How did the Manufacturers make their Stencils?

Thomas

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What material did they use and what was the process to get them cut out? Is this possible today and with what kind of equipment?
 
Usually read they were brass or metal of some type. They would need to be reusable for hundreds of cabinets, so that makes sense.
 
I'd say what the above people said. Like on pacman it was stenciled then the black layer was silk screened.
 
That's correct, they were cut brass with weldments to hold 'loose' pieces in place like the eye on Joust. Most stencils did not have floating items though and when they did the black was silkscreened on such as the case with ms pac man and burgertime. They also used lacquers for paint.

While you could make them today, it's really very very cost prohibitive unless you actually own the laser or punch press and can do it yourself. Just not worth the cost and effort these days.
 
Thanks for all the posts. What kind of punch press could you use to cut them? Would it need anything special to do a stencil. I wonder how small these presses have become nowadays.

As far as the brass I can honestly say I have never seen a sheet of it before. It would take a 4x8' sheet and where the heck would you buy that at?
 
Thanks for all the posts. What kind of punch press could you use to cut them? Would it need anything special to do a stencil. I wonder how small these presses have become nowadays.

As far as the brass I can honestly say I have never seen a sheet of it before. It would take a 4x8' sheet and where the heck would you buy that at?

There are PLENTY of suppliers who will get you large sheets of whatever - they just cost a fortune, and outside of industry, no one needs them, so you've never seen them.

If you want to make one of these, checkout metal fabricators in your area (look in the phone book). If you can find someone with a some kind of CNC cutter (laser, plasma?, whatever), they can do the job quickly and (manpower-wise) cheaply. If they don't have a CNC cutter they'd have to lay it out and cut it by hand, which could take some time.

It's gonna be expensive no matter what you do - the sheet brass is going to cost a lot in any event.

Be sure you really need it, though. If you're just doing one or two, then a vinyl stencil (not re-usable) is probably a better bet. If you need to do 10 or so, you might look at a heavier acetate or something - basically something that a sign shop could cut for you (you'll use a low-tack adhesive made for stencils to hold it down while you spray). It won't hold up to 100's of uses, but it won't cost like brass either.

Only go the full metal stencil way if you have an assembly line to support!
 
What kind of punch press could you use to cut them? Would it need anything special to do a stencil.

Thanks for your post man... But really what I am after is what kind of punch press would work to cut your own stencils? I know all about cnc laser cutters and all the new tech. What I don't know about is the old way of producing these like they did. That's what I am trying to find more info on.

I just wanna learn how it was done then and with what equipment.
 
The original brass stencils were CNC cut with wheels. CNC machinery is not a new technology, it was around and in use back in the 60's.
 
not to mention alot of pre production art was done by hand
so wouldnt be that difficult to cut a stencil from a metal using a paper template.
they only had to do 1 for each color to paint thousands.

but really we've been down this road before
records may sound better but we just dont play them no more.
 
For material that thin, a water jet is the way to go. Most larger heating and cooling contractors have them now, the crew can call in dimensions from the field, and the shop can fabricate the part in minutes, and drop it off at the site.

A turret punch or even traditional steel ruled dies are too old school for making artwork stencils.

I'd think a set from spring steel sheet, (think blue steel stock like pinball ramps) that would index off a pair of finish nail post in the side of the cabinet, and roll up for shipping in a heavy tube, could be shared among collectors.

Sort of a collaborative "pass it along" program for cabs without existing commercial stencils available.
 
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