Feedback from users on vinyl cutter with optical eye?

[Robert Lambie]

Take a moment to look over the P-Cut and Rabbit cutter posts within the dedicated forum. there are tons of problems… never have i heard people come here to sign their praises and say how happy they are with their purchase.
I created the chinese cutter forum as a mean of possible help to those already stung, but more as a "deterant" for anyone considering investing in one.

if these companies are now selling the cutters with OPUS function/ability, do you really think there will be much difference in reliability? im not trying to be funny or disrespectful, but they are cheap for a reason.

[Pedro Carvalho]

Rob

I understand your point and your view.
I read several topics, and I found problems with drivers, with this and that.
I also found problems with other brands.

Please note that I’m not defending the budget cutters. Everything as it’s market and it’s place.

Like a car, you can’t expect from a Dacia, the same features, reliability and comfort from a Mercedes.

I will do 10-15 A3 size contour cuts per week.
(I work with very small and personalized series – the kind of jobs that the sign making companies don’t want to do)

To start with this new productions, do you think that the cost of a GX24 or equivalent is a good deal? Note that I’m not questioning the quality or brand value. It’s just the relation investment / time to pay it, that I’m considering

For the rest… my roland is perfect.

regards

Pedro

[Robert Lambie]

i dont have enough knowledge on the machine or its downfalls to give proper advice. im purely stating a view on these cheap Chinese cutters as a result of the growing trend of posts made by others on these type of machines.

quote :

Like a car, you can’t expect from a Dacia, the same features, reliability and comfort from a Mercedes.

correct, but you would expect the car to actually drive forward when you put the key in it. i have read many posts by folk that have NEVER actually got any production/profit from these machines. folk saying their machine cuts backwards, upside down or not at all… any new business needs reliability from their equipment.

anyway…

width maybe an issue but have you looked at the graphtec craft robo 2 or roland stika? these are not what i view as sign making machines, but are widely sold as hobo type craft machines. i could be wrong but i think the ROBO comes standard with opus ability, software, drivers, and actually work as plug and play.

[Pedro Carvalho]

Rob;

quote :

i have read many posts by folk that have NEVER actually got any production/profit from these machines. folk saying their machine cuts backwards, upside down or not at all… any new business needs reliability from their equipment.

This is why I asked also for feedback regarding potential sellers, to get away from the eBay. If I could locate a shopper with whom I can talk to…

quote :

width maybe an issue but have you looked at the graphtec craft robo 2 or roland stika? these are not what i view as sign making machines, but are widely sold as hobo type craft machines. i could be wrong but i think the ROBO comes standard with opus ability, software, drivers, and actually work as plug and play.

The ROBO as OPOS. It was my first thought. The question is the size (A4) vs the cost of production.
In 1 sheet A3 (1,20Eur each), I can print/cut 3 Bike tank pads.
In 1 sheet A4 (0,90Eur each), I can print/cut 1 Bike tank pads.

I think you are getting the picture…

Regards

Pedro

[Pedro Carvalho]

In Portugal, these budget machine are almost as expensive as the branded ones.

The company that supplies me the flex for the t-shirts also sells cutters.

They have re-branded the cutter to the companies name, but on the outside it’s almost the same as the PCUT. Price? 1000eur + 21%Vat

Price for the GX24? 1950eur + 21%VAT

In Portugal the budget is expensive and the good is "almost" unreachable.

A 38cm manual heat press costs something like 600-700eur + VAT. (I bought mine in Germany)

See why I consider a 350eur a "almost good deal"?

Regards

Pedro

[Graham Shand]

[quote="Pedro Carvalho"]In Portugal, these budget machine are almost as expensive as the branded ones.

The company that supplies me the flex for the t-shirts also sells cutters.

They have re-branded the cutter to the companies name, but on the outside it’s almost the same as the PCUT. Price? 1000eur + 21%Vat

Price for the GX24? 1950eur + 21%VAT

In Portugal the budget is expensive and the good is "almost" unreachable.

A 38cm manual heat press costs something like 600-700eur + VAT. (I bought mine in Germany)
The P Cut machines are a complete waste of time, you will trash more vinyl than you will cut properly, the motors on these machines stutter and judder the cuts are random, the pinch rollers are not good and the blade pressure is imposible to get right twice in a row, they are not good even as a start off machine, please dont waste your hard earned money, save up and buy a decent machine, only my opinion
regards
Graham

[Scott.Evans]

in regards to the roland GX 24

it is by far the best ever investment i have made it has paid for itself over and over,
i added a vp540 2 years ago also grate machine but the GX is my baby and will never sell.

never had a chinese machine but myself would advise you to pay the extra or get bitten.

And by the way I do not work for roland haha

😀

[Pedro Carvalho]

Hi Scott

As I mentioned, I have a PNC960, and has paid for itself over and over.
I’m absolutely happy with it. I’m quite aware of the fantastic cutter GX is.

But…
Buy a GX to cut 4-5 A3 sheets per week?

that’s why I have all this doubts, and feedback requests.

