Newbie looking for advice on Vinyl Cutters

[John Childs]

Jo-Ann,

Firstly, welcome to the boards.

My advice would be to get a decent cutter, Roland, Summa, Graphtec, Mimaki, or the like. Of course this advice is useless if you don’t have the budget, but bear in mind what these machines can earn, and their purchase price pales into insignificance. If you can, beg, steal or borrow, but get a decent cutter.

If not, do a search and you will find lots of opinions and discussions on the merits or otherwise of cheap Chinese cutters, then you can form your own opinion.

One thing though, DO NOT BUY ANYTHING OFF EBAY! You will need some back up and service and it is worth paying a bit more to a dealer to get this.

[Jo-Ann]

Hi John,

Thanks for the reply,
I can muster up the money for the cutter, Hubby has a decorating company so i can beg steal or borrow from him.
I take on board you comment about the support, at least if i buy from an agent near to me i have the support if needed,
Are all cutters basically the same?
Can they print as well??
Sorry if i sound like a spanner asking such a basic question
Thanks again

Jo

[Brad Mulock]

Hi Jo,

Firstly Welcome.

Not all cutters are the same. We have a Roland 24" cutter. It’s the machine we use most. It works all day every day and doesn’t moan.
Really reliable and well worth it’s money.

[Steve McAdie]

Hi Jo-Ann

When I started I was in the same boat as you. I bought a second hand summa D620 cut. Hasn’t let me down ever and still going strong today, very simple to use as well. Not bad for an old machine I’ve had it 7yrs and I think the bloke before me had 3 or 4 yrs.

[John Childs]

quote Jo-Ann:

Are all cutters basically the same?
Can they print as well??

Yes, they are basically the same, in the same way that a Reliant and a Bentley are the same. They all do the same job in the same way. The difference is in the quality of the individual components, how they are put together, and after sales service.

No they can’t print. Printing is a whole different ball game and a whole different level of investment.

[JonnyAnnett]

Firstly I’d sort of mimic what John has said about getting a Roland, Graphtec, Summa etc. but if your anything like me when I started out I didn’t have the budget to go all out and purchase one of these brand names straight away.

Although there is one thing I have to disagree with in John’s statement. Getting one of these brand names doesn’t always mean getting quality. I don’t want to upset anybody here but if you have a look inside you’ll probably find some or all of the components are made in China.

I bought my PCut off eBay but I purchased from a recognised seller who offers support to all of his customer with set-up and also any problems with the cutter in general. People need to look around on eBay, look at people’s feedback and also what they offer, if indeed there is after-sales support. I did suffer from a problem with set-up simply because the manual with the cutter wasn’t very clear. But a quick phone call to my supplier and he had me up and running within 5 minutes. His phone line is normal rate too, so you’re not paying anything for the service. 😀 Also I had a problem with the cutter going down on me, but again a quick phone call and the cutter was picked up, repaired and shipped back to me very quickly, I didn’t lose very much time. All the repairs where carried out FOC under the warnetty of the machine.

At the end of the day you’re going to get told different stories by a lot of different people but you just have to try it yourself.

Jonny

[David Glen]

Jo-Ann, the most popular cutting width is 610mm which will cover most sign needs. Some of the very small cutters will leave you wanting.
Whatever model you get close to buying, do searches on forums and google for user comments.

[John Childs]

quote JonnyAnnett:

Although there is one thing I have to disagree with in John’s statement. Getting one of these brand names doesn’t always mean getting quality. I don’t want to upset anybody here but if you have a look inside you’ll probably find some or all of the components are made in China.

Jonny, your Made in China comment is true, but just ‘cos anything is made there doesn’t automatically make it bad. They will manufacture parts to any specification laid down by their customers.

Take electrical safety as an example. Even a cheap Chinese machine sold officially in Europe must meet the relevant safety standards, whereas the same is not true of one intended for a third world market. So, you can even get different quality in apparently identical machines off the same production lines.

[TimDouglas]

I was in the same boat as yourself, jumped in 6mths ago purchased off eBay and didn’t even get the machine to cut my name! after pulling my hair out, i took the advice from the people here and purchased a Roland GX24, its a great machine, having completed all the jobs i have done so far there is no way in the world i would have been able to do with the rabbit cutter , I did get it working eventually but it is sitting in the corner gathering dust which i must get back onto eBay !Ideal for someone who uses it daily and is used to it as a second machine. Paid £300 for the rabbit and £ 1400 for the Roland , no comparison, save harder. My advice as I’m a newbie is that you have to have full commitment to this as there is much much more that the investment of a cutter. Join the boards , ask the questions , watch all the videos and research the business before you invest, saying that I cant wait to get home from work each day to play on the roland and get paid for a skill while i learn. At the stage now where I have to much work coming in for the part time hours i have free! 🙂

[Tim Painter]

You could try Alan Flynn for a second hand unit. He does do PCuts but does have others usually traded in.

