what are peoples thoughts on dingtec P-Cut and other Imports

[John Gregson]

Hi Jon,
This could turn out to be a very Interesting thread.

I too imported a dingtec 630 for about half of the price they were selling on ebay including import duty/tax. I am extremely happy with my plotter, yes they are basic but they do the job for me – vehicle lettering, 3m x 1m advertising hoardings, t’shirt vinyl and smaller signs have all been done with my cheapy dingtec and you get a heavy duty stand included.

Since buying over a year ago the only thing i’ve replaced are the blades and they were bought off ebay from a very helpful guy called Ross Wilkins – 3 blades for about £12 – same size as Roland.

The software that comes with it is very basic but I design in corel then export as eps then import the eps into artcut 02.

The tracking on the dingtec is ok aslong as you dont feed through metre upon metre of vinyl, acuracy is also fine.

Will keep an eye on this thread for more info – supplier details

Cheers John

[Glen Mathers]

Hi Jon, i work on a P-cut 630 and it does everything my mates Summa does, mine cost £600 from Alan Flynn and his was about £2000.
I think it’s all down to the software you use, with the "cheaper Machines" you get c**p software.
My P-cut has more than paid for it’s self and all my customers have been happy, they don’t know what machine cut their job. 😀
I hope it keeps going for years to come and when it packs in i’ll go and buy another. 😀

[Garrie]

Hi all,

We have a P Cut 1230mm cutter and an old roland 610mm cutter, the P cut is great, cuts well after getting it setup, touch wood.

"Cheaper" cutters seem to get a bad rap here but everyone has to start somewhere, I personally couldn’t afford a summa or new roland, I wish I could but such is life.

We had a few problems with the P Cut at first, however this was down to a loose screw that caused the blade not to lift, now its fixed and everything is fine.

I’ve got the settings we use in flex. The settings are below, hope this helps someone.

Cut settings in production manager
———————————-
=CUT TAB=
Resolution = 1016
Passes 2
untick advance after plot
Curve Quality set as best
tick send arc commands
Knife offset .25oomm

=COMMUNICATION TAB=
Speed 9600
Data Bits 8
Parity none
stop bits 1
Handshaking none

Cheers
Garrie

Good suppliers List imho

Alan Flynn – sound helpful bloke and has most parts available.
Ross Wilkins from ebay – I’ve used him for blades, seems fine.
Chris @ ASA linden – Supplier, helpfull and friendly bloke.

[tinman]

Hi,

Got a Dingtec about 6 months ago, and in the last month its been press ganged into work. Seems to do what it says on the box, although I’m having horrid problems trying to import eps into Artcut. Other than that, the Dingtec noisily cuts away to its heart content.

The cutter has more than paid for itself over the last month so I’m happy.

My next problem is that i want something that prints onto vinyl – and I have no idea where to start for that. I don’t want to lay out huge amounts of money because i want to test the waters – but i just dont know where to start.

Regards

[Lee Ballard]

Hi there,

As a guide you will be looking at an outlay of at least 1200-1500 for a used pc60 or something.

Have a search through the forums here for discussions about digital printing and you should learn a lot.

Lee

[tinman]

quote Lee Ballard:

As a guide you will be looking at an outlay of at least 1200-1500 for a used pc60 or something.

Have a search through the forums here for discussions about digital printing and you should learn a lot.

Exactly what I’m doing 🙂

[Mickey Hurren]

I had brought my cutter (dingtec sc630) very cheaply secondhand, the machine was only used a dozen times & the price was excellent.
the cheap cutters do seem to get a bad press but mine is not used every day as i brought the cutter to compliment my other buisness interests.
it cuts very well but the artcut software that came with it is very limited especially ai importing as there is none!
on a learning curve with machine and software but have managed to turn some paying work out with it
keep the threads coming we all have to start somewhere! 😀

mickey

[richard everitt]

I’ve also got dingtec but replaced the cutting software and it works great, does what I want it too.

[Tim Jay]

Could be a co-incidence but I recognise the name Richard Everitt… not in the Bristol area by any chance are you?

[steve gillespie]

Dingtec SC630!!!

Hi guys hope you can help me here!
I have a Dingtec SC630 I had been using for well over 12 months with no problems at all.
I moved to Spain about 8 months ago and before I left the UK I had my PC reformatted. Yesterday I set my cutter up again and installed the Art-cut 2005 software again etc but I can’t get it to output to cutter or do a test. When I send it to cutter the status box has a very faint flickering <CE> in it. When I try to do a test I get the same thing!! Now there is a solid red reset light on my cutter which I don’t think was on when I used to use it! Oh one last thing I can’t remember if I had any software for my cutter or not, like drivers??? It was such a long time ago now that i first set it up. If it does need drivers where could I get them from?
I have just got a lot of worked lined up for it over here and then it does this to me! Typical hey?

