After doing the search thing, and looking at some current posts, I have come to the conclusion that asking what brand or type of cutter to buy is like picking out a video (too many to choose from, and too many opinions, ha ha).
So, instead of asking what type to buy,...maybe I should ask, "what features should I look for"? Please keep in mind that I have very little knowledge of them.
Thanks in advance, Bob
Posted by Steve Burke (Member # 2674) on :
good to have - switchable knife-mode from swivel to tangential- let's you cut fast for thinner stuff, and also cut tougher, thicker materials. The Gerber GS15Plus is one that has this feature.
Posted by Michael Boone (Member # 308) on :
Bob take a drive down here some weekend... I have T750 Summa you can see... And within a 15 mile radius...I can show you a Graphtec 30 ..and a new Roland printer/cutter...
Posted by Jane Diaz (Member # 595) on :
Best advice...go SEE them! Michael's idea is great! When we first were looking into a plotter, we went to a show where quite a few types were featured. That was good, in that we could look at a bunch at a time, but it was bad, because we really didn't know what we needed. We selected two models that appealed to us the most and then called those companies and asked for referrals. We went to two sign shops and actually watched them work, asked questions and formed our opinions that way. Hope you can do this, as it really helped us!
Posted by Curtis hammond (Member # 2170) on :
adjustable cut pressure up to at least 400 grams of down force. Full width pull roller so u can cut any size scraps. safety eyes to stop in case of some problems. fully adjustable speeds and down forces.
40 inches per second speed is not fully usable. The vinyl cannot get out of its own way on long cuts.
QUIET!!
Easy maintenace Phone call servce. No need to send the cutter back charging $80 bux freight both ways just to fix something basic that you can fix yourself. Some brands sell you cheap but when it break u must send it back for every thing..
Full width cutting. IE some cutters say they are 24 inch but can only cut up to 20 inches wide.
fully supported by all major sign programs.
Easy to change inexpensive blades. My anagraph has one thumb screw holder. blade change is less than 10 seconds.
Runs straight. I know know of one brand where they have to put a weight on one side of the vinyl to make it run true.
Pull roller strong enuf to pull a 50 yd roll of vinyl with out stalling or going crooked.
Pinch rollers that dont go flat just from sitting.
Easy to load from any position.
Not weigh 100 pounds
Did I say QUIET!! ITs a real pain trying to operate a bizz over the noise of a cutter sounding like some computer talking to you so loud you cannot hear the phone ring.
Posted by DianeBalch (Member # 1301) on :
10 years ago, I called about 30 sign shops that were at least 150 miles away. I told them I wanted to get a cutter, wanted to know What ones they had in the past, what they are using currently. What were the good and bad points of each brand. Asked them about reliability. At the time, we were thinking about a Roland. After the survey, ruled that out for the Graphtec 2100. Never regreted it. Real work horse. 24" wide, friction fed. I can easily cut premium, intermedtiate, sandblast, auto magnetic, iron-0n plastisol. I can put markers in it for paper banners. The Graphtec blades do not wearout easily.
Diane Balch
Posted by Checkers (Member # 63) on :
A lot of good input. I gotta agree that quiet would be a priority if you're in a small shop and it sits near your desk. The Gerber enVision is one noisy plotter that I could never work with. And I love Gerber products. Although friction fed plotters have improved drastically over the last few years, I would still get a sprocked fed plotter. As I mentioned in a previous post, I want it to run on it's own and I don't want to have to babysit it. An important thing to consider is the software that you plan to run it with. Some plotters will cut right from Corel or Illustrator with a printer driver. Others will require a free/cheap bridge program, while a few may require proprietary software.
Havin' fun,
Checkers
Posted by Bill Cosharek (Member # 1274) on :
Since I don't see it mentioned yet, I'll say "end of material sensors".
Posted by Artisan Signs (Member # 3146) on :
Everyone, thanks for all of the replies so far. There is a lot of stuff I would not have thought about. I do most of my work in Corel, so cutting from that would be a plus.
Michael, I might take you up on that offer. I have some freinds in Fulton, and I travel to Oswego for hockey games in the winter. I will let you know.
Thanks again, Bob
Posted by Henry Barker (Member # 174) on :
I had all Gerber machines here at one time, was abit concerned about going from sprocket to friction.
I have had a Summa T-750 for 4 years now and am really happy, I don't cut many scraps but you can if you must, order full width rolls but cut them 30" plus rest which gives 2 good widths for most jobs, its a big solid machine not cheap and plasticky like some of them,its the only real tangential friction machine, and cuts thicker materials like Hartco sandblast resist really nicely, in fact it cuts Hartco better than Anchor and others with plastic liners outside of the blast resist.
It has OPos for contour cutting digital prints, having just bought a router the plotter runs silently in comparison well not really.
I also looked at Graphtec before buying Summa, nice machine abit cheaper, I could have bought a full width machine for a little more than I bought the Summa for.
I guess it depends on what you want to use it for, they all cut vinyl! just those extra things you might consider, Summa has sensors for material.
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
i cut from corel, was one of the 1st doing it. back when corel 3 only had a 30" x 30" work space. i bought a roland PNC-1000 in 92. and still have it!!!! now i have 2 other rolands PNC-1100 that i bought on ebay @ $1000 each. i have a mobile sign shop and a room in the house. so i need 2 plotters. if i was buying new my 1st look would be a roland cm-300. if they are as good as my old ones....you wont be disappointed.
Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
Bob...Take Michael up on his offer of seeing actual machines actually working in real workplace situations.
Ask to see each one pre-feed about 10-15' of material to check out the drift. There are very few jobs that require more than 15' of continuous cut.
Ask to see each one cut a small sample of sandblast resist, if they can do that they will cut anything you will ever want.
If any of the cutters are hooked up to cut from CorelDraw directly, watch carefully and see how easy it is. Saving a ton of money on software will free up money for the cutter purchase.
Ask about blade replacement costs.
Good luck in your investigation. Purchasing a cutter is one of the major costs so make your choice with as much information as you can get.
Posted by Brad Farha (Member # 931) on :
So, if we can't actually name "the best plotter," can we at least name some to avoid? And what are some machines that do ALL of these things:
can cut any material well
always track straight
are quiet
cut their advertised width
are easy and inexpensive to maintain
provide phone support
(If you haven't already guessed, I'm in the market for a new machine.) Posted by Curtis hammond (Member # 2170) on :
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
well not really.![[Wink]](wink.gif)