(mod-edit) please read board rules

(mod-edit) two please do not edit which has already been changed by the moderators

[Jill Marie Welsh]

It is important to use good tools if you are serious about your trade.
One of the best tools that you can buy is a book to learn about sign design, if you don’t know how to yet.
http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Layout- … 091138068X
As for cutters, I have an ancient Gerber 4E that I use daily without a hitch.
Had to replace a theta belt on it but that’s about it.
Love…..Jill

[JamieX]

We got a very cheap chinese cutter off ebay 2 years ago. You do get what you pay for. The cutter had many issues like slipping and cutting issues. Luckily my brother/partner Jason is mechanically minded.

It was good for teaching us the basics for a year and got us through enough work to upgrade to Versa-Camm SP-540V 54 inch wide. Now the ebay cutter is destined for the tip.

All I can say is investing in good assets is worth their weight in gold. Not only will you be able to handle bigger jobs when they come to you, you will also have the confidence and less stress you would of had from having unreliable machinery.

[Neil Davey]

Welcome to the boards Jo, I would go along with the opinion of buying the best you can get.

My first cutter, a Roland camm1 (610mm), was bought on finance including my first mac and Flexisign software about 12 years ago and the cutter still works now even though I changed to a Graphtec 18 months ago. So the price you pay becomes negligible over that length of time.

Neil

[Jon Marshall]

If your budget is £0 then you can’t be serious about what you are getting into.

[Jo-Ann]

Hello,

I am serious about this. Please don’t think that i am one of these people who thinks this is piss easy and a fast way to earn money becuase this is not the case. Yes i am completely new to all this but i am willing to learn and put in the hard work to make it work.
I have thought of nothing else but this for the last 6 months plus, i am not going into this with my eye shut and when i said my budget was £0 i meant that my personal cash flow in £0 but i will be able to get the money if needed, All i wanted to know was if it was better to make the investment on a roland or get started with a cheaper cutter.
My mind is now made up and i am going to invest in the roland 24" cutter.
Can anyone suggest the best place to get it from. I am in Essex.
I have trawled the net and i can only find 3 or 4 suppliers up north.
Thanks again guys.
Jo

[Lynn Normington]

Hi Jo-Ann, apart from Roland there are some good cutters on the market Graphtec for one we started with a 610 over 10 years ago we haven’t still got it but it is still working we have also had a sign pal, also a good machine we now have another graphtec and a mimaki, like the others I say buy the best you can afford, you really won’t regret it, and it won’t take long to re-coup your costs. Good Luck 😀
With a reputable firm it doesn’t matter where in the country they are based as they usually have back up all over.

Lynn

[Jo-Ann]

Hi Lynn,
Thanks for the reply, i have taken all you said on board and have found a fab Graphtec starter package, i will look into this package a bit more.
Just wondering if there are any trade magazine that i can subscribe to. you can never have too much info.
Thanks again
Jo

[Peter Normington]

Jo.
lots of mags about, try a google for these

signlink
signworld
signcraft (also have a good online section)
sign update

Peter

[Neil Davey]

Jo,

I’d recommend Signcraft for pure inspiration. The others are British mags full of corporate bulls**t, no, no, I’m sorry they do feature A page or maybe 2 for the everyday sign person.

Sorry, again, I suppose they are OK to look thru but mine always end up in the recycling bin whereby I still have the very first Signcraft i ever bought.

Little off the subject there, Sorry.

Graphtec or Roland will give you many years of service, I also run a left hand which is pretty good at lettering too!!

Neil

[Nigel Pugh]

I have read this thread with interest, what I will say is that Jo you have mentioned Roland and Ebay Chinese machines, there is an abundant amount of other machines that fall between the two.

I would budget for a spend of £800 to £1,500 to get yourself a decent machine and software, but make sure when you buy that the tech support is there for you if needed from whoever you buy from.

Ring suppliers and ask about ex-demo or p/x machines, most will have and sell with some warranty covering the machine.

