print and cut machine

[Nicola McIntosh]

hi terry 😀

there has been many questions asking the same thing as it is so popular….just start reading the boards topics your bound to find good answers 😀

nik

[Phill Fenton]

Cadet , printing costs £6 per sq m, selling price per £50 sq m 😀

[Terry Beech]

thanks phill why is a cadet better than the others

[Peter Normington]

If you can get that phill good luck
its what a firm that take up half the sign mags say you can get but in reallity it is probably a bit lower. I can certainly buy in for a lot lot less
peter

[Robert Lambie]

thats a long topic mate… as nik says ide look in back posts. many different reason, its finding the machine that suits you best. not which is the best….
banner printing for cadet is about £2.20-£2.50 per square metre vinyl as phill says…

[Terry Beech]

quote Robert Lambie:

thats a long topic mate… as nik says ide look in back posts. many different reason, its finding the machine that suits you best. not which is the best….
banner printing for cadet is about £2.20-£2.50 per square metre vinyl as phill says…

how do i know which machine suits me all the suppliers will tell me there machine suits me

[Carrie Brown]

Perhaps if you listed what exactly you want the machine to do …. banners? Stickers? Wraps? etc … then peeps will have a good start at recommending what might be best for your requirements?

😀

[Phill Fenton]

Actually I think it’s a no brainer.

For a 10K budget , full solvent print and cut machine, what other choice is there but a Cadet?

[Peter Normington]

what experience do you have up to now?
It is relevant if you are going to invest in a print machine.
Tell us your background/experience and future direction, then you may get a valid opinion as to the machine you should go for
peter

[Terry Beech]

i just would like a good alround machine i don’t specialize in any particular type of work

[Andy Gorman]

So you want good print durability for long term stuff, good registration for small labels? I’m guessing. I suppose there is a machine that is a good all-rounder but if you list the type of uses you anticipate it will help others to answer. I’d like to hear the pros and cons of the popular machines too. Maintenance, for example, must be an issue with the solvent machines, I guess?

[Robert Lambie]

without being specific mate, ide just say cadet. i have the bigger brother grenadier. many reasons for my choice, speed, width, print quality, print + cut, durability etc many machines but not many print and cut in one!

[Terry Beech]

i mainly require it for banners some printing such as images on the side of vans, menu boards, a boards and part wraps on vans

[Robert Lambie]

i would say cadet then, thats along the lines of what i use mine for.
like has been said, many will say go for versacam others cadet. ide have to advise reading the long replied back threads on this subject. there is some good info on it.

[Andy Gorman]

Of course, it is highly recommended to laminate anything that is going on a vehicle. Even if the manufacturer says otherwise.

[Carrie Brown]

http://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.p … et&start=0

This thread has a fair bit of info from peeps …. might be worth a read?

😀

[David Rowland]

Hi, there is a lot to look at when choosing printers so don’t think it is just a standard HP / Epson A4 inkjet that you are looking at.
To purchase a printer correctly, you need to consider:-

1: Width of print, how wide do I need. We use a Mimaki JV3 which is a 1.6mtr width machine.
2: How good quality do I need for outdoor prints, a JV3 has a 6 colour print head.
3: Solvent vs EcoSolvent, do you need the hassles of a strong solvent ink vs presentation graphics. (For instance printing skin tones)
4: Do you have a design team and are their computers ready for the jump into large sized graphics.
5: “Do the Math”, find out what wastage, find out the price of output between the print resolutions prices and find out if £5-6 sq metre is cheap or expensive.
6: Look over the support contracts, what is covered and what isn’t. (ask about heads, pumps, software, etc.)
7: Get some samples from printers, do the rub test, do the cleaner test and consider a lamination route (if needed).
8: Have a look at the profiles that are available for the medias if you require spot on Pantone colour match machine. Have a look at the Spectrometer equipments that comes with it, decide if you need it or not.
9: Will you be printing continously or occasionly, a machine that can take a large/heavy roll and has a suitable take up.
10: Print and Cut, if you have a busy sign shop and you require a seperate cutter for standard vinyl work, do you want to tie up this machine.
11: Can you put the machine in a clean 20degree room? away from dust and extract the fumes?
12: Do you need to print from an Application like Corel/Illustrator? Can you make EPS/PDF files with your existing designer software?
13: Can you keep the printer active weekly?
14: You may have to replace the heads every 2-3 years.

