Keencut

[Alan Drury]

I have a Keencut Practik (1500mm) and an Excalibur 5000 which will do Foamex upto 10mm and Dibond to 2-3mm (never used it for Dibond so best check this). Both are excellent machines and have made cutting much easier and quicker. Keencut offer plenty of advice and parts, should you need them easy to obtain. You don’t appreciate the engineering of these things until they are in front of you, pictures do not do them justice
Alan

[Paul P]

I used my keencut praktic to cut some 3mm dibond the other day, only used it on foamex before, but can confirm it cut it no problem – I guess blade life is compromised but they only use a std “stanley” type blade.

Paul

[Nicola McIntosh]

i too have the excalibar 5000 and it cuts foamex as expected, and alucolor with ease (when you fit a new blade) i think it’s an amazing machine and does not leave any bits, unlike a wall saw!! (in which you end up like a snowman/woman) 😛 😛 😛 hope this helps !! 😀

Nik

[Bill Dewison]

Is it really worth investing in these machines though? 😕 I’m not being devilly advocatey here, just interested, as I’ve ordered Rynabond (<Rynobond?) today and the supplier kindly offered to cut it exactly to size for me.

With foamboard, I slice it and dice it daily with a knife, a jigsaw or a coping saw, depending on the shapes I want. Always found it quite easy as early on I invested in one of those safety ruler gadgets, I value my digits 😀

I can see the logic if you’re cutting huge amounts, but is it worth it to a humble mini sign maker like me? 😕

Cheers, Dewi

[Alan Drury]

I know what you mean Dewi, and although maybe not the first thing I’d buy if starting out I would not want to be without it now.
Alan

[Chris Wool]

i am desperate for a big sheet cutter but no room to put it.
dewi once you have used one there is nothing else to have.

chris

[John Childs]

Am I correct in thinking that some of you are cutting dibond with the Stanley type blade? Keencut do a head that does the cutting with two little wheels which is supposed to be used for that type of material.

Dewi….

To get out all the kit, cut a panel, then put all the gear away and clean up used to take us about half an hour and was messy. Now we can cut a panel in minutes and the labour saved has repaid the cost of the machine many times over.

[Dave Bruce]

Hi John, just wondering what machine you have is that the Keencut as well?

I used to do it the Dewi way at my old place then bought the Javlin (?) cutter (stanley blade thing, sorry head not functioning), produced much better results and quickly, but I didn’t think it would be able to cut Dibond.

Just about to buy new one for (myself now) so interested to know your verdict.

Cheers

Dave

[Pryam Carter]

quote :

Am I correct in thinking that some of you are cutting dibond with the Stanley type blade? Keencut do a head that does the cutting with two little wheels which is supposed to be used for that type of material.

I was under this impression as well and was going to buy this little extra piece of kit.

[Pryam Carter]

Can anyone give me the number of a supplier who you would recommend for this piece of kit?

[John Childs]

Dave….

Mine’s a Keencut Excalibur 3000. It has two cutting heads – one with a Stanley blade for foamex, correx and other soft materials, and one that cuts with two little wheels for use with dibond.

Billy…..

Keencut are at Cronin Courtyard in Corby. Call them on 01536 261690 and they will give you the name of your nearest stockist.

[Alan Drury]

Victory Design at 01246 570570 sell Keencut products. Only some of the Excalibur models have the additional head for Dibond/hardboard/glass, model 5000 has all as standard the others I think are options.
Alan

[Bill Dewison]

Well worth the pennies by the sounds of it 😀

How much room do these things take up though? I mean, say a 1500mm cutter, I’m assuming a little over 1500mm, but how wide are they?

Got to be honest, I don’t cut the volume that some of you guys do, so I doubt I’ll be rushing in with the cheque book, but its sounds to be something to add to the ‘future tools’ list 😀

Cheers, Dewi

[John Childs]

Dewi…

Very little room at all. They stand vertically against the wall. You can vary the angle, but ours sticks out about a foot at the bottom. Even then the space is not wasted as we store sheet material behind it.

We are very low volume too as we avoid sign work but, even so, the thousand quid it cost was recouped in less than a year in labour costs alone. We now also get far neater cuts than we used to with a jigsaw and have therefore improved our product as well.

Give it serious consideration.

[Nicola McIntosh]

dewi i too second that from john!! 😀
i too thought (oh do i need one?) 😀 😀 turned out i cannot be without it, as certain material from my supplier can be cut, but delivery takes about a week!! 😮 😮

so i just cut it myself!! and as john says does a bloody tidy job!!

