[Jon Miller]

Hi Denise,

Indeed.

I just did a mark sensor check and the red laser/dot does work…so I am most perplexed as to why it doesn’t work when trying to get a file ready for cutting.

Jon

[Jon Miller]

Thanks Chris….. (:)

all the best, hope it works well for you

[Jon Miller]

someone offered to buy it as seen and would also collect it so he sold it to them 🙁
ohwell…guess i’ll just have to keep my eyes peeled

[Jon Miller]

i believe mainly they can handle the thicker, stiffer materials and also they tend to have more cutting force.

[Jon Miller]

more in the know than myself at any rate 🙂 Have sent him an email so will see what’s what.

Cheerz,

Jon

[Jon Miller]

Awesome, thank you for your help Rob!

Will let you know how things pan out.

Many Thanks,

Jon

[Jon Miller]

Hi rob

Completely see your point mate

That is sort of why I wanted to know about any known faults with them etc and how exspensive certain fixes can be

Are you able to point me in the direction of a tech that may be able to help?
Would graphtec uk be able to offer that sort of service do you know?

As said, perhaps worth having it checked over to be safe

Many thanks!

[Jon Miller]

Thanks, just found out it apparently cost 16k new
hmm…

[Jon Miller]

A little update, I bought some aftermarket blades and even adjusting the offset etc I didn’t like the way they were working so bought some genuine blades and am much happier. Maybe just me or down to personal preference but there ya go 🙂
Thanks for all your input

[Jon Miller]

Hmm.. Might be a possibility still then as I was thinking about getting a separate summa cutter anyway

[Jon Miller]

Thanks Dave

Had a quick look but will look into it more when I finish work.

Seems it can only be used with a dedicated Gerber cutter? Which depending on the price could make it an unlikely option..

Are there any other machines or printing processes that can achieve similar results?

Jon

[Jon Miller]

No, not at all.

I just said about if they had signed off on the proof then it was their problem and would need to pay for the additional work.
From the initial post I thought Stuart was saying he was going to be out of pocket but I missed his last post. ‘Now its going to cost them the same again to redo it.’

🙂

[Jon Miller]

Edited – missed a post before replying

[Jon Miller]

Another handy tool (not sure if there are other more accurate ones out there) that I just remembered is http://new.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/
Unfortunately didn’t recognize that particular one but still a handy one to bookmark.

Jon

[Jon Miller]

I cannot give you an exact answer but does look like one I have seen.
I would suggest having a quick look on http://www.dafont.com/theme.php?cat=303&text=MES&fpp=50

Site has a fairly good stock of fonts and the preview feature is very handy.

Jon

[Jon Miller]

Great, thank you for the info and links.

Anybody know if running an aftermarket blade will affect the warranty on my machine?

[Jon Miller]

quote Martin:

If you want to know anything about plotter blades & the best way to cut any type of material it is possible to cut in a plotter then find yourself a comfy chair, make a fresh pot of tea, settle down and phone Harry.

:lol1: Do I sense a bit of a stig of the blade world thing here?

Some say he has blades for fingernails…

[Jon Miller]

Thanks Steve

Cheers Robert, you may be correct mate 🙂 Although it was more to see if it was necessary to buy the more expensive blade if there was no need, especially when the originals are around twice as much as the others.

Although my machine is still under warranty so using an aftermarket blade may void this?

Thanks Chris. So I am right in that a sandblast blade would be the correct choice to use for the mylar?

[Jon Miller]

:lol1:

Like alot of things they probably all originate from the same factory etc and are just sold off/rebranded etc?

Any thoughts on the thicker material and sandblast blade?

[Jon Miller]

Thank you Jamie.
What cutter are you using?

[Jon Miller]

Hi Alan

Thanks for the post.

So the winplot would be like my finecut plugin in illustrator. It applies the cut lines and reg marks.
Just instead of using the finecut for the reg marks I would use the winplot to apply the reg marks and export to Rasterlink for printing as normal.
Sounds straight forward enough and would be great if it is as simple as that.

Jon

[Jon Miller]

Have just emailed Summa regarding reg mark compatibility so guess I will see what they have to say about . Will let you know when they respond.
Unless someone knows definitively

[Jon Miller]

Hmm…that’s a bit of a pickle then. Various reading on the net leads me to beleive the Mimaki are not known for their accuracy which is why I wanted to see if other more reportedly accurate machines/brands were a feasible option.

Although I would think a dedicated cutter only whether Mimaki of not would be more precise than a print/cut perhaps?

Anyone else have any thoughts on that or knowledge of the various reg marks and compatibility?