Regards
Nigel

[Jo-Ann]

Hi nigel,

Thanks for taking the time to read my post, This is the problem when you are completely new to something. The roland was recomended to me by my husbands signwriter with the software corel draw. I will have to teach myself to use all of it, but i am a quick learner and i am going to make what i want to do work. I will not be getting involved with applying anything so for the moment it’s just the cutter and software i have to learn. To me at the moment all cutters look the same, hence my post to try and weedle out the not so good cutters from the good ones.
I may go for the graphtec bundle i have seen, but i will phone around tomorrow for advice.
Thanks again
Jo

[alan flynn]

hello jo, this post makes some good reading, everyone is giving you good advice, but one thing i would say is ebay is not total bad for buying or selling, we do some business on it, with good and bad results, its not totally full of scammers,
as for cutters looking the same, we sell machines from £400 up to £9000 and you get what you pay for, everyone when first starting out seem to think roland are the best cutter, so did i when i started many years ago, if i spent as much time researching cutters as i did software i would not have brought a roland camm1, however when i went for my next machine i spent a load of time on it and in the end got a summa t1300, one of the best machines i ever used,
dont just buy of spec sheets have a demo and road test some machine to make sure what you buy is right for you, most proper dealers will offer you this service, good luck
regards
alan flynn

[Dave B]

(mod-edit) please read board rules

[Jo-Ann]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the message, I have actually decided after taking on board what the others have said to look at a different machine.
I have found a good Graphtec package and i have spoken to the company selling the package for advice, The package is a Graphtec CE500-60 24" cutter and it comes with 2 year warranty plus….
12 x 5m gloss vinyl, (Although they will taylor the vinyl to my needs)
5 x rolls of application tape, various sizes, paper and clear
1 x application roller
5 x squeeges
1 x needle tip burnishing tool
1 x metal weeding combi tool
2 x vinyl tape removal tools
1 x rivet brush,
All for £1075 inc next day delivery.
I think this sounds like a good deal, can anyone suggest anything else that i may need??

[Jo-Ann]

Oh and i forgot that it also comes with a stand, the Roland was cutter only
Jo

[Peter Normington]

Jo Ann
I would look at what the "extras" are costing and price them up individually, the plotter can be bought on its own for around £850, so you may be able to put the extra money to better use, and buy the material & tools you really need

1 x application roller
5 x squeeges
1 x needle tip burnishing tool
1 x metal weeding combi tool
2 x vinyl tape removal tools
1 x rivet brush,
come to about £20

12 x 5m gloss vinyl, (Although they will taylor the vinyl to my needs,

could =£30 dependent on make and quality

and the application tape offer is a bit misleading, it is usually sold in logs of 1220 wide, slit into your prefered widths, a log is £60ish so I doubt if you will be getting 5 full rolls.

Peter

[Jo-Ann]

Hi Peter,

I am soo glad i found you guys, I will work all this out, £850 sounds good, \where would that be from then? 😉

Thanks again

[Peter Normington]

OOPS 😳

Sorry Jo-Ann, I was looking at a 15" model, not the 24" one.

but still add up what the extras in the package are costing,
Peter

[Brian Hays]

I assume that price is plus V.A.T Jo-Ann? it’s a good price either way. The cutter on it’s own is £995+vat + delivery. If it does include V.A.T then somebody is making pennies so I would take their arm off at that price.

A stand, 2 year warranty, optical sensor & usb cable are standard with the machine not extras.

[JonnyAnnett]

I’d be interested in one of those graphtecs with the extra at that money Jo-Ann.

I don’t need the vinyl or tools but they would be handy to have.

Any idea who the supplier is?

[Gareth.Lewis]

Sorry to be a nosy parker but is it with Mulberry? If so it IS plus vat which comes to £1263.13

Just had another look – there is a bundle on offer for £995 including about £50 to £60 of extras (which must be for free). Hmm, might as well have something for nothing.

Gareth

[Jo-Ann]

Hello Gareth,

You guessed right, it is from Mulberry, it seems like a good alround package and it will certainly get me started in what i want to do…
Watch this space guys, my time to shine has come.. here i come into the world of cutting vinyl..there is no stopping me.
😀 😉

[Kieran Nolan]

hi jo ann.. did you try goin to graphtec themselves they have a link here somewhere… i have a new graphtec ce5000-60 and flexisign…its great no probs at all..iam a complete newbie 6 weeks ago. and now producing signs people seem to be happy with.. must post a few pix… cheers