I don’t need a extra cutter. The one I have its in perfect condition, and do (almost) everything I need.

I need a cutter because of the contour cut.

Then I have the investment.
In one side the GX 1950+21% VAT (in portugal) on the other side a budget one 350-400eur (in UK)

Regards

Pedro

[Robert Lambie]

have you considered selling your currant machine and investing in a newer model with opus capability?

[Scott.Evans]

maybe sell you’re current equipment and buy a roland vp300 or vs 300. you will then be able to do all what you want and offer other services to.

[Pedro Carvalho]

No. Never thought of that.

Have any idea of how much a CAMM1 with 12 years can worth?

But yes… its a possibility to check. why not? 😀

Back to the prices
I was taking a look for the offer of the budget cutters in Portugal, and what I found more often are the Foison C24 with OPOS in prices around the 750,eur + VAT

Regards

[John Thomson]

Why do you need an OPUS eye to contour cut? If you print registration marks you can align and contour cut manually.

John

[Pedro Carvalho]

John,

can you please explain me how it’s done?

In a "normal" cutter without OPOS I thought it couldn’t be done.

Regards

[John Thomson]

I print in Flexi with 4 registration marks……..in my ‘cheap’ Chinese cutter I insert the pen instead of the blade and from the production manager manually align the registration marks using the on screen left/right up/down arrows……simple and effective.

Sorry I don’t buy the ‘Chinese is crap’ line I have 2 Chinese cutters (one has a laser dot to make manual alignment easier) and 2 years on they perform faultlessly every day. You NEED to set them up well to achieve good results.

John

[Pedro Carvalho]

John

I’m not defending or attacking the "chinese cutters".

I’m looking for the opinions of those how used them every day.
I use Roland. My feedback concerning Roland is the best.

Now I have a need. One of the possibilities is the "chinese cutter".
As I don’t know them, I want to ask to those who know them

What are the brands you use? Can I ask where you bought them?
Is the contour cut accurate?

Regards

[John Thomson]

The contour cut is perfect………..the opus system does this automatically I do it manually……as long as I align the pen tip to the cross hair before I click OK it is perfect………..

John

[John Thomson]

Should have said this will work on ANY cutter.

John

[Pedro Carvalho]

quote John Thomson:

I have 2 Chinese cutters (one has a laser dot to make manual alignment easier) and 2 years on they perform faultlessly every day. You NEED to set them up well to achieve good results.

What are the brands you use?
Can I ask where you bought them?
Is the contour cut accurate with laser dot?

sorry to repeat the questions.

regards

[John Thomson]

My cutters are Refines……..the laser dot is a fixed position on the cutting head so 100% accurate as long as you manually align it correctly.

John

[Pedro Carvalho]

MH721?
Did you bought them on eBay?

[Martin Pearson]

I’m not going to defend or attack Chinese plotters, think there are probably some better than others but you do really need to know what you are doing to set them up correctly, John obviously knows what he is doing.

If money is an issue then why buy a new plotter at all, after all John has just told you that you can do it with the roland plotter you already have and like.

[Thomas Peachey]

its probably already covered but DON’T BUY CHINESE BUDGET. I did it once for when i used to do this for a hobby, it was great (Foisen) only draw back was i kept wasting vinyl because it would sometimes cut 1-2m of vinyl diagonally through the graphic, Fine when u have a good income to pay for waste but bad when you gotta make profit!! When i bought Graphtec…. wow what a difference. If you want do get into signs serious i learned that its worth spending that bit extra and going for machines that had reliability And an optical eye!

tom :lol1:

[Pedro Carvalho]

Hello Thomas

The problem you described I had it with my Roland. Exactly the same
It was a driver/operating system problem.

I’ve tested several drivers and then solved the problem using just the windows driver.

Funny/strange things happen even in the well known brands … 😀

Besides the production quantities, there is one other thing that don’t let me spend money on the GX. It’s a thing called "VP series".
That is my goal.
I radder buy a cheap one now, and with that arrange money to the "VP series".

Today I’ll test the John "solution" and pass my feedback.

[Robert Lambie]

if johns solution works for you… then great, problem solved.

however, i think regardless to advise to stay clear, or the long history of posts by many others on UKSB that have went the same route, you were buying a cheap Chinese cutter anyway. 🙄

just my opinion of course…

[Pedro Carvalho]

Rob;

At this time, I’m considering options.

As I don’t have enough knowledge of the Chinese cutters, therefor, I asked for feedback. From experienced users (happy or not) and from sellers (there must be some in this forum).

If johns solution works. For me it’s great.
I’ll keep saving my money for the VP.

At this time, I’m in the middle of the bridge, with my mind set in one direction: With a reduce budget, find the best working solution possible. (if I’m able to put John’s idea to work…… 😀 )

Regards

[Robert Lambie]

there ARE lots of users of these machines. however, i don’t think i have ever heard of anyone happy with their purchase. so my opinion and advice is to stay well clear of them.

alternatively, Go to the Pcut forum and read all the posts by folk that have went this route and form your own opinion from the long history of posts.
there really shouldn’t be any need for fresh feedback, i personally think those posts speak for themselves.

i have no doubt what john has suggested will work for you as he describes.
i also know john is happy with his purchases. however, john has
years of knowledge in running vinyl cutters. has top end software and very good knowledge of setting the machines up, locating drivers and more, should they be needed.

