Plotter Confusion - Summa or Graphtec

[signheremd]

Our shop just got rid of our piece of crap Graphtec FC9000 and replaced it with a S3 TC160 Summa since the techs had no clue how to fix the error message we had and it had been happing since march on and off until it eventually died at 1 year old. The tech that came to set up our Summa had said he replaces Graphtec plotters with Summa all the time. I love the new cutter, the workflow is amazing, the speed is leagues ahead of the Graphtec (It was actually unbelievable, before I'd have pile ups on my cutter and now I'm waiting on the Epson to finish prints), the accuracy and flex cut is outstanding. I cannot speak highly enough on my Summa, the best decision we could have made. We also have a Summa flatbed so we had previous experience with the brand and it supports twin workflow so they work together! Go with the OPOS cam option if you do reflective material or fine detailed cuts. I have also heard good things about the D140!

Interesting that your tech said he replaces Graphtecs with Summas all the time. We had two different vendors tells us that they almost never need to fix a Graphtec but they do have to address Summa problems all the time. Everybody makes a lemon once in a while I guess.

 

[Pearlljelly]

Oh blimey, im going between both brands like a yoyo. Just read up about you S3 TC160, sounds amazing! Very high price though, one day though for sure. The S Class D140 is abit more affordable with recon models asking £3500-£4000. Food for thought, thanks for your input

I thought the FC9000 didn't have a cutting strip, just a channel for flex cuts?

Look into an S2 with tangential head! might not have all the next gen fancy options but it is also a pretty good work horse from what I've heard. The Graphtec has the channel for perf cut but I found our Graphtec strip got so beat up on kiss cuts alone for some reason. Summa has the flex cut which you can really fine tune and you don't have to change blades holders, it does it all in 1.

 

[signheremd]

Oh blimey, im going between both brands like a yoyo. Just read up about you S3 TC160, sounds amazing! Very high price though, one day though for sure. The S Class D140 is abit more affordable with recon models asking £3500-£4000. Food for thought, thanks for your input

I thought the FC9000 didn't have a cutting strip, just a channel for flex cuts?

Probably the best advice anyone here can give you is to buy as locally as possible from a vendor that services that brand. Both Summa and Graphtec are good machines, but when you have a problem, nothing like having the guy who sold it fix it - a national seller might leave you holding the bag...

 

[Pearlljelly]

Interesting that your tech said he replaces Graphtecs with Summas all the time. We had two different vendors tells us that they almost never need to fix a Graphtec but they do have to address Summa problems all the time. Everybody makes a lemon once in a while I guess.

Just like cars, every brand has its problems ! We had multiple techs ghost us and not know the problem for months sadly so I hear ya, great advice to buy as local as possible.

 

[JBurton]

My two cents, graphtec all day. My experience" owned 3 graphtec's, never touched a summa.
I think most folks get really attached to their plotters, mostly because they are relatively simple machines with ~4 moving parts, so they last forever if properly operated and maintained, especially from these two manufacturers. The trouble most folks end up having boils down to one of two things: new cutting strip or new cutting blade. Have a pair of those handy for either machine and you'll be rolling for a while.

 

[victor bogdanov]

I have 3 fc9000 and 2 fc8600 , had a summa s2t which I hated and was happy when it died 2 years in. Load up a 50yd roll on the Graphtec and let it run. whole roll cuts perfectly every time

 

[Pauly]

I have 3 fc9000 and 2 fc8600 , had a summa s2t which I hated and was happy when it died 2 years in. Load up a 50yd roll on the Graphtec and let it run. whole roll cuts perfectly every time

What was wrong with it? im loving my S3's they're 2x faster than my FC9000s

 

[victor bogdanov]

What was wrong with it? im loving my S3's they're 2x faster than my FC9000s

First the roller lever broke off and then The feed roller/motor seized up.

I had the same thing happen to an fc8600 but after 5 years of very heavy use (so much use that all the paint where the vinyl moves was rubbed off) and lost another fc8600 to a really bad static shock, also heavy use on that one.

I run the graphtecs on speed 30, could go faster but I set up a roll and forget it till its done

 

[Pauly]

First the roller lever broke off and then The feed roller/motor seized up.

I had the same thing happen to an fc8600 but after 5 years of very heavy use (so much use that all the paint where the vinyl moves was rubbed off) and lost another fc8600 to a really bad static shock, also heavy use on that one.

I run the graphtecs on speed 30, could go faster but I set up a roll and forget it till its done

Oh wow.

I had the 9000 on 40cm/s Max. Anything more the cuts where crap.
The s3 defeat is on 80 cm/s

 

[Browner]

Just so I’ve got this right… with the Graphtecs, you contour/kiss cut first, then have to manually change the position of the blade, and then resend the job for the perf/flex cut?

 

[sulu00]

We have Summa S2 T160 and Summa D120. We never use the D for cutting laminated prints or even prints without laminate on 100 mic vinyl. For these jobs S2 T is far more superior. However for for contour cuts and flex cuts D140 might be okay. Summa cutters require literally no maintenance - we just clean them weekly so that there is no glue left on the rollers and that's it .

 

[Saturn]

Do you enjoy reading the manual and have a "journeyman" attitude towards your machinery in general? Go Summa. Happy with a cut that's 90% good enough and an irrational fear of cut strips? Go Graphtec. ;p

My personal take from reading every single post on the two from everywhere on the web for the last 5 years, is that Graphtecs are slightly easier to just get going, and Summas are slightly better at eeking out that extra 5-10% speed/accuracy/quality, if it's important. My Summas have been bombproof to the tune of about 2 million die-cut stickers over the last few years, with the main machine still being the used 2015 S2T I got on Craigslist. Unless Graphtec came out with a whiz-bang tangential model, I've got zero desire to ever consider them, even at half the price.

A lot of the comparison issues could be as simple as Drag vs Tangential?

If you're not coming up with a quick gut feeling towards either one, flip a coin. There's a LOT of folks happy with each one. Both seem to be well built and rarely break down without abuse, and are supported by major RIPs.