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Best place to buy a Zund?

cdiesel

New Member
We're in the market, and have talked to Global Imaging. For those of you who have purchased, did you go direct to Zund or use a reseller? What were the advantages/disadvantages?

Also, what options did you get and why? Are you happy with them?

Thanks!
 

cdiesel

New Member
Thanks.. not quite what we're looking for, but a good deal none-the-less. We're looking at a G3 with router.
 

HulkSmash

New Member
We were in the market to buy a zund. We were also talking to global. But if you talked to zund first then global will back off, i dont think they're allowed to help. Overall Zund offered us the best deal. Actually the show coming up. They're having their top of the line fully loaded machine for about 139k.
 

cdiesel

New Member
One thing I've learned so far in my research is that they have many options available,and they add up quickly. $139k for a fully loaded machine can mean anything... (we're quite a ways north of that price)

Did you guys end up buying? I've been told of the show special of 5% off. Just looking for the best deal possible...
 

HulkSmash

New Member
We didn't get one. When we were looking signs and POP slowed down and wraps just SHOT through the roof. Right now we're about 80% wraps over signs and other stuff.

I know a company that bought their ZUND from Oce, and have loved it. They use it mostly for POP stuff/coro and PVC.. they do literally 0 dimensional signage, but still love how it works. I personally know 5-6 guys who work at OCE and they are Top Notch techs for the zund and the oce flat bed... especially the ZUND. I'd even go out on a limb and claim they know more than a few ZUND techs i've come accross


I think we're going to be getting a Multi Cam coming into this summer.
In my honest opinion - so much more for a better price. The Service is Excellent, much more durable. And so far what i've seen they're hard to beat for what they have to offer. If you want more info i have a contact you can call here in Denver. They have a big headquarters here... which is another reason i like to go with them over ZUND

hope that helps
 

Typestries

New Member
Chris-Might I also suggest you look at the MultiCam. We have a gerber sabre, but a friend has a couple of multicams. They make excellent machines and have been super helpful with him. For 20-30k you can have everything a zund does pretty much.

I will say, once you get a cutter, you will wonder how you ran a flatbed without one. Even basic straight cuts get done on the machine. It's a huge time saver and quality booster.

Not sure which flatbed you have, but if yours has excellent side to side registration and a vac table then the camera/opos is not really needed. If you have a belt feed machine where media feed advance may affect the true final image size along the 96" length then the reg camera is pretty much required unless you want a bunch of hassle lining up.

Feel free to PM if need be for specific questions. We have been CNC cutting flatbed prints since before the machine manufacturers even considered it a viable market.
 

cdiesel

New Member
Wow.. everything I've ever been told and have seen has pointed squarely towards the Zund. I had pretty much made up my mind to go that way, but you guys are making me think again.

For the price of a Zund we could add a MultiCam and another flatbed..
 

cdiesel

New Member
So I'm looking at the Multicam site.. I don't see a vacuum feed table for cutting roll stock. Do they offer one?
 

HulkSmash

New Member
So I'm looking at the Multicam site.. I don't see a vacuum feed table for cutting roll stock. Do they offer one?

I'm not sure to be honest. But it's an EXCELLENT machine. I've tested both. The Zund is a GREAT machine. In my opinion it's more of a fragile machine. There's prob no machine that will cut banners and foam/gator board out better.

but the Multicam can do that, plus more. So much more heavy duty, better price. Great service. The rep called me a few months ago a told me they have an express version which is suppose to be more for POP stuff like the ZUND. don't get me wrong ZUND can do all that, but the multicam just seems more stable for hardcore cutting.

does that make sense? I have a really good contact at multicam if you want the info let me know
 

Typestries

New Member
Workflow wise, the multicam (or any router) would be ideally suited for sheet stock. We do cut roll stock on our router, but with our setup it's limited to 4 x 8 areas.

To expand, cut your sticky back roll stock on a plotter. Cut your boards on a router. A full loaded OPOS plotter from Summa is under 9k. You could buy one of those, a router and another flatbed for the $ of a zund.

The major bump to your biz with a true router over the zund would be the chance to open up other cutting projects that the zund cant handle. Sure you may not plan to do 3d signs, but your zund isnt gonna cut printed aluminum very well if at all.

Historically, the zund would be a better choice if you print paper based boards (foamcore and cardstock) and need to knife cut, but even multicam now has a knife tool. If you plan to do a lot of foamcore or cardstock, you'll need a knife cutter.

Only other thing the zund offers is scoring which only really matters for POP work if printing B or C flute.

Also, the zund router head is a wimpy setup, the true router will cut anything. And (my opinion) the belt makes cutting semi-rigid panels like ACP really tough to get consistent results. As the belt deflects away from your toolhead, so does your material, and you get inconsistent cuts.

Of course the zund has its upsides. Those happen to only be about 10% of my particular shops workflow. Would I like to have one? Sure. Would it make some jobs easier, yes. But I'd add another flatbed for the same $ first.

Bottom line, there are only 3 things we can't do without the zund: 1. Cut foamcore shapes without post cleanup. 2. Cut .050 cardstock cleanly. 3. Score a or b flute corrugated cardboard.
 

RycckG

New Member
We operate an Alpha Merics, a Gerber Sabre, a Gerber M series and 2 Kongsberg tables... I agree with everything Rick has said. The biggest question that I think you need to answer is "what will you be cutting". If you plan on cutting materials such as corrugated, hands down you need a Zund or Kongsberg. Both machines use reciprocating knives as opposed to drag only, and A vacuum table is very important for sheet stock. If you are cutting under 10 pcs a jig and tape may be ok, but if you are doing 200 pcs of a large POP, be sure to get a vacuum table. The new Kongsberg cuts at 66" ips, much faster than every other option. Zund is a very good machine, but after 20 years of working on these cnc tables, I stick with Kongsberg, at the same price of Zund.
 
We have a Zund L3000 it is a great machine. We have had for a little under 4 years and it runs 3 shifts non stop. We cut a ton of roll stock Banner & Busmark on it. The conveyer belt is a must have. Plus with conveyer belt cut lengths are unlimited. We also cut alot of foam, styrene, coro and corrugated cardboard. As well as tons of cut and score work. Router work is only about 10-15% of what we cut of which it handles no problem including aluminum.

Great machine and well worth every penny. I would suggest buying direct from Zund. They are a great company to work with. We are actually working a deal now with them for another machine which will be the G3 XL.

We also weighed all options when we originally made the purchase and the Zund was the best choice and has proven it day in and day out.
 

cdiesel

New Member
Well, we do much more POP than cutting letters. We run tons of foamcore, styrene, PVC & Gator, with the occasional flat cut acrylic letters. The other big use of the machine would be to cut printed vinyl & banners. I'm not talking about plotter cutting, I'm talking about cutting pieces through the liner.

I'll put it this way: We were considering buy the Zund *without* the router.
 

cdiesel

New Member
Hmm.. I thought they had some mats for use with the router to help protect the belt. Sales guy said that it should last "indefinitely" if you don't run the router into it. You guys don't use these Mike?

Also, do you have to premask acrylic before routering?
 

skjeflo

New Member
If you are considering a MultiCam at all make sure you check out what they can do in the hands of a master...

imaginationcorporation.ca

Dan does some truly magical and inspiring work.

Mark
 

cdiesel

New Member
Dan does amazing work. Hands down the best 3d work I've ever seen.

We ordered a Zund G3 L2500 about two weeks ago. should be here in 4-6 weeks!

I also saw at ISA that the Zund router can cut 3d images also. I was unaware of that (and don't really expect to do much of it), but it's an awesome option to have.
 
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