyl backing paper to enable fitters to work more efficiently. When fitting vinyl by the ‘hinge’


method the fold is normally created at one end of the vinyl by peeling back the backing liner and folding it against itself. This has two potential problems;


the folded material can create uneven tension in the face of the vinyl film, and if the piece of vinyl is large or long, it can make for an arm-tiring long run of squeegeeing. The guard knife allows you to create a


centre hinge, without the fold. By using a centre hinge, you are breaking the job down into two smaller ones. To create a centre hinge, turn the vinyl


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face down with the backing liner facing up. At the edge of the film separate the


face from the backing paper, then insert the foot of the guard knife slightly lifting it against the backing liner. Now, while gently lifting, pull the knife


along the desired cut. This should result in only cutting the backing liner, not the face of the vinyl film. You can now, if you want to, create a


hinge by folding back the cut edges of the backing liner or you can repeat the process and create a strip of backing liner that you can remove. While fitting the vinyl film, the excess


backing paper being removed can be trimmed away with the guard knife without fear of damaging the surface below. You can also purchase knives with two


cutting heads with variable gaps to suit your needs. Another feature of some variants is the cutter can be either pushed or pulled to cut which can be useful.


For those that have a flatbed


laminating or mounting table, the knife also comes in a long-reach version; perfect for cutting across the width of the table without the need to keep walking round to the other side saving time.


A slice of the future The guard knife concept has been developed further recently with the creation of the new wrap guard cutter. It can do everything the above can but


also fit in the gap between two vehicle panels to cut film applied over the top; doing so without the risk of damaging rubber door trims underneath. The cut also creates excess vinyl on


both sides of the cut which can be used to wrap round the edge of the panels creating a clean-looking finish. A very useful addition to a vehicle wrapper’s tool kit.


January/February 2025 | 81 |


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