So many options, so little experience……

[Chris Wool]

quote :

down to either the JV3 & plotter, or the Versacamm,

if its the requirement of print & cut you need then the versa has it unless you are going to be printing all day every day re reg in to a different machine is not so straight forward the ability to cut immediately after printing with out re reg is so quick . unless you have a dedicated use other than normal sign shop requirements

chris

[Lorraine Clinch]

Chris, I think I am leaning towards separate print & cut facilities, I am a teeny bit worried about having a combined machine, although I can see the benefits of combined. I also want the facility to kiss/contour cut to make stickers, which the Versacamm can’t do.
Also if I want to laminate then the print has to come off the machine to laminate before cutting anyway.

Maybe I should ask for opinions of JV3 v Valuejet.

[Karl Williams]

Lorraine,
I have asked the same questions as yourself, done my homework and my decision is the Mimaki JV3. So many good reports against other machines looked at, and the fact it’s the only make, as far as i am aware.
that carries a 2 year warranty. I have placed my order today and am really looking forward to receiving this.

My advice – The Mimaki!

mod-edit

[Chris Wool]

quote :

I also want the facility to kiss/contour cut to make stickers

explain please not sure what you mean

chris

[Lorraine Clinch]

quote Chris Wool:

quote :

I also want the facility to kiss/contour cut to make stickers

explain please not sure what you mean

chris

I need a cutter which has 2 cutting strips, one to cut around the print through the vinyl, and another cuts a little away from the 1st cut, through the backing paper, leaving little tags to push sticker out when finished.

Not explained it very well I’m afraid 😳 Someone else will, hopefully.

[Chris Wool]

quote :

leaving little tags to push sticker out when finished.

yes understand now and i do that but as you say not with the soljet

chris

[Alan Wharton]

I know alot of folk talk about there prints MUST be Laminated to go on vehicles etc but i get my digi print done on a grenadier and the guy ONLY laminates the bonnet for obvious reasons but never the sides or the back and in the 4 years he has been doing digi print he says he has NEVER had a return, his van is fully wrapped 4 years old and looks great, so if you are thinking you need a cutter and printer to lam all your vehicles Do you really need to lam everything!

[Rod Young]

quote Chris Wool:

Quote:
I also want the facility to kiss/contour cut to make stickers

explain please not sure what you mean

I can’t recall which manufacturer, but they were using term "Kiss Cut" for what is more commonly referred to as "Half Cut."

For those that are not familiar with Half Cut, think in terms of doing a contour cut around your decal, and then doing an additional "half cut" pass at a slightly larger margin around your contour cut. In effect, the margin between the contour cut and half cut provides a grip to use when peeling the decal. There are different methods in how a machine will perform half cut, but the common technique uses slightly higher pressure to cut halfway through the backing.

Cheers,

Rod

[Lee Ballard]

Personally still heading towards the JV3 option, which leads me to another question (not trying to hijack the thread), where did you get your JV3, good/bad experience etc.

Thanks

Lee

[Paul Hodges]

quote Lorraine Clinch:

Chris, I think I am leaning towards separate print & cut facilities, I am a teeny bit worried about having a combined machine, although I can see the benefits of combined. I also want the facility to kiss/contour cut to make stickers, which the Versacamm can’t do.
Also if I want to laminate then the print has to come off the machine to laminate before cutting anyway.

Maybe I should ask for opinions of JV3 v Valuejet.

Lorraine, we have a versacamm, and the print/cut is something you wouldn’t want to be without once you’ve had it.

Most here would probably agree that the JV3 is a good machine, but as far as the print/cut side is concerned, i think you would have to be doing a lot of printing to make it necessary to have a stand alone cutter if you had an option.

a year or two down the road with a printer, and it becomes a lot clearer as to what’s really important in your machine and what were just selling points.

[Lorraine Clinch]

quote :

a year or two down the road with a printer, and it becomes a lot clearer as to what’s really important in your machine and what were just selling points.

Exactly Paul, that’s why I keep asking opinions, as those of you with machines will have the experience through use that I have not.

[Paul Hodges]

quote Lorraine Clinch:

a year or two down the road with a printer, and it becomes a lot clearer as to what’s really important in your machine and what were just selling points.

Exactly Paul, that’s why I keep asking opinions, as those of you with machines will have the experience through use that I have not.[/quote]

hence why i mentioned the print/cut feature, which i think chris brought up first, as i was told quite a bit of rubbish regarding this, by various sales people.

someone even told me that a machine that printed and cut the vinyl wouldn’t work properly as a printer due to the fact that they weren’t designed to do both jobs lol…

[John Childs]

Separate print and cut machines are not a problem to us. In fact it is a positive advantage, although I do understand that for somebody making loads of small unlaminated stickers then a combined machine would be better.

Rod, the Mimaki cuts all the way through the backing, but it just leaves very short sections uncut as tabs so that everything holds in place until you remove it from the cutter. Then you just pop them out from the sheet.

Alan, the resilience of unlaminated solvent prints is surprising, but I would not put anything unlaminated on a van. In my circumstances the financial consequences of failure are just too high to take the risk.

[David Lowery]

quote Lorraine Clinch:

Any comments welcome, as this is doing my head in!

ITS DOING YOUR HEAD IN :lol1:

Wait till SignUK and have a play
where lots of sytems are on display

You can play till your hearts desire
(You’ll probably set a few on fire)

Then when you see the one you like
You get to bargain with all your might

And when you’ve got it home and installed
You’ll stop these postings that’s driving us up the wall :lol1:

Dave

[John Singh]

Yeah! But can Lorraine wait?
I think she’s got the bug and she’s itching to go 😀

[Lorraine Clinch]

Cheers Dave! Don’t know whether to laugh or sulk now (puppy-eyes) I’ll not say another word about printers. 😥

[David Lowery]

[Steve Morgan]

Lorraine,
Just to add another option to all your choices, I think that the forthcoming update of SignLab will have the ‘halfcut’ as an option for the VersaCamm amongst its new features.
You are very welcome to ‘have a play’ with my VersaCamm if you are down South Essex way at any time.

Steve

[Lorraine Clinch]

quote Steve Morgan:

Lorraine,
Just to add another option to all your choices, I think that the forthcoming update of SignLab will have the ‘halfcut’ as an option for the VersaCamm amongst its new features.
You are very welcome to ‘have a play’ with my VersaCamm if you are down South Essex way at any time.

Steve

Thanks for that information Steve, and for the offer. I could have a whale of a time visiting folk with printers all over the UK, all the kind offers I’ve had!
Now that would be a twist on ‘trainspotting’ or birdwatching as a hobby! (No, I don’t do either of these…)