Roland & Mimaki workflow.

[Tizz]

Seeking your experience, thoughts, views and opinions in this Print & Cut workflow.
I'm planning to add a Mimaki cutter to suit our SP540V. The cuts from our printer seem to drift out and aren't always spot on. I do allow a little tolerance but some jobs are critical.
Would love a Summa but thats out of the price range. I have heard good things about the Mimaki's just not in this combination.

Would appreciate any and all input.

 

[ams]

From what I hear about Mimaki, they have the worst tech support.

 

[Morph1]

From what I hear about Mimaki, they have the worst tech support.

I operate now a 3rd Mimaki machine and they are as solid as it gets,
the printers are simply amazing in means of longevity and reliability and speed, I run JV 300-160 that thing is a digital F22... the print speeds and quality is simply amazing I also own roland printer and work with a VSI Roland
I tell you one thing you can not compare those two , its like a different league of machines, the JV300 will beat Roland in every way...
We also have a summa cutter to contour cut jobs from mimaki and this combination works flawlessly...
Mimaki builds solid machines that last forever, our JV3 is about 8 years old and still prints on original heads lol , the service report indicates over 25 KM of vinyl printed ...
Your combination will do fine, regarding the tech support , it's like everywhere if you have a local guy and hes good your problems are addressed and fixed, besides
in 11 years of operating Mimaki's we maybe called a tech guy on 3 occasions , you buy into Mimaki you don't need a tech guy....

 

[2B]

Support, as with most all machines, is going to be dependent on the reps in your area.

there will be highly knowledgeable ones who are interested in the after sale service
There will be ones who are only interested in the sale and move on to the next sell.

Graphtec makes a dedicated cutter, and there are plenty of users here that think highly of them

 

[Solventinkjet]

I have a customer using only Mimaki cutters and he pumps out 1000s of stickers a day. If you calibrate the machine properly, it will cut accurately throughout the print/cut process. People tend to align the print cut and seem to think that is all there is but there is a scale adjustment that allows the cut to be accurate as it does more stickers. If you don't do the scale adjustment, the cut will be off and get worse and worse until it's unusable.

 

[Tizz]

Thanks for your responses.

I'm now weighing it out with either the Mimaki or Summa. I've read from many members summa all the way, if only I had deeper pockets! lol.....

 

[2B]

Contact Phil with Summa, he is on here also, Summa has demo / used machine that they sell

 

[ironchef]

I have a customer using only Mimaki cutters and he pumps out 1000s of stickers a day. If you calibrate the machine properly, it will cut accurately throughout the print/cut process. People tend to align the print cut and seem to think that is all there is but there is a scale adjustment that allows the cut to be accurate as it does more stickers. If you don't do the scale adjustment, the cut will be off and get worse and worse until it's unusable.

vander, hello... How do you do a scale adjustment? I have a cjv30

 

[inkfrog]

I have a Roland VSi on print only with a separate Summa cutter. I use the Summa Cut Server which means I can load on as many meters of printed media as I like to the Summa. The Summa reads the barcode allied to that specific print job and cuts the corresponding file, once cut it searches for the next barcode and cuts that etc etc.

This setup has doubled my production capacity, and the cut work is more accurate than the VSi.

The drawback, if you can call it that, is that Summa Cut Server doesnt work with Versaworks so you need to find a suitable RIP to produce your printed work. An added plus for us is that the RIP we used to replace Versaworks gives us more control of the ink usage and colour profile, we are saving about 30% on our previous ink costs.

 

[D2S]

I have a Roland VSi on print only with a separate Summa cutter. I use the Summa Cut Server which means I can load on as many meters of printed media as I like to the Summa. The Summa reads the barcode allied to that specific print job and cuts the corresponding file, once cut it searches for the next barcode and cuts that etc etc.

This setup has doubled my production capacity, and the cut work is more accurate than the VSi.

The drawback, if you can call it that, is that Summa Cut Server doesnt work with Versaworks so you need to find a suitable RIP to produce your printed work. An added plus for us is that the RIP we used to replace Versaworks gives us more control of the ink usage and colour profile, we are saving about 30% on our previous ink costs.

Sorry if I am hijacking but I have a Summa D140 and have a problem with it cutting where it should I add an outline but sometimes it doesnt work and shows, I have calibrated with black vinyl what else am I forgetting to do?

 

[inkfrog]

Sorry if I am hijacking but I have a Summa D140 and have a problem with it cutting where it should I add an outline but sometimes it doesnt work and shows, I have calibrated with black vinyl what else am I forgetting to do?

Are you using cut server?

 

[D2S]

Are you using cut server?

no sir WinPlot I export from Illustrator

 

[reQ]

I have a Roland VSi on print only with a separate Summa cutter. I use the Summa Cut Server which means I can load on as many meters of printed media as I like to the Summa. The Summa reads the barcode allied to that specific print job and cuts the corresponding file, once cut it searches for the next barcode and cuts that etc etc.

This setup has doubled my production capacity, and the cut work is more accurate than the VSi.

The drawback, if you can call it that, is that Summa Cut Server doesnt work with Versaworks so you need to find a suitable RIP to produce your printed work. An added plus for us is that the RIP we used to replace Versaworks gives us more control of the ink usage and colour profile, we are saving about 30% on our previous ink costs.

Caldera?

 

[inkfrog]

no sir WinPlot I export from Illustrator

From the information you have provided I am not sure, you may find the answer if you open a new thread and explain your problem in detail. Sorry I cant give more help.


reQ

I use Flexi, its a bolt on set up though, I have been told that both Onyx and Caldera integrate the cut server seamlessly into the workflow. With Flexi I have an extra step, but for the extra 20 secs or so its no big deal as I can walk away and the Summa gets on with the work.