Need Help BEST plotter for Contour Cutting Reflective Material??

[bigkahuna_305]

We use the FC9000... it allows you to print reverse marks... So a big black square with just the reflective showing through as the mark. It's more accurate, but sometimes it does still read wrong.

How often do you cut? If your cutter has issues... Buy a small 3-4" roll of premask, or using 2" masking tape...drop it down over the mark and felt pen it in. I used to do it with a ruler... now I just eyeball it when I have to use our old machine... so long as you dont have the shakiest of hands, it should work close enough to be max a mm or two off.


But just as a reference... We cut probably 150 ft of reflective 680 a month, and another roll or two of nikkalite engineer grade... Maybe 1 in 30 jobs will pickup the mark wrong and cut off... For the others we constantly do 10 FT police wrap cuts with no issues. The 9000's a great machine with its reverse print option... I heard summas used to be better than graphtec... but I think the 9000 has bumped graphtec ahead.

how do you print the reverse reg mark?

 

[Mike Volpone]

I'm sick and tired of my Mimaki CG-130 FXII plotter. I have trouble contour cutting regular vinyl and CANNOT cut reflective, which I use for one of my biggest accounts!

Who makes the BEST contour cutting plotter? Is it the Graphtec FC9000??

I see these Chinese ones on ebay for under $1000 that say they contour cut. Can't be worth a @#$%!!

Thank you for ALL the help!! It ended up being a faulty LED Pointer which is not in stock and on order but won't be here until April. I resolved the problem by buying a Summa S2T 140 with the OPUS Cam system. I got a brand new showroom demo for $8000 with full warranty, installation, training and spare blades. It cut the reflective like there's no tomorrow!!!! Anybody in SoCal looking for a Mimaki CG-130 FXII after the part comes in????

 

[ikarasu]

how do you print the reverse reg mark?

Cutting master 4 has the option.

It turns it into this - Much more accurate for reflective materials

 

[bigkahuna_305]

Cutting master 4 has the option.


View attachment 151879


It turns it into this - Much more accurate for reflective materials


View attachment 151880

my fc8600 wont cut holographic for anything lol trying to purchase the fc9000 but i use flexi and no option to do that

 

[ikarasu]

my fc8600 wont cut holographic for anything lol trying to purchase the fc9000 but i use flexi and no option to do that

Have you tried the reverse marks? I use it on my 8600 and it cuts holo pretty good.

Or if you're in a bind you can put premask over and use a felt pen.

 

[bigkahuna_305]

Have you tried the reverse marks? I use it on my 8600 and it cuts holo pretty good.

Or if you're in a bind you can put premask over and use a felt pen.

i use flexisign and it doesnt have a option to use reverse marks sadly

 

[GB2]

Thank you for ALL the help!! It ended up being a faulty LED Pointer which is not in stock and on order but won't be here until April. I resolved the problem by buying a Summa S2T 140 with the OPUS Cam system. I got a brand new showroom demo for $8000 with full warranty, installation, training and spare blades. It cut the reflective like there's no tomorrow!!!! Anybody in SoCal looking for a Mimaki CG-130 FXII after the part comes in????

Hi Mike, I'm curious, how did you finally figure out that the problem was a faulty LED Pointer? What is the LED Pointer anyway and do you know the part number? Where did you get the replacement part from?
I'm pretty much commited to getting a new Summa OPUS Cam plotter too, how do you find the transition from the Mimaki to the Summa? Did you use Mimaki Finecut before, how is it using the Summa interface software with the new plotter?

 

[Mike Volpone]

Hi Mike, I'm curious, how did you finally figure out that the problem was a faulty LED Pointer? What is the LED Pointer anyway and do you know the part number? Where did you get the replacement part from?
I'm pretty much commited to getting a new Summa OPUS Cam plotter too, how do you find the transition from the Mimaki to the Summa? Did you use Mimaki Finecut before, how is it using the Summa interface software with the new plotter?

It appears to be a faulty LED pointer and NOBODY in America has the replacement $9.00 part. It is now on order from Mimaki in Japan and will be here in April. Cesar at Mimaki and Don Buddy from Cal Comp were AMAZING in helping me figure the problem out. In the meantime, I found a brand new Summa S2 Tangential 160 demo model that i picked up for a steal... I looked hard at a Graphtec FC9000 (I still love my FC7000) but they wouldn't guarantee 100% reflective cutting... It is awesome and I don't use Finecut anymore. I use Summa's WinPlot. The transition was seamless from within CorelDraw and Illustrator! It cuts my reflective like the Mimaki NEVER could! I'll sell the Mimaki once I repair it... Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thank for the all the help and concern!!!

M

 

[WYLDGFI]

we run a graphtec 8000 and a graphtec 8600 no issues, you might want to try and reduce the pressure and make sure you are using the right blades for the right purpose.....there are 30-45-60 degree blades try different ones and see witch works best for each material.... chineese brand don't really have a print and cut option they are strictly for cutting... not worth my pennies!!

Hey... have you had issues with the Graphtec 8600, using the ARMS sensor on Reflective SAV w/ Glossy lamination? Ours seems to skew either just the X coordinate, or sometimes both the X and the Y coordinate, thereby giving us a wacky, sometimes unusable kiss-cut most of the time.