I just picked up a Hog Bipe kit and I want to make a "backup" of my plans to do the building off of. I did this w/ my LT-40 kit, but discovered halfway through that the copier at Kinkos didn't do a perfect 1:1 duplication. No big issues, but it was frustrating that my wing wasn't lined up right on the plans. I went to a different place today, an Officemax, and had the same issue with the Hog Bipe plans.

Any suggestions? Anyone have better luck than me? I guess I should try looking for a place that does blueprint duplication.

jacobezzell,
I do the same thing with all of my plans for any kit that I'm building. What you need to do is check the accuracy of the plan right there on the spot. The people in the copy center are normally happy to work with you to get the copy right (make sure you tell them that it's got to be accurate). They can make adjustments to the machine to get the output to match the original. Also, they shouldn't charge you for copies that aren't right. It might take a little bit of time to get them done, but it's easy enough to get the machines adjusted properly.

Ken

Thanks Ken, maybe I'll try going back to kinkos and see if they can do the adjustment you are talking about. The doofus at Officemax wasn't any help at all.

I beleive it is illeagle for a copier to have 100% fidelity. Most copiers are 99 or 101 %.

I used Kinkos in two different citys and both of them were dead on. Like Ken said, check the copy with the originals and make sure they are right. That way the folks there can dial in there machines correctly.

I service office equipment everyday and it is not illegal. I don't know where huck got his info but he is not correct, all copiers default to 1:1 or 100%. When you go back to make copies just ask for assistance and they'll be more than helpful.

BlueLine

Seveal years ago I was asked by some users (i was a system programmer in a tech dept responsible for hardware as well as software) why our copiers did not give the option for 100% copy repoduction. The options skipped from 99 to 101 percentage. I was curiuos and contacted the vendor (Konica, if I remember correctly). I was told that the Bureau of Engraving (Treasury Dept) had enacted a commercial restriction on copier manufacturers to limit the copy sizes outside of the 100% size. They said they complied to the standard in thier software as well as the hardware; e.g. the options the user had to choose from. They also said many manufacturers complied on the hardware side but not on the sofware side; e.g. hey offered 100% but really gave you 99 or 101. Along with other variables such as ambient temp. and humidity as well as paper moisture content (the machine heats the plastic ink to bond it to the paper) pretty much assured that the copy would not be 100%. This whole effort was to thwart couterfeiting money and stock certificates.

I don,t know about the copying laws ,but I use a blue print co. and they are right on

I work for a commercial construction company and we have our own Xerox full sized copier just like what Kinkos uses (actually is was a refirbused unit that was more than likely used at a Kinkos). We use this copier all the time to reproduce plans for construction where the accuracy is very important. Ours will do a 100% copy and if it did not, we would have it serviced until it did do an accurate 100% reproduction. (The sad fact is the thing does require service about once to twice a week, but we do run like 2,000 feet per week on a normal week and on busy weeks it would not be uncommon to run 10,000 feet through the machine.)

I don't know if there is a law prohibiting 100% accurate reproduction on color copiers, but even that would be doubtful since you can alway use a scanner and a printer for the same result.

I now scan all my plans to a digital jpg file that is a 1:1 ratio so it can be printed at any time. I also archive the original plans so if I need them, I will have an original set undisturbed.

For my TF GS Corsair build, I have used the JPG as a background image in AutoCAD and I am redrafting some of the parts to be more scale accurate and I will reprint the plans once I am done.

I beleive the law only says that you cannot make 100% copies of currency. You can blow up a dollar and use it for an ad, or poster for carwash etc. or shrink it. But it is illegal to make 1:1 copies. Copiers that can duplicate some of the finer lines of currency I also believe have to be registerd with the Feds.

Most likely Kinkos put that in their softwre so they did not have to worry about it, or worry about emp's making "OT" pay.

