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hi all, vinyl virgin here…
Hi
been looking around the forums for about a week, but finally registered myself!i’m planning on buying a vinyl cutter, primarily for producing my own lettering (sponsor decals) for my racing, and secondarily, for producing club stuff, so not planning on going into business just yet, kids, full time work and so on, just not enough man hours! although you never know…
i’m a bit unsure of what to get though. i’m considering one of the small Roland Stika models, preferably second hand to keep my costs down. I have also seen the pcut cutters, but a little unsure of these as i keep reading problems…
if anyone could offer any advice on models that i should consider, please do! i like the idea of a smaller cutter, as it would take less space in the household, but worry that in the future i may want to progress onto bigger items. although i could build up to that and resell a smaller cutter.
thanks,
D
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20 Replies
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Hi D,
I think the stika is a good little unit, but I ‘m not sure it would be of a professional level, but as it is a hobby at this stage, certainly a good starting point.
I’m looking at buying one for the wife to do scrapbooking actually, pretty impressive little unit.
That said, I think the frustration levels will rise pretty quickly when you do car decals, as you find it is a bit too narrow for what you’ll invariably be asked for.
I would suggest a second hand graphtec or mimaki myself. 600mm wide will be easier to buy rolls of tape ‘off the shelf’, and the greater width will always be a bonus.
Just my 2c tho.
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Hi and welcome to the boards.
From the description of what your needs are a pcut should be more than adequate however there are a couple of things to consider.
Firstly, only buy from a UK reputable supplier such as Flynn signs or Signwizard, as not only are you then assured of a CE spec machine but support should you need it, should be on hand.
Secondly, most of the problems associated with the cutters seem to be in the setup and software used to run them, hence my first comment.
Personally I cannot comment on the stika, but search the boards as it has probably been discussed before. A craft robo would also be a good option at this size.
If you can find a good used graphtec or something then that would be a great option, or if budget will stretch the Graphtec CE3000-60 is currently £995 plus VAT.
Hope this helps a bit
Lee
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It seems like a bit of an expense to buy a vinyl cutter and take on the huge learning curve when you could simply buy the sponsor names ready-to-apply from a reputable local sign person.
Love….Jill -
hi jill
i have 3 bikes to logo up plus a sidecar outfit. these will need re-doing when they get crashed. the sidecar alone used over £300 worth of vinyl last year from local supplier. (may not sound a lot in the grand scheme, but that was just text! )
Also, the club will take at least 500 sets of club logo’s… working on the basis that i’ll be charged around £500 just for the club ones (going from previous years) then i think it would be worthwhile investing up to a similar amount in some basic equipment and spending a few hours getting to grips with it all.
ok, i realise there’s going to be a lot to learn! but everyday’s a schoolday eh? 🙂
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hello again
i’m getting a pcut from signwizard. i figured that although a small stika is probably adequate, it would also be extremely limiting should i want/need to do anything bigger. So decided on getting the 24" instead.
Thanks for the comments above, all taken on board 🙂
i’ve been playing with some demo versions of SignLab and WinPCSign, i quite like the WinPCsign, but do you think i would benefit from using that over Artcut or Signblazer elements? or should i save myself the dough and use it for buying my first batch of vinyl instead?
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If you can afford a dedicated sign program I’d go that way personally.
I use signwizard myself, but plenty here use sign lab or sign blazer.Just my opinion though….
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i use winpcsign and have found it easy to use and adequate for my needs, which are basic graphics, logos and t-shirt designs.
maybe if i get a bit bigger/busier i would upgrade.
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i’ve just discovered that Flynn Signs (isn’t he one of the reputable pcut dealers that gets mentioned on here? ) is about 200 meters from me, literally at the other end of the street, in Cheshunt. I’ll have to give them a call, as he’s got to be the obvious choice for spares n stuff.
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if you have any problems with sourcing vinyls etc, I am just down the road from you if you need any help
Chris -
thankyou everyone 🙂
i just got off the blower with ‘victory’ who although they wouldnt agree to sending me some samples (probably thought i was just trying to scam some free vinyl) they are sending me out a swatch and doing what seems to be a pretty reasonably priced introductory kit, 5 rolls of vinyl, squeegee’s, blades etc.
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just opened an account with Europoint, great prices, they are sending me a 5m sample, hows that for value
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Yer a few of them will probably turn you down but there are alot out there who you can still try, Europoint, Grafityp, Hexis, Amari, Cox Plastics, Metamark, Spandex, LG just to name a few. You will also find that prices seem to differ quite a bit for the same make and grade of vinyl as well.
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ah! so my pcut arrived today (paid signwizard yesterday) and i got home from work/dentists to find the box sat in the kitchen.
anyway, as any bloke would, i immediately cast the instructions aside, grabbed my battery drill and started bolting the stand together. the chinese stand isnt too bad, a few holes misaligned, but nothing that i cant use a fine adjustment tool (hammer) to fix. plugged it into the pc, and shove the cd’s into the drive.
hmmm…. not quite so easy as that, but after finding the instructions, working out how to put a blade in, doing a test cut from the printer a few times to get the blade depth right, and some messing about with port settings, i can say that i have produced my first vinyl cut – within 2 hours of finding the box at home 🙂 i dont reckon thats so bad, is it??
anyway, need to order some proper vinyl rolls now, instead of the a4 sample i had sent… best get some application roll too 🙂
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I’d say that’s pretty good going too. I’m sure it took me longer than that and I didn’t get a stand with mine.
🙂
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quote dcurzon:hi jilli have 3 bikes to logo up plus a sidecar outfit. these will need re-doing when they get crashed. the sidecar alone used over £300 worth of vinyl last year from local supplier.
Is that fact or fantasy? dont want to burst your bubble, but £300 in text is a lot, and if they crash that often, how do they earn the cash to pay for all that vinyl?
beware of offers from motorsport enthusiasts, they never have any real money, next thing they will be asking you to pay to put your logo on as a sponsor 😉
Peter
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here’s a pic of last season’s endurance bike:
add to that another 2 sets of bodywork, then the signwriting for the pitboard and so on.this season, we’re running TWO of these ducati’s:
plus a third bike which will be running in a rookie series (scuse the pic, i had to just quickly bolt the bike back together for a show at short notice, so not painted or logo’d yet, they’ll basically be the same as the endurance bike.)and a colleague’s sidecar:
which again, has just been quickly put together for a show (again at short notice). there’s a lot of area on a sidecar, and the underside is the prime area to get (on this one, at least 😉 ) 😀 although it was the driver of the sidecar that said he’d paid around £300 last year, he may have been exagerating, or possibly it wasn’t all text.you’re very right about motorsports enthusiasts though! although i think i just made a successful pitch with a major exhaust manufacturer which should get the 2 ducati’s nicely sorted!
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did you do those bikes D ? (sorry don’t know your name)
and are you a dentist ?Lynn
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quote Lynn:did you do those bikes D ? (sorry don’t know your name)
and are you a dentist ?Lynn
i’m not a dentist. but i am spending a lot of money with a dentist at the mo! 😀
i haven’t done any of the vinyl on these bikes, i just ride the things. however, i’m hoping my skills will progress to be able to do these in the near future.
Darren
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Darren stop riding the bikes and concentrate on making the graphics for them, far gentler 😀
Lynn
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lol! unfortunately, its like a drug – i dont think i could give it up. i’ve been very lucky the last couple of years with most of the racing bills being picked up by really supportive sponsors.
sadly, what i do find is that the older i get, the faster i was. my mind will start wandering and i have the family and work in the back of my mind more nowadays, which i’m sure is slowing me down a bit!
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