Good cheap plotter for heat transfer vinyl? (Asking for a friend)

[White Haus]

A friend of mine is getting into making his own shirts and clothing. He already picked up a heat press but is on the hunt for a small cheap plotter. I'm trying to help him find an affordable plotter to start out with.

Any suggestions for where to look and what brands? (Sold in Canada ideally....)

We only use Gerber/Summa plotters here which is obviously overkill for what he needs.

I'm sure a 24"ish desktop model would probably be all he needs, with simple software for outputting files.

Thanks in advance.

 

[balstestrat]

Roland GS-24 or Summa D60?

 

[kheebl]

I see lots of good deals on my local FB marketplace. Might find something decent for starting out. There’s a graphtech 24” for $850 local to me. I know this isn’t the best plotter but for starting out he could go with a uscutter MH or SC series cutter.

 

[chester215]

On Facebook the other day I saw an old Ioline for sale.
We have had one for over 20 years with no complaints.

 

[Geneva Olson]

My first plotter was $400 through UScutter. well amazon. It SUCKS, but I learned all I needed to know about it, bought a roland after that. We still have the UScutter one and use it for small "personal" jobs. And it made it's money.
Once you use that thing for a couple of years, when you get a good one, you think you've died and gone to heaven.

 

[signage]

2 words in this title don't belong together they are Cheap and Good. You can only have one or the other.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I had no problems with a $400 cutter from USCutter. They worked just fine. I still have it put up in a closet somewhere

 

[Geneva Olson]

I had no problems with a $400 cutter from USCutter. They worked just fine. I still have it put up in a closet somewhere

but, you have yours in the closet! mines out and we are using it.
mine just got squirrely with small pieces. but i'm also cheap and a hoarder. so i was trying to use all these little scraps and the scraps went all willy nilly on me.

 

[Attila Nagy]

a 20+ old Summa or Roland Far-far better than any of these "PRINT YOUR NAME HERE" brands. and you could find a cheap one. Buy a new teflon pad or Knife holder for it and you just have like a new one.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

but, you have yours in the closet! mines out and we are using it.
mine just got squirrely with small pieces. but i'm also cheap and a hoarder. so i was trying to use all these little scraps and the scraps went all willy nilly on me.

It was loud because of the stepper motor and I couldn't have a phone call in the same room with it. I got one with a servo and it is almost silent.

 

[Geneva Olson]

It was loud because of the stepper motor and I couldn't have a phone call in the same room with it. I got one with a servo and it is almost silent.

mine is loud! We laugh at all the sounds it makes. The roland is getting loud but it's old. it's like 15 years old. But i've been told they simply don't break.

 

[netsol]

a 20+ old Summa or Roland Far-far better than any of these "PRINT YOUR NAME HERE" brands. and you could find a cheap one. Buy a new teflon pad or Knife holder for it and you just have like a new one.

absolutely right, attila

i think tex, like the rest of us, forgets what banished his plotter to the top shelf of the closet.

i still have a gerber smc4 and the guys laugh because it is still setup on the production room floor ( more for sentimental value, but i cut a job with it last week.) no closet for the gerber