You and a great many that buy from the likes of ebay, do NOT.
the ebay machines do not come with any sort of support and i believe that many of the manuals supplied are in Chinese. drivers not compatible with software and more… so you maybe saving yourself in one hand, but your losing it in the other because your time is money and you will hit brick walls like all the others posting asking for advice on this forum, and others like it.

i wish you the best of luck… and ill leave my views and opinions at that….

.

[Barbara Eden]

Pedro I have a Roland GX24 which I bought several years ago, before the optical eye was an option.
However, I found a company who added the optical eye for me at the cost of £100 I do believe.

That may be an option for you?
Barbara

[Pedro Carvalho]

Hello Barbara

Of course its an option.
Do you know if that system only applies to GX or is also available for CAMM1 ?

regards

[Barbara Eden]

Hi Pedro
Sorry, my mistake, it is actually a Camm1 that I’ve got 😳 😳

Barbara

[Pedro Carvalho]

Barbara

Can you send me the contact of that company?

Regards

[Barbara Eden]

Hi Pedro
It was a company near my home, I did have to spend a little more on other Items for them to do it.
But as they weren’t too far away I was able to take my plotter down there myself and have them do it while I waited.
Not sure if that will be a viable option from Portugal. I thought there might be a company there who could do it for you?

Barbara

[Pedro Carvalho]

Hi

don’t think so…..

🙁

[Pedro Carvalho]

hello

Sorry about this silence, but the days are too short to do everything.

After several hours…. finally managed to get John’s idea to work.
I use Flexi 8.5 (legal, as all my software), but didn’t make with it.

Then I used the same process but directly from Corel X5.

An it works. For now the problem is well solved.

I’ve postponed the purchase of the plotter, at least to the beginning of next year.

I went to the local dealer of the GCC ate tested myself the Expert 24". And liked it. In the beginning of the year they will have the Expert 24 LX, that brings the same AAS II system as in the Puma and Jaguar models.

Only question is that the Expert is a stepper and the others are servo…. But I might find a used Jaguar….

Regards

Pedro

[John Thomson]

Hi Pedro,

glad to hear that you can contour cut without spending a fortune on a new OPUS eye cutter.

John

[David Rowland]

pleased to read that it worked…. i am wondering if flexi has routines to re-shape the output slightly….

we got the Graphtech FC7000 Mk2 and this has magic eye and it needs it… i mean if you cut your job and you have the settings where it will go up and down and up and down rolling the media back and forth, then that setting needs to be set so that the cutter cuts as efficiently as possible, line by line without too much feeding, it will go off on long prints.

I have tested 3-4 mtrs printed on a JV3 and then re-fed into the cutter, well you do need marks every 500mm or so to keep the alignment accurate, if not it will not work as the JV3 will stretch the print (or any laminate on top), it all goes out of shape.

If you are cutting small stickers (100mm x 50mm) in a small part of vinyl then the manual methods should work as long as your cutter has a good grip to the vinyl (rubber wheels are good etc)

I done lots of experimenting, using CNC vinyl cutters to our old Gerber to our newer Graphtec and it is very useful the optical eye systems but not always necessary.

Another tip, if you doing LOW volumes of contour cutter, then cut it by hand instead 😀

[gadgetsboy]

I got taken in by the adverts when i first started out, they don’t have OPUS they have a laser pointer stuck to them. They don’t even cut 2 color designs properly I have the pcut mh720 laser and when i sent designs to it, it decided what size to cut them. IT NEVER CUT THE EXACT SIZE REQUESTED. it cut them 2-5 mm bigger or smaller. registration marks never lined up when cutting 2 colors, sometimes it would cut the second color bigger sometimes smaller. Even at the price they charge they are over priced. Mine just sits cutting t-shirt vinyl now that doesn’t matter if its a couple of mm wrong size

[Gordon Connelly]

Conversations like this justify the membership fee… good variety of contributions and it looks like I can contour cut on my old PNC-1860 after all.

Just need to figure out what John meant 😉

[John Singh]

Maybe John could oblige by doing a video of what he does :thumbup2:

[David Rowland]

i contour cut on the graphtech fc7000, i am currently replacing a foot for hold down as it wonders.

printing on latex can distort the media and laminating can add further shrinkage so optical systems can be important.

Getting a plotter to run true is not easy at all on large graphics… if your cutting back and forth in the plotter it is likely to move out of register. A cnc style plotter is the most accurate system but also has its own problems

[John Thomson]

I shall create a tutorial on how to print then contour cut on a plotter with no optical eye.
As long as Rob approves I can post it up.

john

[Gordon Connelly]

Point taken, Dave, but by and large I would expect to be cutting relatively smallbits and bobs, no bigger than say 70 cm in any direction.

Very much looking forward to John’s tutorial..

Happy camper!