Nik

[Bill Dewison]

Is there a link I can follow to see a photo of one of these things? Or will anyone have a digi handy at work tomorrow? 😀

One of the things I’m doing (just seems to be taking forever) was building, or should I say rebuilding, an extension at the back of the workshop, solely for cutting stuff down. Idea being, a totally separate room and no need to brush up for a week 😉

Definately thinking hard about this one as I have a laser printer which although useful for one off jobs, is proving to be a lump of plastic and electronics atm, so I may just sell it and free the cash up for something a little more useful.

Bizarrely I’ve been getting more vehicles & shop signs more than anything else recently, but I think the dewi arsenal may benefit from this gadget 😀 At least I wouldn’t have to keep climbing onto my workbench every 5 mins 😉 😉

Cheers, Dewi

[Nicola McIntosh]

i will post a photo tomorrow dewi!! 😀

nik

[Nicola McIntosh]

ye i used to do that dewi!! 😮

climb up onto the workbench only to jump down and rip holes in my jeans with my straight edge!! 😀 😀 not any more!!

Nik

[Bill Dewison]

After saying that though, I’d still have to climb onto the workbench due to my unconventional app tape dispenser. 🙄 If I’m working over a metre, I have to climb onto the bench to pull the app tape across the cut vinyl, which is fine, except I keep banging my head on the damn florescent lights 😥 😥 😥

Lesson learned here, if you’re going to go homemade, have higher ceilings 😉 😉

Photo would be great though Nik, very much appreciated 😀 Btw, totally off subject, but how are you getting to grips with the PC60?

Cheers, Dewi

[Nicola McIntosh]

not got it going yet!!

new pc is half built, waiting on monitor & memory to arrive!! i’m a week behind, catching up though!! will keep you posted asap!!

Nik did you ask rob about the delivery thing i mentioned?

[Bill Dewison]

I did indeed, I believe he’s looking into in more detail atm 😀 I should really keep up with the PM side more, just that I’ve been in crash-city all weekend… this computer hates me, it does, it hates me! 😥 😥 😥

Cheers, Dewi

[Nicola McIntosh]

just e-mailed you dewi!! cannot add anything here!! 😀 😀

a photo of the cutter!! 😛

nik

[Darryl Seager]

Hi Guys (and Ladies of course)

Some of you may remember my little rant after Sign 2004 , whenm we saw the Keencuts in action, but couldn’t but one because of the 3 week lead time, which i thought was, and still is unacceptable.

Anyway, we ordered,we waited,we got!!!
Supplied with a box of ‘stanley’ blades (100). These blades are a little shorter than than the standard ‘Stanley’ blades, but at full extent i can cut 10mm Foamex,using multiple strokes, not a problem.

All i can say is “worth the wait”

P.s Turns out that sibling works for the Company that did the engineering drawings for said machines!!!
Darryl

pps .If i fit the proper ‘standard’ blades,it’ll do 13mm foamex!!!!

[Ian Higgins]

Have been reading the posts on here about keencut wall mounted cutters.
I have a 1.5 mtr keencut pratic which i use on the work bench but the wall mounted one seems easier to use. I have found a supplier selling the 3000 at £999 does that seem a good price?? I have also heard of one called a Fletcher… anyone know about these?? if I buy a wall mount the old one will be for sale if anyone is interested..
Cheers Ian

[Pryam Carter]

Well l took delivery of my Excalibur 3000 today. 😀
Definately add this to your list Dewi.
Not had much practise with it as l had a busy day with other things, but 1st impressions are high.
The finish on foam is clean and straight with the blade. The finish on Dibond with the rotary cutting is clean and soft. A little hard work to get through the dibond so l guess l’ll have to get down the gym and pump some iron. 😕 Then again, footballs on soon so l’ll just go down the bar and have Guinness or three.
So having started this thread all l can say is thankyou all for your help.
Oh…and Ian. £999 is a good price, why didn’t you post four days earlier. 🙁

[Ian Higgins]

Sorry 😳

Only found them yesterday.. What is the difference between the 3000 and 5000??? Dont tell me 2000… I had worked that one ouy 😀

[Pryam Carter]

If you are working with glass quite often then the 5000 is the one according to Keencut. They suggested that as l work mainly with foam brds and dibond then the 3000 is the kiddie.