If not, then recommendations for Mimaki cutters?

Many Thanks!

Jon

🙂

[Jon Miller]

Cheerz Chris. I currently run Illustrator and Rasterlink on a dedicated laptop for my printer. Probably wouldn’t be too much of a problem running a seperate cutter and software from it. I will have a look at the Rasterlink manual though when I get a minute.

Thanks for that Bob. Is it the 120 D or T series? I shall keep my eye on the for sale section.

Neil, 18 years old, wow. Must be running on hamster power. 🙂

On a side note, can all the cutters read the various registration mark shapes or do certain brands only recognize certain style marks?

Regards,

Jon

[Jon Miller]

Wow. Great to see things going so well for you.

Will have a read of the original thread later as I wasn’t about for it the first time round 🙂

[Jon Miller]

Thanks Robert.
Tried and tested is quite often a safe bet 🙂 I was planning on sticking to the main ones like Roland and Graphtec, Mutoh etc but just thought I would see what peoples thoughts were.
I guess keeping all equipment the same make is of no benefit then?

Hmm..will have a look about and see what fits my budget although looking like a second user unit is going to be the way forward. Anything particular to look for in secondhand cutters?

[Jon Miller]

Thanks for your suggestion Neil.

Looking at the prices, a little more than I wanted to spend, I may see if I can find a second user unit.

Keep the suggestions, opinions etc coming.

Also, if there are any decent places to get secondhand equipment from let me know. (I will fire up that search toolbar Martin mentioned and see if that helps but I would have thought it to be more consumables based)

[Jon Miller]

Cool, thank you for that Martin

[Jon Miller]

Hey Martin

Ah, I shall have a look for the vinyl toolbar (I assume it is on the forum/site somewhere)

I agree, a minuscule saving on materials is nothing compared to a manufacturers backing and the knowledge it isn’t going to mess up halfway through a job etc.

Being new to all of this I have tried to stick to more the mainstream brands as on a whole they tend to work better.

[Jon Miller]

Thank you guys, I appreciate everyones input/reasoning etc.

As mentioned this is my first cut vinyl only job and is for a friend of the family. I ran them through the workings mentioned giving a total of £62. They were more than happy with that and said they were prepared to pay anything upto £100.
Cough cough, of course that price is not including VAT and beer money I continued to add.. haha.

I figure the vinyl and app tape are around £12 from the place I would go to currently ( on a side note, feel free to recommend decent places to get standard signmaking vinyl from) and as stated the work shouldn’t take more than around an hour or so. So I think that is reasonable and the customer is happy so all is good.

They are fairly ‘tight’ so hearing they were pleased with the price gives me confidence in knowing my pricing will not be overpriced for the most part and is a decent starting point to base my pricing guides on.

Many Thanks!!!

Jon

[Jon Miller]

Just did the numbers and going on your reduction percentage it would work out to £60
I know everyones prices vary with area and clientel etc but does sound like a decent ballpark figure to you guys?

[Jon Miller]

Hi Peter

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Does anybody else here work on the same sort way of pricing?

Regards,

Jon

[Jon Miller]

Fantastic, thank you for the reply. As said, this seems to work ok but I shall give it a go and see what sort of difference it makes.
Yes, I am using Rasterlink

Jon

[Jon Miller]

Hi Stafford

Thanks for the response.

I have been meaning to post a reply, I ended up just using the mattpvc profile 16 pass bi and it seemed to work fine. Or well enough for my untrained eye at least 🙂
Oh, am using Raterlink.

Cheerz,

Jon

[Jon Miller]

I don’t think it was quite as bad perhaps on the white vinyl as it was on the fluoro green so perhaps I will try printing a white box around the reg marks. Another thing I thought is to split the A4 artwork in half and having two sets of reg marks. We shall see…

[Jon Miller]

Thank you anyway Martin.

Did try having a look through several pages of threads using the search function but didn’t see anything.

[Jon Miller]

😥 thanks anyway bud

[Jon Miller]

Not able to access that thread, not enough posts perhaps or??

[Jon Miller]

Not that I will do to start with anyway but are there some form of guides on it to align/keep the media straight then when doing longer runs?

[Jon Miller]

Thanks Martin, completely overlooked that 🙄
Cheers for the input Russel & David

We shall see how it goes 😀

Thanks,

Jon

[Jon Miller]

I know this is an old topic but I was thinking about getting one of these and am also wondering how they work/how to install the laminate correctly etc.

If anyone has links to those videos or and manuals/instructions that would be great.

Many Thanks,

Jon