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Keencut Excalibur 5000 or SteelTrak ST165???
Hi guys,
I’ve decided to upgrade some of my equipment.Are they much the same or should I purchase the SteelTraK ST165?
I’ve just sold my 48" steel, foot peddle guillotine so I’ve to buy soon!!
Thanks for your advice.
Philip
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26 Replies
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quote Philip Houston:I’ve just sold my 48″ steel, foot peddle guillotine so I’ve to buy soon!!hmmmm not a move ide have made likely!
ide have kept it and added the steeltrak. -
Hi Robert, luckily I can keep the foot pedal guillotine till my new cutter appears.
But does anyone own the steeltrak system?
Is it value for money?Philip
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Hi Robert, luckily I can keep the foot pedal guillotine till my new cutter appears.
But does anyone own the steeltrak system?
Is it value for money?Philip
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I’ve got one – it’s expensive but does a great job of cutting foamboards and composites without producing any dust. Simple to operate and very safe. There’s also a very useful "V" groove attachment you can buy that lets you cut grooves into composite for making folded pan signs. I wouldn’t be without it now. It’s a more robust version of the excaliber and was designed for sign makers. Go for the 2m version 😀
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Hi Phill, problem is I’m only 5ft 5".
How would I operate the big one?
What height would my hand have to stretch to?Thanks.
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as a matter of interest how much are they?
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quote Philip Houston:Hi Phill, problem is I’m only 5ft 5″.
How would I operate the big one?
What height would my hand have to stretch to?Thanks.
P.Stand on a stool – that’s what I have to do 😕
George – they cost in the region of 2K
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Hi George,
Signmaster has quoted me £1675 + vat & delivery
V-groove is an extra £70.P.
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a few more months before i get one then 😕
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Just got the costing for the big boy!!
quote :Hi Philip , please see the below prices as requestedST210 RRP £2203.00 Signmaster Price £1965.00
Again the shipping and V-Groover are additional as detailed below
mod-edit
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I have an older Excalibur…does the V groove attachment fit all models does anybody know?
Love the curved cut mine makes in composite…..very neat and pro looking. -
I don’t think it does Harry. I remember Rob tried to order one to upgrade his machine but was told they didn’t fit. However, my original understanding was that these do fit the older Excaliber machines.
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Phil, what are the edges like when cut? I still use a stanley knife and straight edge safety ruler but the blade makes a raised edge on it which then has to be filed down which is time consuming and messy (and would presume damage rollers on the laminator if fed through which I dare not even test 😮 )
I may be looking for something like this soon but want something that gives a clean cut so I don’t have to file or anything (I suppose the way it comes from the suppliers when they cut it)
cheers
Warren
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When cutting composite it produces a nice blunt edge due to the crimping action of the tool used for cutting composite.
When cutting foamboard it uses a Stanley blade which produces a good clean edge.
There is also a scribing tool for cutting glass and acrylic but I haven’t had any success with that – maybe it’s me 😕
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quote Phill Fenton:When cutting composite it produces a nice blunt edge due to the crimping action of the tool used for cutting composite.
When cutting foamboard it uses a Stanley blade which produces a good clean edge.
There is also a scribing tool for cutting glass and acrylic but I haven’t had any success with that – maybe it’s me 😕
sweet, thanks Phill (it was composite I was meaning by the way but good to know about both)
Do you have to change the tool/blade to cut either Foamboard or Composite ali? and is it quick and easy or a pain in the ar$e?
cheers
Warren
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I think the edge is better than the one dibond comes with. No work required after.
