Print and cut on same machine

[2 see signz]

Gday Guys, doing some research on a new addition, i think the roland 540 is what i want, but talking to others, not all are happy with the all in one machine, as far as production goes.
is it true that you should wait a few hours at least before contour cutting?

 

[Salmoneye]

I never wait a few hours before contour cutting on printed vinyl. I do however wait 24 hours before laminating prints, I then reload and contour cut. I have an XC-540 and am pleased with it; that being said, if I had tons of room and a little more volume in my shop I would rather have them separate or at least buy a stand alone cutter so we could cut while printing or not unload loaded media to cut.

 

[TheSellOut]

I used a Roland VP540i for two years and it was a great machine, but I wouldn't purchase another all in one. I would go with another Roland but it would be the VersaArt series with Summa Cutter.

The Main reason I have against the all in one is that when you go to cut, you are running vinyl back and forth through your printer. Which even in a very clean shop you will still be pulling dust off the ground into your printer.

 

[CheapVehicleWrap]

Never had an all in 1, never will.

 

[2 see signz]

thanks for the input guys, its a big out lay i hope do get it right the first time...lol,
most of the stuff ive had outsourced has been laminated so now i guess i need to work out the pricing side vs the room needed

 

[idsignsil]

We have a XC-540. The main reason we went with the all in one...space. There is not a lot of space in the front office area, and we did not want to put it in the back where the trucks park and the install guys make everything dusty and dirty. Anyway, we have it up in room that has tile floor that I sweep daily and mop weekly. Have not had any problems and are happy with the machine. As far as waiting to cut after printing, I don't wait either. But, like Salmoneye said..."if I had tons of room and a little more volume in my shop I would rather have them separate or at least buy a stand alone cutter so we could cut while printing or not unload loaded media to cut."

 

[SightLine]

Agreed..... for the past 2 (and a couple more to go) days I've been printing 6 full 36 foot bus wraps. Pretty much non-stop printing 8 full rolls of BusArt (along with gobs of magenta ink! which will be followed by 4 rolls of 36" perf). All the while other cut vinyl projects have been getting run on the cutter. Could not do that with an all in one - with an all in one the shop would just about be at a dead standstill waiting on the wraps to print.

Never had an all in 1, never will.

 

[Signed Out]

we have a xj540 and a gx 500 the printer can print twice as fast and we lam just about everything we print and cut therefore our prints outgas on our drying rack for at least 24 hours and even if we dont lam we wait to cut if the cutline is to go through where ink has been laid. The only thing we would do different is we would get a gx600 bc our plotter is advertised as a 54" plotter but can only cut up to 48" wide and the greatest width we can cut with print registration marks is 46" idk why the plotter is advertised as a 54", yea you can fit a 54" roll in the machine but it will not even sheet cut the whole width.... wish we did more home work.

 

[2 see signz]

there doesn't seem to be much price difference in the vs540 and rs 540, but a stand alone optical cutter is around $5000, that goes right over my budget, so i think i have more homework to do...lol...

i plan on targeting perf work, it seems to be popular around here.

dam 6 buses..one could only wish for those headaches...lol

 

[Speedsterbeast]

I have an SP300V and I really like, although it is my first "real" machine so I have nothing to compre to. It is also not my main cutter. However, you may need to wait before contour cutting on some prints if: there is no white (unprinted) border between the print and where the contour cut is and you are using a lower end "short term" media. If you cut right away with no buffer edge you will usually get edge curl. I always wait 48 hours min. before laminating though. Take all advice about any product you are looking for help deciding on with a grain of salt. Often people will have a very strong opinion on something they've never used or even seen. This goes for sign equipment, vehicles, electronics, and sailboats. Especially sailboats.

 

[anotherdog]

I have to admit to being biased since I havent tried one of the other brands, but the Roland VP540 is ideal for a first (and only) machine. While in no way fast it is a reliable workhorse that comes with a decent RIP and an easy learning curve. We got one when we brought our signage in house and have no regrets. Now that business has built we are looking at some of the bigger Roland print-only machines to sit next to it.

If you have enough work to be frustrated at the speed you can afford the financing on a faster/bigger machine.

 

[txsurfer]

We have 2 XC 540 and absolutely love the machine, never stops running

 

[thewvsignguy]

We went with two separate machines and so far a great decision. We have a total of 4 cutters one of those is a print and cut (PC60) that has sat for the last 8 months (It's 9 yrs old). It's just easier IMO if you have the space to have the two different pieces of equipment.

 

[2 see signz]

thanks heaps guys, i think for the space issue i will go the all in one, then later down the track get a separate machine.
now im stuck on new or used, with the price difference and a small tite budget not sure which way to go.

 

[The Equipment Guy]

There are arguments for both...

If you upgrade often, when you upgrade your 2 in 1 you are forced into upgrading the plotter at the same time. So separate units often average out to cost less over time.

However, putting money aside, how about the best of both worlds. My most productive customers have a 2 in 1 and a separate cutter. Gives them every option.

Also note that if you do a lot of vinyl cutting...the separate plotters are usually better quality, I have never yet had somebody ask me for the vinyl cutter specs for a built in cutter.

Craig

 

[jfiscus]

hmmmm.... good question.

Where I worked before we had an SP540 print/cut (older model of what you're looking at) & I liked it. The ability to print/cut all in one function speeded up smaller temporary decal jobs, but it was a slow printer. Where I'm at now we have the GS6000 & a separate Graphtec plotter; it's a lot better quality printer & a lot faster at printing (but it's also a lot newer).

It all depends on what you do more of; laminated or un-laminated decals. (which you probably don't know yet) I wish we had both kinds here, as printing short-run un-laminated decals gets to be a PITA to me when you have to move it to a separate machine & register it to get the cuts. But, if you're laminating prints then separate machines work much better.

One nice point of separate machines is that one can be doing prints and one can be cutting vinyl if you have a heavy workload, so that you don't have to wait on a tied-up machine just to do some vinyl cutting.

Remember, either way you'll need to include a decent laminator in your budget.

 

[rushworks graphics]

we have had our vp540i for just over a year now......don't regret it for a second. does exactly what you want it to do, prints real nice and will then cut what ever you need it to cut, no problems.

we also have a seperate cutter/plotter for general run of the mill non printed signage but i'm so happy to have the all in one, and remember....since it can print and cut, you now also have a 54" cutter/plotter for larger jobs!

 

[MichaelAlmand]

can you print crop marks on a versaArt and then cut it on a VP540?

 

[chopper]

Agreed..... for the past 2 (and a couple more to go) days I've been printing 6 full 36 foot bus wraps. Pretty much non-stop printing 8 full rolls of BusArt (along with gobs of magenta ink! which will be followed by 4 rolls of 36" perf). All the while other cut vinyl projects have been getting run on the cutter. Could not do that with an all in one - with an all in one the shop would just about be at a dead standstill waiting on the wraps to print.

wow this is a misleading statement, if you have print/cut machine and you use your printer for your only cutter there is something wrong with you.
I have a print and cut machine and a stand alone cutter so I can print while I am cutting and also cut my prints on my stand alone cutter if I chose, it is the best of both worlds.
//chopper

 

[Speedsterbeast]

wow this is a misleading statement, if you have print/cut mac you use yor printer for your only cuer te is somethng wrog wit you.

Do you have a cold?