Can I have a cutter for Xmas?

[Steve Broughton]

he didn’t tempt you into buying an “all purpose wooden quality manufactured industrial unit” then 😆 don’t think they do january sales mate, plenty of people will sell you one though, best thing I can say is decide on the max you want to spend on one and get the best deal you can for your budget, bought mine as a complete package, plotter – software – computer etc. from Mike Antrum about 7 yrs ago, he’s a good bloke (for a yorkie) 😆 or try Edward Mathias (if you don’t mind having your ear talked off by Harry, great bloke but he does go on a bit 😆 ).
Roland, Graphtec, Summa (?) (?) 😮 which machine, err err dunno, have a play with all off them, why did I buy from Mike ? because everyone else wanted me to go to them, but he brought one to show me, computer the lot, set it up in the kitchen the whole bit, thats what made the difference not the price but because he was willing to go out of his way. (Hey Mike thats got to be worth 5% 😆 😆 )

[Brian Hays]

I would say an almost unbiased yes! 😆

Seriously things are unlikely to be in a sale come Junuary, I think the sales last all year long these days!

If you have some spare time over xmas it would give you a great chance to have a play.

Does anybody like you enough to buy you 1 for xmas? 😀

[Bill Dewison]

Thanks Steve, Brian for your replys 😀 I had a sneaky suspicion that there wouldn’t be January sales, D’oh! Good idea Brian about the xmas present, but I don’t think anyone likes me that much 😥

No worries though, I will contact the companies you’ve recommended Steve, see whether I can grab one just before xmas… Least it means I have something to do whilst my in-laws are watching the Queen’s speech! 😉

Oh yeah, the “all purpose wooden quality manufactured industrial unit” wouldn’t fit in the car Steve, so I’ve ordered it as a vinyl wrap to stick to the walls of my shop. 😉 Simulate the work area of a genius and just keep praying something will rub off 😉 There have been some worrying side effects of my visit though, which I will post later on 😉

Thanks again for the help chaps, much appreciated.

Cheers, Dewi

[Andy Gorman]

Obviously you are going to find the best deal possible but, Mathias promised me once that they could have a plotter with me next day. I think most suppliers can do this.
I asked my brother to buy me a D60 for Chrimbo, I won’t tell you what his answer was! All I know is, if the parcel under our Christmas tree is a plotter, it’s about a 3″ maximum cut size. 🙁

[magpie]

Looks like we have the same xmas list Dewi (no suprise there then 😆 ).

Do you think, that if we sent our lists to Santa at the same time he may give us some extra
discount? 😀

[Robert Lambie]

if you can find a great last minute deal then its your call. but seriously do you think you will get messing around with it much.. at least sober! 😉
when nothings happening its always good to get practice with it.. but the practice can be done with the vinyl, no real need for the plotter for that.

hhmmm im not helping much here, am i?.. 😆

[Bill Dewison]

Had a loooong chat with Harry at Mathias 😉 He really went into how plotters work, all the different makes of plotter available and quite a bit more besides. 2 hours all in all, but I’m alot closer to a plotter now than I was earlier today 🙂 Least I hope I am 🙄 And he does do next day delivery (for free) as long as you order before 3pm. That’ll teach me to ring a supplier at 4:30pm though! 😉

Cheers, Dewi

[Andy Gorman]

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. Harry will talk for a good couple of hours. Didn’t I mention that? 😉

I was pretty lucky, when I rang them he wasn’t in and then he returned my call so at least I didn’t have to pay for the call!

By the way, if you’re going to buy one to practice with over Christmas, don’t forget to buy some vinyl. 😉 and let us know how you get on with whatever model you get.

[Bill Dewison]

Bizarrely I rang Harry at the office, spoke to Rose who said he was on his mobile (I didn’t leave my number as I expected I’d get hold of Harry). Anyway, I try Harry’s mobile, no reply. 10 minutes later, my phone rings and guess who? (Doesn’t take a univercity professor for this one) Yep, it was Harry!

I’ve got to say tho, Harry knows his stuff. The info he gave me on the plotters available was pretty much unbiased, and he gave me a complete list of sites to visit to help me make a decision. Top bloke IMHO.

The search engine on here helps a lot as well, simply type in the model number of the machine you’re interested in, and half the time there are a list of posts as long as your arm with all the pros and cons. 🙂 In saying that, alot of the time its the same for most subjects, I read a really good one written by Henry regards pouncers. Had no idea what it was before I read Henry’s post 🙂

A strange question here I guess, but regardless of the plotter I buy, do I really need to fork out cash on a stand? I was considering having a static box built that the plotter could sit on with a catchment tray for long lengths of vinyl. Is this a realistic option? I’ve read the posts regarding using a musical keyboard stand @ £20, but I have that much timber/MDF lying round, a box would cost me nothing but time.

Cheers, Dewi

[Andy Gorman]

I’ve always had plotters sitting at one end of a bench, on the bench. That way the material can run straight along the bench without falling on the floor and getting covered in dust. I think the average of about £125 for a plotter stand is a big rip off. Stick it on a bench or build a stand.

[Kevin Flowers]

i brought my summa D60 through Harry excellant deal came with stand in price in the end it wasn’t so much the cost of plotter but the bill from British Telecom that had me worried. But seriously Harry is the top dog when it comes to plotters and blades and all the free advice you can handle

Kevin