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Fc9000 review... somebody please, anyone

J

Joel golden

New Member
Ok, anyone running the new fc9000? My 8000 died after a long, rough life, the I saved it and brought it back for a couple years...but she dead! I’m in a very tight niche and the biggest I cut is 30 rolls, and I cut a lot of 3m 5100 reflective. The fc9000-75 only comes with two pinch rollers according to the spec sheet and I recall graphtec saying 24” and up reflective needs 3... both the 30 and 42 are available near me but with adding a 3rd punch roller it doesn’t make sense to not get the 42... thoughts?
 
J

Joel golden

New Member
I have looked but everything I have is in a graphtec file and the graphtec warehouse is here in Louisville so it’s next day delivery unless I add the extra roller then it’s a week out because of the Holliday. My old 8000 exploded into a bunch of head parts, it was very sad. I need that over 400g of downforce for the thicker reflective I run so the D series summa is out... still on the fence. Maybe just take a week off cutting ...maybe
 
studebaker

studebaker

Deluded Artist
The FC8600 is a great machine! It will do what you need. Be sure to get one soon because Graphtec has ceased production on it and has switched over to the FC9000. Which is a shame, because FexiSign refuses to add the FC9000 drivers to older versions of Flexi. And the Graphtec Studio Pro Plus software does not include a RIP engine. You literally can't add any type of printer to the production manager. So now if you want to print AND cut you will have to subscribe the very expensive cloud version of Flexi or find a used FC8600. This may put Graphtec out of business. Bummer! I was so looking to upgrade. They had wonderful quality equipment.
 
I

ikarasu

Active Member
studebaker said:
The FC8600 is a great machine! It will do what you need. Be sure to get one soon because Graphtec has ceased production on it and has switched over to the FC9000. Which is a shame, because FexiSign refuses to add the FC9000 drivers to older versions of Flexi. And the Graphtec Studio Pro Plus software does not include a RIP engine. You literally can't add any type of printer to the production manager. So now if you want to print AND cut you will have to subscribe the very expensive cloud version of Flexi or find a used FC8600. This may put Graphtec out of business. Bummer! I was so looking to upgrade. They had wonderful quality equipment.
Click to expand...

Why dont you use graphtecs plugin for Corel/illustrator? It adds the marks to the print...and then you just print it in whatever rip you currently have.

I find it way, way better than using a rip to do the cutting... I can go back into illustrator and edit the cut file if I want to change something... You can print it alongside stuff that isn't a print and cut, so less space used... I never get double cuts doing it this way, where as with onyx it'll cut twice on occasion... I used to have to flatten every transparent png, make sure the cut lines were at 0, no fill... now I just use whatever and hit cut.

I do use onyx for cutting on occasion, such as when I'm adding 40 different files and dont want to manually nest them... but for single jobs I just use cutting masters plugin. Or repeat jobs where we cut 10,000 of a decal... I set them up 52" wide x 4 FT... then just print that one file xx times.
 
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Christian @ 2CT Media

Christian @ 2CT Media

Active Member
studebaker said:
The FC8600 is a great machine! It will do what you need. Be sure to get one soon because Graphtec has ceased production on it and has switched over to the FC9000. Which is a shame, because FexiSign refuses to add the FC9000 drivers to older versions of Flexi. And the Graphtec Studio Pro Plus software does not include a RIP engine. You literally can't add any type of printer to the production manager. So now if you want to print AND cut you will have to subscribe the very expensive cloud version of Flexi or find a used FC8600. This may put Graphtec out of business. Bummer! I was so looking to upgrade. They had wonderful quality equipment.
Click to expand...
It won't put Graphtec out of business, it will put pressure on customers to stay current though. In this new age, we are being forced to constantly update and upgrade.
 
I

ikarasu

Active Member
2CT Media said:
We have had a Summa since 2015 and its heads and tails above any Graphtec, GCC, or Mimaki cutter I have ever owned or ran.
Click to expand...
What do you like about the Summa that you didn't like about the graphtec? You do a lot of volume, so it'd be interesting to know!

Everyone I've talked to, all our vendors and their techs tell us graphtec is the way to go. I was leaning towards summa for the roll to roll, but now that graphtec has the option... We were looking into graphtec. We have about 20 rolls of EGP Reflective to cut into street blades for an upcoming job thats time sensitive, so we're getting a second machine. I tried to get them to get a flatbed or zund, but they dont want to spend that much for this project...so it's a second roll machine. I've heard graphtec is way better than summa for thicker reflectives... their new arms system seems cool too.

how do you find the summa on reflectives, just cutting?
 
B

bannertime

Active Member
ikarasu said:
how do you find the summa on reflectives, just cutting?
Click to expand...

Can't speak for Summa, but...

I believe that Graphtech used to have a higher cutting force. Somewhere around 400-500g while the Summa was <400. Now, both new Summa and Graphtecs come with 600g heads. I remember back in the early 2000s we needed the higher force when we did paint protection films and Graphtech was the only one that had it.

So that's probably where the idea that Graphtec was better for thicker materials came from.
 
I

ikarasu

Active Member
bannertime said:
Can't speak for Summa, but...

I believe that Graphtech used to have a higher cutting force. Somewhere around 400-500g while the Summa was <400. Now, both new Summa and Graphtecs come with 600g heads. I remember back in the early 2000s we needed the higher force when we did paint protection films and Graphtech was the only one that had it.

So that's probably where the idea that Graphtec was better for thicker materials came from.
Click to expand...
That could be... I always thought summa was equivlant these days, but our grimco tech told me for reflective, nothing can beat the graphtec. the added pinch roller, and something about how the system grabs reflective better than summa, which leads to less skew.