Thank in advance Steve

[Mickey Hurren]

hi steve sounds like you may be missing a driver artcut is a bit notorious to install check some of the other posts on this site.
you should have 2 discs with artcut 2005 and it does contain the correct driver for the sc630. did have some help from this guy on http://www.signtrainer.com
american site very,very helpful
hope this is of some help
mickey

[steve gillespie]

Hi Mickey,
Do remember getting to run in the first place regarding disc order! Which one do i have to load first?
I have installed both discs though but not sure in what order

[steve gillespie]

I can’t get on to that site for some reason!
Do you have the guys email address?

Also is the red light next to the reset button supposed to be on permanently? If not how do I reset it?

[Mickey Hurren]

hi steve
i dont use artcut anymore but according to the manual is the main artcut disc first and then once you are prompted then the artcut graphic disc. your redlight near the reset button should be on as a power light ,have you tried the self check? it does sound like your driver has not installed ?
have tried that web address and it comes up blank here also. it is a shame because the guy on the site really knows the dingtec cutters inside out and i cant find his email neither! will let you know if i do
hope this is of some help.

all the best mickey

[Ade Ward]

Hi all, to be honest im getting bored of hearing comments from the (££££) Grand plus plotter owners and there suppliers saying how bad these machines are.. at least give them some credit, we all gotta start somewhere.
I would not spend 2 grand on a plotter, ive used them when i was working for companies, they had problems, poor tracking and break downs just like the cheaper brands
some are just not worth that money for what they do..
can understand paying alot for a printer.
Plus some of us dont have cash flying out of every pocket..
These machines for the money are very good and give good starts to small sign companies on a budget, if i could afford a sports car i would buy one but i have a fiat!! it does the job for me.
have a look at Roland, graphtec and summa topics.. penty of problems there being discussed!! end of the day they have got moving parts so there gonna break down at some point just knowing when??…
its a lottery!!
ok sometimes the software takes longer to set up..
but we are not talking days longer really to be honest.
mine set up in about a hour after playing about!!
I had a Refine plotter till last sunday..it broke down after 10 months hard graft, so i returned it and got it replaced with a newer model and while i was there i bought another for the future..
there all similar – pcuts, dings, kings, vector x, refine, aaa cut, dragon cutters and many more..
they do the job at a slower rate and cut well…what more can you ask!
been talking to people who have had there so called cheap machines for years!! there business are doing well.
when i can afford a graphtec i gonna be buying one for sure.. till then my couple of cheap plotters will do more than a great job.

cheers
Ade

[Frank Droog]

Garrie
Just out of curiosity, is your cutter actually connected via serial, or is it a USB port that acts like a com port?

I ask because you say your Handshake is set to NONE.
Thats a recipe for disaster on a real com port as the plotter has no way to tell the computer that its buffer is full.
Handshake of NONE is only safe for small jobs or if the plotter has a ton of ram , enough to hold the entire job.
IF theres a blown handshake, the cutter will cut fine for a while and then go nuts.

If its a USB port presenting itself as a com port, then it could be OK i guess.

Just curious.
Frank at cadlink.

[David Rowland]

interesting thread, may have noticed my comments on another thread about importing lasers. I do really want to try one out but lacking the UK support here.

I would be interested in comments on RedSail plotters (the machine and not the software), a number of the vinyl cutter companies actually produce lasers.

[john lowe]

hi steve have you sorted your cutter problem yet and which part of spain are you in.
these machines like to use parallel leads best of all and you need to have the lpt1 port set up for it 🙄

[steve gillespie]

Hi John,

No I haven’t got the thing back on line!! I decided that I would uninstall the software and reinstall it and see if that would help but while reloading the software it kept coming up with an error message so the disc must be damaged? I have ordered a new disc to see if this is the problem.
When I first set the cutter up years ago I remember having problems with the cables/ports but I was in the UK then and I had a mate who was good with computers and he had a cutter so he helped me sort it out.
Once I get the new disc I will try it out and let you know.

I’m in Alicante region where are you?

[john lowe]

also in alicante not to far from torrevieja were are you ?have you got your supplies worked out yet i have most of mine but i could do with some more 😮

[steve gillespie]

Sax 30 mins inland from Alicante.
At the moment I only have the supplies that I brought with me but it’s quite a bit.
It’s getting the vinyl that will be tricky as the postage cost will be massive if I buy on line! There will be somewhere local though I’m sure but will it be as cheap as the UK?

[john lowe]

ok i have supplies for vinyl and foam board and policrill you are welcome to them but you must be fully legal before they will sell to you

[steve gillespie]

Hi John,
OK I got my new software and I’m still having the same problems!!
I’m connected to the printer port which I presume is lpt1?
It wont send any info to the cutter.

