I really don't want to start a urinating match here but I'm looking for input on one specific feature. I'm not a fan boy of anything I can think of (other than Subaru and Snap-On) as long as it works as expected. I'm familiar with the tech data of both the 64" FC8600 and the S2-Tangential series. I understand one may or may not be better at cutting thicker materials, reading registration marks, fine detail, tracking ultra long distances and so on. My main concern at the moment is solely perf cutting, or flex cutting, or thru cutting or whatever the word of the day is. It seems to me, in my mind, that the FC8600 with its separate channel that it uses for perf cutting would do a better job in that particular area. From my understanding the Summa flex cut works similar to the roland system which at the end of the day digs into the cutting strip, which in turn wears the blades and strip out much faster. Do I have this right? I mean, my Roland can perf cut but I don't believe it was built with that in mind. I will say it has read all 5 bajillion registration marks I've ran through it so there's that. Does anyone have anything on this?
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Chevy vs Ford..., I mean Summa vs Graphtec
- Thread starter Hark
- Start date
FrankW
New Member
Yes, on the Summa the same knife in the same position is used to do FlexCut (Perforation). With the Graphtec, the same knife is used on a different location ((I don't know Graphtec so much, but I have checked the documentation). But the Summa is developed to do so, FlexCut is supported since 15 years.
For me the Graphtec-Solution have disadvantages: at first as far as I have seen everytime you want to do a perforation you need to change the position of the knife holder on the cutting head manually, and back when wanting to do regular "Halfcut". This means additional manual work, and you have to ensure that the position of the knife holder fits the needs of the jobs you'll send. And: with the Summa, most cutting software supports more than one cutting line property per job, what means you can do a regular cut and a FlexCut in one job (for example cutting a custom path regularly, and doing a flexcut-rectangle around it). When there is a need to move the knife holder for perforation, this seems to be not possible with the graphtec.
In addition, Summa OPOS supports features which are second to none on the market: Batch processing with Barcode, Sheet Mode to process multiple copies of single sheets fast and easy, Up to total 128 Markers or OPOS XY to improve accuracy and much more.
For me the Graphtec-Solution have disadvantages: at first as far as I have seen everytime you want to do a perforation you need to change the position of the knife holder on the cutting head manually, and back when wanting to do regular "Halfcut". This means additional manual work, and you have to ensure that the position of the knife holder fits the needs of the jobs you'll send. And: with the Summa, most cutting software supports more than one cutting line property per job, what means you can do a regular cut and a FlexCut in one job (for example cutting a custom path regularly, and doing a flexcut-rectangle around it). When there is a need to move the knife holder for perforation, this seems to be not possible with the graphtec.
In addition, Summa OPOS supports features which are second to none on the market: Batch processing with Barcode, Sheet Mode to process multiple copies of single sheets fast and easy, Up to total 128 Markers or OPOS XY to improve accuracy and much more.
rjssigns
Active Member
Summa is on my To Buy list. Biggest reason is accuracy. Summa posts +-0.004 over 12meters(40 freakin' feet!)
Other plotters have that valuable tracking info buried in their spec sheets if it's even listed.
One manufacturer states something to the effect of 0.2% or 0.00394" whichever is greater. You mean I gotta do math too?! And 0.00394" over what distance?
BTW we have a Summa D610(10+ years old) that despite our best efforts to wear out keeps cutting.
Other plotters have that valuable tracking info buried in their spec sheets if it's even listed.
One manufacturer states something to the effect of 0.2% or 0.00394" whichever is greater. You mean I gotta do math too?! And 0.00394" over what distance?
BTW we have a Summa D610(10+ years old) that despite our best efforts to wear out keeps cutting.
digitalsolutionsok
New Member
S Class
Hey u said it buddy snap-on and Subaru! Follow your heart its the Summa if you want the S class lol if you wanna drive a ford and use craftsmen tools then go get that Graphtec. lol really theres no disregard when it comes to Graphtec GREAT plotter but not the S class of plotters its a E class and the Roland a C if we are speaking Mercedes lingo. I have been in print shops of all types throughout the southwest as a field rep - tech the big boys run summa and I have never heard a nightmare story out of any top notch S or T Summa users they use to or still do make a D class which is just a Graphtec or roland plotter. Boring drag knife!!!! I WANT THE FLATBED SUMMA
Hey u said it buddy snap-on and Subaru! Follow your heart its the Summa if you want the S class lol if you wanna drive a ford and use craftsmen tools then go get that Graphtec. lol really theres no disregard when it comes to Graphtec GREAT plotter but not the S class of plotters its a E class and the Roland a C if we are speaking Mercedes lingo. I have been in print shops of all types throughout the southwest as a field rep - tech the big boys run summa and I have never heard a nightmare story out of any top notch S or T Summa users they use to or still do make a D class which is just a Graphtec or roland plotter. Boring drag knife!!!! I WANT THE FLATBED SUMMA
rydods
Member for quite some time.
I have a graphtec fc 8000 currently and I love it. The blades last for a long time, the cut is very accurate and it's really just a work horse. Cons are with mark detection. In flexi, only one style of mark is detected. Forget the others. Every now and again and non of us are really sure why but after mark detection the cut gradually goes WAY off. We've narrowed it down to dust or an air bubble on or around the mark. The other con is accuracy on longer contour cut runs. It's good but for what it costs it should be much better. After printing and cutting 8-10 foot side vehicle graphics, we usually need to do a little manual "cleanup" trimming to fix.
May give summa a try if you all think it would help or fix these problems entirely.
May give summa a try if you all think it would help or fix these problems entirely.
Thanks for the input guys. I guess I'm just worried when it comes to perf cutting the results from the Summa won't be much better than the Roland since it is still cutting down on the cut strip and not in a channel. I know every other aspect will cut better than the Roland, haha. Decisions, decisions...
FatCat
New Member
Here is a video showing how the SummaCut does perf (flex) cutting;
[video=youtube;uaspxzwZ8iM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaspxzwZ8iM[/video]
*At 2:08 you can see how the decals just fall apart after being perf cut.
Last edited by a moderator:
omgsideburns
New Member
My experience with perf cutting on the graphtec 7000 has been less than stellar... but you don't have to change/move the knife to do it. It's just a separate "condition", so if your cutting software supports sending different modes or cut layers, it would be able to switch between the two without any intervention.
Bly
New Member
We tested the flexcut thing with our Summacut and it seems to work well.
We don't do many decals but will definitely use it in future.
You just need to set the knife depth and pressure properly so the sheet stays together enough but the flexcut will tear easily.
As Frankw said it's simple to set a job up to do the vinyl cutting and flexcut in one job.
We don't do many decals but will definitely use it in future.
You just need to set the knife depth and pressure properly so the sheet stays together enough but the flexcut will tear easily.
As Frankw said it's simple to set a job up to do the vinyl cutting and flexcut in one job.
KaranGrewal
New Member
we got rid of our graphtec , and bought new summa S2 D140. 54" . love it. fast , easy to operate. print on roland and cut on summa works awesome.