Just a few questions that came to mind that you might want to run through. We use a Mimaki JV3 160S, we had it for 2 years and we are now starting to experience some print-deflection issues, but it still prints very well. We went for the JV3 as it has a strong grip to the media, 1.6mtr and we often leave it overnight printing a large roll of banner material.

What you will find is the printers are very similar between them, the print heads are normally the same between each company, so you have to look at handling and the above comments to make your mind up.
But the JV3 doesn’t come with a cutter (only a cutoff knife) but you can buy a Mimaki cutter that finds the marks and came be driven out of illustrator/corel perfectly.

It is down to you current workflow situation of how a printer will help… it boils down to a few things….

Sq mtr prices are more expensive on a cheaper solvent printer, however an expensive UV printer prints are cheap as chips. Also, you may find EcoSolvent to be a good sq mtr price, so have a good look at them.

Hope that helps.

[valegraphics]

Terry,
I have to agree with most of the above. I took the plunge on a cadet. What a tool it is. The running costs are very low. As long as you use it at least every other day. And you spend time on the cleaning side of things. I’m learning every day. But there’s a lot more time to be spent on the machine compared to a cutter.Fine tuning etc.
Phill have you had problems with contour cutting. Not sure if i’ve clicked somthing by accident, but the print is fine but when it tries to cut ,it cuts about 50% of the job to the left. Run the auto-align feature but it’s still the same. Cleared all previous prefferences. Still the same. Got jobs queing up! Any suggestions????????????Terry sorry to veer off your thread. But strike while the irons hot as they say. As i said above LOTS to consider. Hope this has’nt scared youaway from the cadet. This is more than likely to be my b@lls-up. Oops i nearly swore then.All the best i’m rabbiting away now.
Matt

[Phill Fenton]

Sorry Mat – I haven’t come across this problem so can’t really help. Unless you mean the print in relation to the cut is very slightly out by about a mm – hardly noticable on all but the smallest of letters (apparently they’re all like that).

Has it always been so or is it something that has just started happening?

[valegraphics]

Hi Phill,
No only just started happening! Usually as you say the cut is miniscule(spelling?) which i can live with but this is approx half of the job out if that makes sense. The machine sometimes tells me that the sxheet is too small to continue. When you press enter, away she goes cutting through a print which took about 10mins AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!! I’ve sussed that out in the panelling within production manager. I’m gonna call Noel and give him something to think about.Thank’s for the very quick reply. Much appreciated. Got to go out now. IF i cure the problem i’ll let you know. Thank’s again
Matt

[Terry Beech]

thanks every one for your advice i will do a bit more home work but the cadet looks good.
why cant things be simple thought i wanted any old print and cut machine 😕

[valegraphics]

Hi Phill,
FINALLY All sorted!!!!! :lol1: 🙂 I repeated as i said earlier and re-installed all the relevant drivers. Re-boot. Job done. By the way do you know the easiest way do get more accurate cutting? Set the auto-align up on the machine menu but it does’nt alter much in the way of accuracy. I do’nt really want to go entering offset values into the machine, as i might end up steaming from my ears and going a funny shade of red again, and back to square one. Still about 3mm out on a 500mm high job. But at least i’m running again. Thanks for the very quick reply today phill. Much appreciated

[Phill Fenton]

Glad you got it sorted Matt.

Terry – I agonised for ages before buying. My decision to buy the Cadet was based on all the positive feedback I received from many UKSB members. I too am very happy with the machine 😀