Plotter suggestions?

[Jillbeans]

I have been running a Gerber 4E via GA 6.2 since 1998.
(actually I first got a 4B then bought a used 4E about 6 years ago)
Anyway, I am sooo sick of how slow this thing is.
Even though it is a workhorse.
I am sick of d!cking around with new blades not cutting well no matter how much or how little weight I add.
I think my 4E is on its last leg.
I have to manually stack something bigger than 13.25" because for some reason the 4E only cuts the first half of a panelled output. The 4B did this fine, but my 4B's axis is screwed up.

I do not want a big plotter. I could see going 24" but I wouldn't want any bigger. I am short and I could not handle lifting big rolls of media, and they also cost more. I do cut pounce patterns on an almost weekly basis, so I am thinking friction-fed may not be an option. I do not cut sandblast stencil.
If I had to, I could always revert to the 4E. I guess I could save it for pouncing too.

I don't want a cheap piece of crap, but I can't afford $10K for an Envision (my dream plotter...sigh) I don't want a printer.
I don't want some FleaBay cutter with no dongle.
I want to go new because of warranty and tech support.
I am open to any suggestions and am curious as to what people would recommend.
Why do you like a certain brand? Why do you not?
What is cutting via Corel like? I have Corel 12.
How is the tech support for your particular plotter?

Love....Jill

 

[Sign-Man Signs]

We have a couple Jill. I would opt for the 24". Most companies carry 24 inch rolls a a good price. I have a Graphtec CE5000 and is a very good machine. I also use Sign Warehouses VE Endura cut plotters and they are real work horses. My oldest is 6 years old. Can't tell you about tech support, I've never had any problems with either. The 24 inch, you can cut up to about 22.5 and is easy for one person to handle. They all claim to cut up to 50 fifty foot on a single track cut but that's BS. I have cut up to 16' on each with no problems. I use Flexi but have cut from Corel 12. If you buy the Graphtec, they send you a program called ROBO Cut to use with the plotter.

 

[coyote]

Hi Jill: I replaced my sturdy and slow 4B with a Graphtec CE500-got a 15" since I was replacing a 15". It's lightning fast compared to Gerbie and cost under 1K which I thought was incredibly cheap. It's paid for itself many times over. It doesn't track as well as the sprocket fed plotter, but I am learning how to overcome that and it hasn't been a huge problem.I don't know about how it does with really heavy materials like sand blast tape (we hand cut that).
Good luck.
Carol

 

[Sign Up Graphics]

Sign Up Graphics

A 30'' new Graphtec will do the JOB!!!

 

[gnatt66]

my plotter is a rebadged graphtec from SW.

24" and came bundled with lxi master for $1395...great deal i think. Doesn't have the ARMS(for using as a contour cutter) but it's really a graphtec.

 

[trakers]

Because of reccomendations from this forum I purchased a Graphtec CE5000-60 two years ago. Man, I'm I ever glad I didn't cheap out. This has been a great machine.

I have only contacted Tech support a couple times with basic questions (I have had no problems with the machine) but both times I have been satisfied with their help.

A friend of mine recently upgraded from a loud, noisy, problematic cat cutter to the QE-60 Plus Signwarehouse cutter which, from my inspection, appears to be an *exact* clone of my Graphtec except you have to pay extra for the automatic registration sensor. I think SW has the Graphtec for about $1,500 bare.

If you feed the material correctly the Graphtec tracks like it is on rails. You can eek out a 23" cut, but like someone said above 22.5" is about where I usually stop. I am still amazed to this day this thing can start cutting go eight feet in one direction and eight feet back and the cut lines up exactly.

Were I to buy again I would buy another Graphtec.
.

 

[signage]

I have a Graphtec and love it! They do track well if the material is loaded straight and cut straight to begin with. When I was looking I knew of both Graphtec and Summa from my day with pen plotters (early 80's) so when I was looking I went with them knowing that a cutter is basically a pen plotter with a blade inserted and adjustments for pressure. I will have to check to see if it will do a pounce operation, but the Graphtec also has what is called tangential emulation which works great for cutting heavier materials and smaller things. I also have not had to use tech support! Also Pioneer is a seller for Graphtec which may be a plus for you!

