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Graphtec vs Summa cutters

Z

Zambookajoe

New Member
Ive been looking for a plotter for my mimaki jv33 160" and looking to find a used one without any success. priced 2 brand new ones, a graphtec at 4999$plus taxe canadian and the summa at 6200+230 freight and =taxes canadian again.

Any thoughts or opinions.

my opinion from graphtec is I presently have a ce2000 48" and its been a Piece of Crap but maybe theve improved

what would you buy?
 
David Wright

David Wright

New Member
Check replacement part costs. I have an almost 7 year old Summapro t750 that started missing cuts months back. They tell me the head needs replacing which would cost up to $1500. If I forego going with another tangential head and go drag knive, maybe $550.

That "tank" didn't hold up as well as my other Summa so your mileage may vary. Probably can happen to any machine, even good ones. Just how fixable are they, I guess.
 
rcboats1

rcboats1

New Member
Without going in to the nasty details, I had a Graphtec and will never again let one in my shop. After about three months of frustration (with both the machine and the non-existent customer service) I had them buy it back and got a Summa and have had zero problems with it.
 
Sign Works

Sign Works

New Member
And yet a FC series Graphtec has been operating in my shop daily for over 10 years now without ever experiencing one single problem. :thumb:
 
gabagoo

gabagoo

New Member
I have a 53" Graphtec (7 years or so old) and a Summa d140 53" ( 3years old) The graphtec is used to cut all my day to day vinyl and the Summa is strictly for cutting graphics from my Mimaki. While the Summa has the opus reader I run it at 50% speed to make sure it is accurate and the graphtec I generally run pretty full out. I cant say I like one better than the other as they perform quite different tasks for me. After 3 years with the Summa I still have not had to change the blade (hell I dont even know how as I have never had to lol). The only thing I dislike about both machines is the pinch roller lock down handle, The Summas is made of plastic and seems like it could break if it snaps up to fast and the Graphtec has already broken and I have velcro to hold it shut as the plastic dooey smashed upon impact with the steel cover many years ago. So in the end I really cant say one is better or worse. I like them both. I used to have an Allen Data Graph and loved the straight tracking bars and wished these two had them.
 
Biker Scout

Biker Scout

New Member
Thanks, I've got an old Ioline that's so old there's no driver for it anymore. Was a great plotter, but there new ones are supposedly the bee's knees!
 
B Snyder

B Snyder

New Member
Biker Scout said:
We're saving our pennies for an Ioline. They have the best tracking, offer loaner machines if yours goes down, and then best contour cutting. Plus they are actually made in USA. Not re-branded import stuff.

http://www.ioline.com/prod/st_sc.html
Click to expand...


I just followed this link. I wonder why they decided offer those 3 sizes. Seems silly to offer machines that can hold a max media width of 44", 52" and 74". Aren't most sign shop printers 54"?

I owned an Ioline SmarTrac I/S 85 (34") for a few years. Sold it to a friend and it still works well. It was just too slow for me. The tracking never performed as advertised but it was good enough. Ioline's interface couldn't get any more simple. The absolute easiest plotter in the world to operate.
 
B Snyder

B Snyder

New Member
Oh yeah, I replaced it with a new Graphtec FC5100-75 (30") that still gets used daily. It cuts infinitely better than the Ioline did and nearly as well as my Gerber Envision 375 does.
 
Z

Zambookajoe

New Member
afterna few hours of reading and weeks of debating Im going summa for there supposedly better contour cut system which is what Ill be using for most of the time.

so wish me luck

Is it hard to setup or a piece of cake
 
gabagoo

gabagoo

New Member
Zambookajoe said:
afterna few hours of reading and weeks of debating Im going summa for there supposedly better contour cut system which is what Ill be using for most of the time.

so wish me luck

Is it hard to setup or a piece of cake
Click to expand...

are you going to use it to cut digital prints? if so what printer and what rip?
 
Letterbox Mike

Letterbox Mike

New Member
We've had both. I sent back 2 Graphtecs (FC5100 and a FC7000 because they just couldn't get the job done. Now have a Summa S160D and wouldn't go any other way. They're more money but they're worth every penny. I wouldn't touch another Graphtec if they gave it to me for a boat anchor.
 
gabagoo

gabagoo

New Member
Zambookajoe said:
I have a mimaki jv33 160. I have rasterlink but Im considering Onyx.
Click to expand...

I use my Summa with my jv3 and works like a charm. The cuts are so damn perfect , sometimes I dont even need a bleed!!! But I do run the plotter at 50% speed and that may be why.
 
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