But everyone has their biases... so he could have his also. Personally I think roll cutters are a hassle for cutting traffic reflectives, and the right job is a flatbed cutter... I know neither option is the perfect choice, our graphtec skews quite a bit when doing longer than 3-4 FT cuts, not sure if the summa can handle it better or not, but if we take the job I'm buying a second cutter...so need to decide on summa or graphtec!
 
Christian @ 2CT Media

Christian @ 2CT Media

Active Member
ikarasu said:
What do you like about the Summa that you didn't like about the graphtec? You do a lot of volume, so it'd be interesting to know!

Everyone I've talked to, all our vendors and their techs tell us graphtec is the way to go. I was leaning towards summa for the roll to roll, but now that graphtec has the option... We were looking into graphtec. We have about 20 rolls of EGP Reflective to cut into street blades for an upcoming job thats time sensitive, so we're getting a second machine. I tried to get them to get a flatbed or zund, but they dont want to spend that much for this project...so it's a second roll machine. I've heard graphtec is way better than summa for thicker reflectives... their new arms system seems cool too.

how do you find the summa on reflectives, just cutting?
Click to expand...
The versatility of materials it can cut well is the biggest plus, behind that is the accuracy and repeatability is so reliable it becomes the most trust worthy machine we have. For reflectives the Summa is good, but a flatbed is far superior due to the nature of the material.
 
studebaker

studebaker

Deluded Artist
2CT Media said:
It won't put Graphtec out of business, it will put pressure on customers to stay current though. In this new age, we are being forced to constantly update and upgrade.
Click to expand...

You are right, this is a ploy by SAI to sell more subscriptions on the back of an excellent machine manufacturer. Woe on Graphtec for agreeing to such a thing. I really believe this may be the event that puts them under. I will NOT go to a subscription model when I have bought and paid for a dongled version of Flexi. I have a bought and paid for version of Corel 2019, and I will not be going to their "subscription model" next year either.

I also agree that you can use Cutting Master 4 and a RIP printer to work side by side, but why? Sending a single file to print and cut is the reason I bought a $4000 version of Flexi. Yes there are work-arounds to every dilemma, but if that was my way of doing things, I would have just bought a cheaper Chinese cutter. (which by the way Flexi supports).
 
I

ikarasu

Active Member
studebaker said:
You are right, this is a ploy by SAI to sell more subscriptions on the back of an excellent machine manufacturer. Woe on Graphtec for agreeing to such a thing. I really believe this may be the event that puts them under. I will NOT go to a subscription model when I have bought and paid for a dongled version of Flexi. I have a bought and paid for version of Corel 2019, and I will not be going to their "subscription model" next year either.

I also agree that you can use Cutting Master 4 and a RIP printer to work side by side, but why? Sending a single file to print and cut is the reason I bought a $4000 version of Flexi. Yes there are work-arounds to every dilemma, but if that was my way of doing things, I would have just bought a cheaper Chinese cutter. (which by the way Flexi supports).
Click to expand...
Are you sure sai is going to make drivers for summas next generation cutter? This isn't really a graphtec decision, it's a flexi decision... I'm sure if the new summa needs a new driver, it also wont be added.... it's not up to graphtec, or Summa on whether a rip adds support for an older driver.

Flexi 10/11 dont have drivers for the Latex 560 I believe... Onyx also doesn't support newer printers on their older software versions... It sucks, but its just the way it works. It's impossible for companies to support every printer on every version of their software, it'd be a nightmare.
 
Christian @ 2CT Media

Christian @ 2CT Media

Active Member
ikarasu said:
Are you sure sai is going to make drivers for summas next generation cutter? This isn't really a graphtec decision, it's a flexi decision... I'm sure if the new summa needs a new driver, it also wont be added.... it's not up to graphtec, or Summa on whether a rip adds support for an older driver.

Flexi 10/11 dont have drivers for the Latex 560 I believe... Onyx also doesn't support newer printers on their older software versions... It sucks, but its just the way it works. It's impossible for companies to support every printer on every version of their software, it'd be a nightmare.
Click to expand...
The pace of advancement is so blistering fast now, its hard for software to support. We have just ordered 4 machines that are state of the art in advancement and we have to upgrade a lot of things to use them.
 
J

Joel golden

New Member
I ended up with the summa S series. It has a been a bit of work getting used to their winplot vs the graphtec studio pro for production. I for right from coreldraw but it was doing the double cut thing and took me a while to straighten out our most used files. Phil got me a price I couldn’t say no to and I had it next day (and I picked up our first printer, a dc4sx..so I have some learning to do)
 
K

karst41

New Member
Joel golden said:
Ok, anyone running the new fc9000? My 8000 died after a long, rough life, the I saved it and brought it back for a couple years...but she dead! I’m in a very tight niche and the biggest I cut is 30 rolls, and I cut a lot of 3m 5100 reflective. The fc9000-75 only comes with two pinch rollers according to the spec sheet and I recall graphtec saying 24” and up reflective needs 3... both the 30 and 42 are available near me but with adding a 3rd punch roller it doesn’t make sense to not get the 42... thoughts?
Click to expand...

Do not get a 42" get a 54". You do this because if you expand your capabilities. the 54" will be
absolutely essential, because most psa vinyls are becoming available in 54"

I also have a 64" cutter.

Conversely, I am needing yet another cutter for 24" I can slit a sheet of 54" and 27" will feed.

Hope this helps
 
M

mark galoob

New Member
I have an 8600. I’m very impressed. We use it all the time and it is accurate to the 1/2 millimeter regularly....it’s stable.....u won’t be disappointed
 
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