 

[bob]

Whichever you buy, go for at least a 30". While a 24" is adequate, with a 30" things seem to lay out better on the media. When I had a 24" I was always trying, with varying degrees of success, to shoehorn images onto the media. With the 30" I can't recall the last time it was an issue.

As far as brand, stick with Graphtec, Summa, etc. As long as you stick with the top brands choosing one over the other is Yet Another Ford vs Chevy debate.

 

[Jim Doggett]

Definitely, Summa or Graphtec. They've been behind the curve in the printer market and have uniquely put emphasis on improving vinyl cutters ... they're both lightyears beyond the competition, I beleive.

Price-performance leaders, IMO, are SignWarehouse Vinyl Express Q (Graphtec pro series in SignWarehouse drag) and Summa's SummaCut-R ... the internals and main cutting and tracking components are similar to the S Class, so I don't think going top-end is necessary with Summa.

My $0.02,

Jim

 

[Kottwitz-Graphics]

Jill,

I have a Summa D60 (24" model with OPOS)...and Love it...

Years ago, I was working at a large production sign company that had a gerber 4b, and it was to the point that cutting material the stroke widths of each letter was different, and they would end up having to recut a bunch of material...And they were sending their vinyl out of house to get cut, which was a huge cost. I did a cost comparison, and discovered that thier cutting costs, we could buy a nice 48" plotter in about a year. I convinced them, and they tasked me to find the right one. I looked at them all, graphtec, roland, summa... several others...

Summa is the one that I decided on, and they purchased it, with the opos system. It paid for itself in 5 months (cutting in house vs. sending out to get cut).

When I went out on my own, I called Summa, and purchased. No other thoughts.

It is one of the straightest tracking machines that I have ever used. Tech support, no question about it is top notch. I have only called a couple of times, and being in CA, I had to leave a call back # and they called be back, usually in a couple of hours. The only problem that I have ever had is I have moved my computer, and when I hooked it back up, it didn't see the plotter. I had to call them, and they directed me to reinstall the software (a proprietary program called winplot that works with corel to cut directly to summa). But they sent me to thier website to get the latest and greatest. The only complaint that I have with the program, it won't add weed lines, but it will do a weed box.

 

[ovrcafnatd]

Whichever you buy, go for at least a 30". While a 24" is adequate, with a 30" things seem to lay out better on the media. When I had a 24" I was always trying, with varying degrees of success, to shoehorn images onto the media. With the 30" I can't recall the last time it was an issue.

As far as brand, stick with Graphtec, Summa, etc. As long as you stick with the top brands choosing one over the other is Yet Another Ford vs Chevy debate.

Agreed!
when my old plotter died, I opted for the 30" and
those 6" made a world of difference........see
size DOES matter (sorry boys lol)

Graphtec FC7000

I've pen plotted with no issues with the friction fed.
We pounce with a wheel.
but, I still can't see it being a prob.
This machine rocks Jill!

 

[Mainframe]

Jill I think you are a perfect candidate for the sign warehouse deal mentioned above, I have an old Roland cam 24 I use & love but if I had to replace it I would buy the lxi master, -1395 is a great deal for a good plotter-Bill

 

[trakers]

If you do the SW deal be sure to get the Master PLUS software.