I scan my plans into our system at work and print them on a laser plotter, pefect 1:1 copies every time. I have around 50 giant scale plans on file
Always check the scaling to make sure you are getting a 1:1 copy before cutting the 1st piece of wood.
Anthony

I use the scanner we have at work. It reproduces copies 100% accurate. I make 3 copyies then put the orginals in a tube and store them away. I make 3 so I can cut use 2 of them to cut into smaller pieces so I can use a smaller work area.

Thanks for the replies. I tried kinkos again, no good. Then I went to a place that does nothing but blueprint duplication. Holey Bejeebers! Perfect copy, and it cost 1/4 of what Kinkos wanted. If you don't have access to a large format copier at work, do yourself a favor and look up blueprint duplication in the yellow pages. Support your small businesses! They know what they are doing!

For large jobs, we still send them out to be scanned and reproduced, it is much cheaper than paying one of our workers to stand in front of the scanner and feed one sheet at a time.

Afternoon Huck, I spoke with the engineers this afternoon and was laughed at for asking such a fundamental question, its is a true 1:1 copy. Wether you purchase a .5copy or 85 copy a minute machine, well, for that matter my multifunction fax/scanner/printer at home defaults to 1:1 or 100%. I don't know what else to tell you.
Ag4ever, I can't empathize with your situation, I'm always going to construction sites (which by there very nature is a dirty environment) to clean machines. It sounds like your in need of a higher volume machine, say a 20k-40k copy a month type of machine, ha, ha!

My personal experience with the many copies I’ve made over the years is that scanners tend to stretch the drawings a bit. The top starts out pretty close and by the end it can be off quite a bit depending on how big the plan is. You then have it printed on paper that is less than optimum for plans and so you will have a lot of shrinkage and expansion depending on the environment. It can very quite a bit with the various printers, but that is probably what happened. Printing directly from a CAD drawing is obviously considerably more accurate, the problem comes from the scanning and the various scanners in my opinion.
Luke

I just had a set of plans copied at a local place. I told the lady I needed an accurate copy. I explained that I build on them and the copies couldn't be bigger or smaller than the originals. She said no problem. I got back to work, unrolled them, and they are off. It's just "STIK" plan, but I'm just aggravated that I did not get what I asked for. I could probably make due with them, but I'm tempted to go back tomorrow and see if they can do a better job. They charged me 35.00 for two 36" x 58" sheets.

HOLY S*#T, how much? Kelsy, if it were me i'd be returning them and getting what you paid for! Here's what I do when I'm in the field and ensuring I'm getting a 1:1. Hold your copy on top or bottom of your original then hold it up to a bright light, you will then be able to tell with 100% certainty if its a full size copy. I hope this is of some help, if you have any questions shoot me a PM or email. Good luck and be well.

The price was 35.00 total. She said its based on $1.25 per Sq. ft. I didn't think that was too much, I'm just a little mad right now. I'll take them back tomorrow and see what they can do.

$35?? [:-] See thats why I'm saying to shop around. the place I got it done charged $0.20 per square foot.

What the law prohibits is to sale those copies and have a profit, the material has a copyright so you should be very careful with those copies and prove at all times that you own the original material and that the copies are only for personal back up purposes.

I must be lucky went to kinkos for a copy of my Royal FW A8 plans and there right on the $ and they cost 9$ for both sheets I did ask that I get a accurate copy because I would be using them for const. porposes no problem was the answer if they were off then she would have run me another set no charge.

Being in the copier repair business for a long long time here is a real easy way to make sure you have a 100% copy. take a fine graded scale/ruler, the longer the better; and lay it on the copier glass lengthwise make a copy and then move it to front to back setting it to far left, compare it to your scale. most copiers are not set to perfect 100%. make changes to the increase and decrease buttons on the machine and see what happens. I have set up many machines to make perfect 100% size copies so it can be done. Most places can't do this right away because it will take a tech to do this.

Wolf, it sounds like he doesn't own or lease a copier, he has take it elsewhere to have copies made for him. He's not going to be able to go through the process you described. Its up to the key-op to take care of the customer (ag4ever).

YES I THINK YOU ARE CORRECT.