[john lowe]

what kind of lead are you using if its parallel then you should be using lpt1 and if you are using serial lead you use com port hope that helps cheers

[steve gillespie]

using lpt1 printer port the one with the 25 pins

[Edgar Avelar]

Hello, just wanted to add some of my input to the topic of the import cutters. I have purchased one of these cutter within the last 6 months.
I have sign blazer elements 06, that came with it. I paid about 650 u.s.
dollars for it, which included some sign vinyl and t shirt vinyl. I am very pleased with how it works. I have a heat press that and have pressed a few shirts with it. I have not had any issues with either. By the way this is a great forum. Anyway thanks to all for their input.

[Gavin'N'Lee]

Dear All,

I am a bit new to this signboards so plaese bare with me,
We have just purchased a Dingtech sc 630D at a cheap price,
because our summagraphics plotter is not cutting properly 🙁
(does anybody know a ‘sensibly’ priced person that will fix it?).

I cannot get the plotter to get page size?,
and has anybody got this plotter to work from signlab?,
If so how?

Will be very grateful if anybody can help,
Many thanks,

Lee.

[steve gillespie]

Design in Coreldraw and cut with artcut software..

[cristian gomez]

MOD-EDIT 3 :police3:

[Colin-T]

I worked on these Chinese machines a lot with ArtCut. You need to use them on a serial or Com port, Artcut works best with serial, as these plotters dont talk back.
I have attached a pdf showing how its done.

---

Attachments:

Plotter installation info.pdf

[cristian gomez]

Can anyone please tell me what is MOD3, why my question was deleted, where i have to write or what happen ???

thank you
cristian

[Peter Normington]

cristian, if you read the board rules you will see that certain things are not allowed, like posting your email address, mod3 is just that your posts have been moderated 3 times for the same or similar reasons.

welcome to the boards

Peter

[Peter Normington]

quote Gavin’N’Lee:

Dear All,

I am a bit new to this signboards so plaese bare with me,
We have just purchased a Dingtech sc 630D at a cheap price,
because our summagraphics plotter is not cutting properly 🙁
(does anybody know a ‘sensibly’ priced person that will fix it?).

I cannot get the plotter to get page size?,
and has anybody got this plotter to work from signlab?,
If so how?

Will be very grateful if anybody can help,
Many thanks,

Lee.

Lee download the drivers from cadlinks site

Peter

[Jack Davis]

mod-edit 2 see board rules

[M Collins]

Hi I use a Pro Cut PC 700 from Evil bay and to be fair yes it’s a cheap machine it works well and apart from computer crashing and I lost the USB driver software.. I may need some help on this BTW.. but people have sent me a driver for me to try..

It has been very good.. In time I will look to upgrade to a better machine…and I will ask for you guys help..

So it does what I want it to do but would like to use it for more..

I am interested in signs to put on T shirts and well for my work wear of the company logo is this just the same as using the vynal and then getting the iron out ?

I am sure there is more to it than that but I only want it for work wear..

here is my machine..

any one else got the same?

[dennis datu]

quote M Collins:

Hi I use a Pro Cut PC 700 from Evil bay and to be fair yes it’s a cheap machine it works well and apart from computer crashing and I lost the USB driver software.. I may need some help on this BTW.. but people have sent me a driver for me to try..

It has been very good.. In time I will look to upgrade to a better machine…and I will ask for you guys help..

So it does what I want it to do but would like to use it for more..

I am interested in signs to put on T shirts and well for my work wear of the company logo is this just the same as using the vynal and then getting the iron out ?

I am sure there is more to it than that but I only want it for work wear..

here is my machine..

any one else got the same?

hi! your machine looks familiar. Here in the Philippines it is branded as a Graphtec EC1000 (made in China). What I like about it is it cuts directly from Corel Draw X3.

[fred kaz]

Hi All,

I have a Foison C24 USB, which I bought second hand. So far I have had no problems with mine.

I have no problem with running it from the USB port. the only main thing that I did was to buy a very cheap second hand laptop off a mate (£75.00), put a bit of extra ram in it and just use it for the cutter. No other printer/devices attached.

It might be cheap to buy but as long as I can make a few quid, you never know I might be able to afford one of those all singing all dancing roland printer/cutter machines.

Cheers,

Fred (On my Way To My First Million – NOT) :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

[Martin Manley]

Hurray! At last someone’s sticking up for the cheap but far from nasties…
I’ve had my PCut for about five years (from Alan Flynn) and it’s paid for itself untold times. Sure Artcut is crap, but it doesn’t take much to design in something else and import….
Why I’m writing is: anybody got ideas on how to maintain these babies? I tried to take the top off last weekend to drop some oil on the moving parts but couldn’t get the b####r shifted! Any hints please?
Martin

[AndyG]

PCut CT630 owner here, and despite its little quirks (which I think can be mainly put down to poor drivers), it does a cracking job for the money.

One of my previous jobs…

When I worked at a local college we had some Rowlands. No denying they were great machines, but for what I do, the cheap’n’cheerful PCut is excellent!

Designs are done in Illustrator, exported as EPS files, and imported into SignBlazer Elements to be cut. I really can’t fault it for an under £400 cutter.

Long live the little PCut 630!

Andy.