I use the glass cutter for picture framing…dinger of a yoke! I rarely waste glass now. -
back to the original question which one is better? could do with knowing this my self and is the excalibur the best in the keenkut range for mounting on tables?? if so why?? i have been thinking of javelin or the excaliber
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think its the excaliber we have… great bit of kit…. but has limitations.
i really would have liked the add-on phill has on his, but they told me it doesnt fit and only comes with the newer version which is what phill has. so that was that…
we use ours only for cutting correx and foamex. everything else we guillotine with a 3 metre wide guillotine. we would be lost without it! hense why i said about your guillotine mate! dont ditch it just because you have the new kit coming.
we also now have a sawtrax, which we use soley for MDF, acrylic, and the odd sheet of wood. i am buying the add-on v-grove extra for that as it will allow me to quickly create pan signs along the same lines as phill does now. the great thing about the sawtrax is that it allows you to cut large sheets horizontally as well as vertically.
the sawtrax is a good cost effective sheet material cutter. the simple head change extras allows you to cut, acrylic, wood, mdf, aluminium, correx, composite sheet and more…$this->auto_embed_video(‘http://www.youtube.com/v/9Bl8ECxUeNE?version=3&hl=en_US’, ‘560’, ‘340’)
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Robert the difference between your sawtrax and Phills machine will be the dust. Only problem I find with my panel saw is the dust it produces, personally I would have bought something like the excalibur instead if I had had my way.
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Hi martin
sorry mate… no i meant the Sawtrax is additional to our Excalibur & Sheet metal Guilotine.
The excalibur we have is the older model to the steeltrack Phill now has.
see differences below.
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I have an Excalibur 500 and as much as I like it I struggle to get a dead square cut on 10mm foamboard. Mine is fairly old though.
Alan D -
Yer I know what you meant Robert, what I meant was that the attachment for V grooving used by the sawtrax is a router which will produce a bit of dust where as Phill’s machine will cut V grooves without any dust.
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We have the big steeltrak, and put in a couple of hours work out on it most days.
WRT the vertically challenged, there is a pull down handle that allows my 5’8" assistant to cut from the very top. works well, but sometimes gets in the way, if you forget to fold it back.Changing from the Stanley cutting head to the composite takes about ten seconds – dead easy. Keencut supply "sightstrips" for cutting foamex etc, which works really well, but can be fouled by the composite cutter on the up stroke, unless the clamp is closed. This can lead to irritating indents on the cuts on composite (we use it for trimming DiBond for mounting photos to, so finish needs to be perfect). It’s quite possible that I haven’t fitted the sight strips perfectly; each time it gets fouled, I take them off, and put new ones up.
I recently discovered that it is possible to trim a couple of mm’s off a mounted / laminated print, when cutting through the back, leaving a Perfect smooth straight cut.
It’s very simple to set to a perfect (less than .5mm deviation on a 1500mm cut), and is virtually maintenance free.I have nothing but praise for Keencut’s customer service – any time I’ve needed help, or parts, there has been a package delivered the next day, mostly without an invoice (and they are made in the UK!).
Having said all that, I did struggle (very recently) to get a dead 90 degree edge on some 10mm Forex – the room was about 12 degrees C; problem was resolved by allowing the Forex to thaw (placed on top of the hotpress for a few minutes). Have had no problems with Kapa/foamboard. Oh, and the other problem is it won’t cut an 8×4′ lengthways – the cutting track is not long enough, but then the ceiling isn’t high enough either.
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quote Alan Drury:I have an Excalibur 500 and as much as I like it I struggle to get a dead square cut on 10mm foamboard. Mine is fairly old though.
Alan Dnever really got it 100% but blade quality is very important and have thrown new ones away many times.
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quote Chris Wool:quote Alan Drury:I have an Excalibur 500 and as much as I like it I struggle to get a dead square cut on 10mm foamboard. Mine is fairly old though.
Alan Dnever really got it 100% but blade quality is very important and have thrown new ones away many times.
Keencut did say that we might see better results using normal heavy duty Stanley blades, rather than their 080 blades (which I believe are designed for lighter substrates)
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think i have tried all Stanley type blades best results with any is to have the minimum amount of blade showing. had a love hate relationship with it.
i do want one of the new ones.
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