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Roland or Graphtec?
Been looking at purchasing a new decent quality cutter as per my last post and have narrowed it down to either the Roland Gx24 or the Graphtec Ce5000…any one had both of these if so what is your preference? I will be using it for basic signage, van lettering and cutting t-shirt vinyl. I want the default cut software to be able to open and cut either eps or plt files without having to use Corel as I use serif draw plus. Currently I use a creation pcut ct630 but it is inconsistent.. I owned a Roland sp300 recently but didn’t get enough work to justify keeping it. Any views on these two machines or if you can think of a better or as good alternative would be great.
Ewan
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10 Replies
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Hi Ewan,
Can’t comment on Rolands but I can say that I’ve been running a Graphtec for 6 years now and so far not had any trouble with this plotter at all. It’s a solidly build machine producing high quality work.
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Cheers Neil are they good and fast at cutting small lettering less than 10mm high?
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I have graphtec FC7000Mk2 and I prefer the SUmma for small text
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Cheers Dave. I like the look of the summa machines but they are pretty expensive
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used several quality plotters – none what could be called cheap when new. Graphtec FC5000 and a Summa D120.
Presently on a Summa Sign pro 1400.
Having experienced a Graphtec CE5000/60 as the company I joined had one…as soon as I brought in my big Summa it was stuck in a cupboard nearly new. It’s not an especially ‘industrial’ machine or indeed fast but is a step up from a PCUT or similar.
10mm text is within the grasp of the CE5000.
I’d be for recommending you get a used / reconditioned D series Summa or similar grade from personal experience.
Dave
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Cheers Dave. I like the look of the summa machines but they are pretty expensive
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you say you want to drive it from serif draw plus with out extra software, roland – graphtec – summa supply windows printer drivers which can drive the machine direct BUT
i have just downloaded serif draw plus and had a go although awkward to set up think it will work, the preview in serif is pants compared to corel. ok for easy stuff but for complicated multi colour stuff i may jump of the bridge.
disadvantage of the windows drivers is the max cuttable length. graphtec is 2750mm roland was 1600 don’t know about now summa was the same.
all other software will require you to import your drawing. -
quote Ewan Evans:Cheers Dave. I like the look of the summa machines but they are pretty expensive
I don’t know what your budget is, but a GOOD used one maybe 4 to 5 years old at 1200 to 1400mm wide will be about £1k – but think of it this way…do 5 transit vans or a few shop signs and it’ll be pretty much paid for.
5 years old may sound a lot, but they are of such high quality they just go on forever with no loss of quality in cutting.
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quote Ewan Evans:Cheers Neil are they good and fast at cutting small lettering less than 10mm high?Roland, Graphtec or Summa, regardless to which, "IF" the machine model has Tangental Mode, you should have no problems with cutting small text.
Tangental Mode mode can be set at fast, but you should NOT really be cutting text that small as fast as possible.
ill be honest, as a sign maker… i wouldnt buy a machine based on it cutting tiny text. very seldom do we ever cut anything that small. well, not unless selling to an opticians. :lol1: -
Thanks for all the replys. When I say I want to cut from draw plus I meant to say export from draw plus as a plt file to the software supplied with the machine as I dont want to purchase a cut package as well and I like working with draw plus, only things I don’t like about the package is you can’t export eps files and the contour feature for creating vinyl outlines isn’t the best.
My budget im looking to spend is £1500 tops for a 24inch machine, I do like the look of summas but would prefer to purchase a new machine if it’s around the same value as a pre owned summa.
I only really cut small text when doing clothing but have just bought a small craft robo which I can also use for this job as the pcut sometimes rips up tet smaller than 10mm depending on which font I cut
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