Stencils - tiny fonts and where to find them.

[Luigi]

Hello everyone,

I'm looking for some permanent (?) or reusable stencils.

I just need letters, really (but could always use additional symbols).
The issue is that I need really tiny letters , we're talking 5mm and smaller.
I'd like something on plastic or silicon of possible and that maybe works well with a brush. I'm doing a lot of free Jane banners, but the lettering has been an absolute pain

[Cacique Caribe]

“Free Jane banners”?

Who is Jane, and why is she captive?

Dan

[Luigi]

Apparently she's yet another victim of my phone autocorrect and my lack of proof reading.

Poor Jane, from freehand to captive prisoner.

[gweirda]

...the lettering has been an absolute pain

An option for if the stencil search comes up dry: Use press-type letters as masks, perhaps?

[Ming]

Hi there, have you tried looking at Nail Art suppliers  for stencils?

[Luigi]

An option for if the stencil search comes up dry: Use press-type letters as masks, perhaps?

That's interesting and might have to look into it more.
It might be a good excuse to practice for le

Hi there, have you tried looking at Nail Art suppliers  for stencils?

That I have nor done yet, great suggestion. Will check it out right away

[Fitz]

This sort of thing is something I want to try out a friend's laser engraver to make. So I hope he gets the bloody thing working properly sometime soon

[Burgundavia]

If you have a Cricut or Silhouette, you can cut the Oracal stencil mask on it. Ask your partner/wife/gf if they have a friend with one if you don't already have one (I recommend this option)

[Luigi]

If you have a Cricut or Silhouette, you can cut the Oracal stencil mask on it. Ask your partner/wife/gf if they have a friend with one if you don't already have one (I recommend this option)

I actually ended up thinking the same. I contacted a friend of mine about it and she says it's possible. Once she's back we're going to give it a try, my worry is that the machine's minimum range of sensitivity. I need letters that are 2-4 mm in height and I wonder if the machine(s) she has can handle that.

If it does  work though, it'd make my project much, much easier

[Flinty]

There's always the option of laser or inkjet decal paper, assuming you have access to a printer of course. I make a lot of decals for all sorts in word and with images stolen from the net.

I did find that small text or images didn't really work with an inkjet, they tend to bleed into a single blob, plus you have to varnish before use. No issues with the laser decal paper and 5mm letters wouldn't be a problem at all. You can download a *lot* of free fonts  (DaFont for example https://www.dafont.com/ which avoid the 'small Times New Roman' look.