 

[Craig Sjoquist]

my 2 cents ... I'm looking at a.... Foison..cutter 24" $1,100...800 grams downward cutting force ... comes with software ... Signlab. buying from Accugraphics has good local support / reviews & very versital cutter

I was setting my sites on a Roland ..cause I also use Coreldraw X3 ..but since I'll be lucky to come up with anything over $500 at one time....free from bills to pay, price is a main factor


http://www.foison.net.cn/en/home new/home.htm ... heres a site on it

 

[Jim Doggett]

$1,100 seems spendy for a Chinese cutter. I looked into all of them when I was the marketing guy for SignWarehouse ... most were cheaply-made plastic and pretty poor tracking. One of the better ones, Redsail, has far more metal parts and a much lower fail-rate. It's marketed on eBay only (Vinyl Express R Series) and is slightly more expensive than other Chinese cutters on eBay. But still, with shipping, Flexi OEM software, clipart, starter supplies, plotter cover --- the works --- it's $399 for the R24, 24 inch model. link And this is at the higher end of the Chinese cutter price range. At $1,100, I think someone is cutting a fat hog.

I'd be hesitant to suggest a Chinese cutter, unless just starting out, cheaply, or as a low-cost back-up.

An established shop, with higher volumes, should consider a better solution, in my opinion. I think it would be especially hard to go from Gerber cutter-quality to a Chinese-made cutter.

Just my opinion,

Jim

 

[trakers]

Like I mentioned I had a friend that had one of the kitty cutters. It didn’t track worth a heck and sometimes would ruin whole sheets of material when it went nuts cutting diagonally across the entire sheet. (buffer overflow we guessed).

And also it used stepper motors and was LOUD and I mean couldn’t talk in the same room loud. My Graphtec makes more noises lifting the pen than the X-Y motors do.

I can't see Jill being happy with one of the kitty cutters.

I almost bought one back then, almost, because of the price but I am SO, SO glad I didn’t now.

 

[Sign Works]

Another vote for Graphtec here, my FC4100 75 has been in daily use for the past 10 years without any issues ever, great machine, fast & accurate.
Jill, Also I designate a seperate holder & blade for cutting metalized & reflective films, this way my vinyl only blade keeps it's sharp edge and lasts literally for years cutting multiple rolls of vinyl daily. I remember dinkin around endlessly with settings and constantly changing blades on the old Ioline cutter, man I sure don't miss that.

 

[Conor Knoxx]

certainly a topic that has been debated many times here!

Personal experience:
I recently upgraded from a 36 inch "chinese" cutter to a Summa 48inch.
WOW!
How I could have mindlessly suffered so long I just don't know!

Quiet, straight, fast, easy to use, did I say quiet?..

Now, if you don't print, you will have little use for the OPOS system - though its loads of fun just to watch it work, lol.

Summa's website showed the stand and media catch baskets as "options" but they threw mine in at no charge. Graphtec does seem the "popular choice" around here these days, you likely have to decide for yourself. I wouldn't even consider anything but a Summa or Graphtec though.

I too would go to the 30 inch though, just to leave a bit of breathing room, even though your media might all be 24inch ( eg: I'd prefer to put a 28 x 8 inch "scrap" in sideways, rather then length-wise, since its easier to keep straight. ) Its also the smallest Summa makes now.

Oh yeah, and the Summa is black, which is WAY cooler than beige or ivory..


http://summastore.com/cutter_detail.php?product_id=28&sess_id=f1791dbed25d49d87302d9055ffb4ebe

 

[Jillbeans]

Bumping this again.
I have about $1200 to spend (I think)
I need something that will work on a Windows XP machine.
I'd like a 24".
I will save my nearly dead 4E for pounce patterns but I have had it up to here with this plotter.

 

[Pat Whatley]

Like Bob said, stick with a Summa or Graphtec and you'll get almost identical results...everyone is going to be loyal to brand they have. Stay away from Rolands...we went through a boatload of them. They don't track very well...I was always lucky to be able to cut 10' at a time. I'm currently running all Summa D60 plotters and have routinely cut entire rolls of vinyl without having to reset the vinyl. They've been virtually trouble free and a great addition to the shop.

By the way, don't be afraid of a used plotter. They pop up on ebay all the time and once the price gets above the $299 Chinese plotters bidding typically stops. There's a 24" Graphtec on there right now that we were considering but I decided to go ahead and get a 48" plotter this time.