Summa Or Graphtec Cutter

[yamaha581]

We are looking to upgrade to a new cutter finally and are trying to decide which way to go. We are looking at either the graphtec 54" or a summa 54". We currently use a Mutoh Ultima and we mainly use it for motocross graphics so we use the 60 degree blades at the full 450 force to cut through the 21 mil material. I was looking at the summa D140 but it says the downforce only goes to 400 would that work with cutting through the thick material? I believe the graphtec was 600 downforce so I know that would work since we have had experience with trying those in the past with no problem. I just figured I would see what would be best. We do also do the normal signs and vehicle wraps so we want something that will be able to cut out on prints 10' long with no problem.
Thanks!

 

[jayhawksigns]

I'm one of those who drank the Summa juice and loved it. If I wasn't buying Summa plotters then Graphtec would probably my second choice. Can't go wrong with either of them, in my opinion.

 

[Joe House]

I don't have much experience with Summa, but agree with Jayhawk. Either one will be an improvement over what you have. I've heard nothing but good about both.
We're not much, help are we?

 

[yamaha581]

thank you! Will the Summa cut through the 21 mil thick material even though the downforce only goes up to 400 compared to our Mutoh going to 450 now?

 

[Asuma01]

I'll give a recommendation to Summa. If you are worried about cutting depth then you should really talk to a sales rep from a local distributor and make sure it will do what you want it to.

 

[Bly]

If the budget allows look at Summa tangential.
600 downforce and is great for thick material esp with a 45 degree blade.

 

[Joe House]

Take your media and have them show you that it cuts your media. Since this is not the typical media, give them a good sized sample to test with. I'm sure that it will do it. Do they still have the T series? That was really good for thick media.

 

[grafigo]

Had a Summa D60 and traded in for a biger cutter, Graphtec CE6000 120 AMO.

20% of the time I curse and say to myself that i should of take Summa D140 or even better T series (Summa tangential).
Graphtec is OK, but Summa is 2 steps ahead. It's so freaking precise, never missed a mark and went bazook like Graphtec knows to do from time to time, especially when the print is laminated. In the last couple of monts I even cut ot the lam where the cut marks are to be sure it will read the marks correctly.

For example... 14 sheets of printed decals, 40" x 25" and Graphtec does wrong cuts on 2-3 of them. Why, don't know.
Summa never did that. If the first sheet is ok, every single one will be the same.

Summa will compensate for skewing of the print. Graphtec will do that also, in theory. In real life, it's not that capable to compensate printing error.

Summa is so precise, my bleed on the print was only 0,1mm (0.04"), and now is from 0.25mm to even 1mm (0.1" to 0.4"). I do a lot of small decals, so it's important to me that the cut is very precise.

Summa is notoriusly simple for setting the cut marks. It does everything by it self. Graphtec, well not so simple, you have to click options couple of times to get what you need. And it works that job slower and slower regarding how much object you have on your page. That also goes for simple cutting. If you have 1000 objects on the page and you want to cut just one, it still has to check every object on the page and it takes time...

Did i say how precise is Summa?

For me, it's not even a question Summa or something else if you could afford Summa.

P.S.
that If is a joke. Cut will always be great.

 

[BigfishDM]

If you send me a piece I will see how the Graphtec handles it, I have all the blades needed to test.

 

[tomence]

Summa all the way buddy, have had all makes and models of cutters and summa is by far the most reliable and precise cutting machine. Just like "grafigo" said you load the roll and forget about any mistakes if file is setup properly, it will cut the whole 50 yard roll without any mishaps.
If you want headaches when doing print and cut jobs go ahead and get yourself a Graphtec, Roland or Mimaki, boy will you be swearing.

 

[woolly]

We cut a lot of substance materials used to use a graphtec fc7000 it would cut in one go then a second cut to do the perf cut biggest problem was the general accuracy mainly due to the material does not like bending over the bed.
Had the chance to buy a second hand flatbed graphtec all problems gone
Summa stuff is wonderful but would still have the same problem. Lots of people find there own work arounds Mx material if a odd animal

 

[Gary Wiant]

I switched from a Graphtec FC to a Summa S2 T140 a year ago last December, we loved out Graphtec but it was getting pretty old & not running as good as it had, but the Summa S2 is just WOW.

If the Graphtec is the Cadillac of cutters, the Summa S2 T is the Lamborghini of cutters.

I don't have any experience with the D's but we cut 15mil polycarbonate laminated to IJ180c

Good luck

 

[SlikGRFX]

We cut a lot of substance materials used to use a graphtec fc7000 it would cut in one go then a second cut to do the perf cut biggest problem was the general accuracy mainly due to the material does not like bending over the bed.
Had the chance to buy a second hand flatbed graphtec all problems gone
Summa stuff is wonderful but would still have the same problem. Lots of people find there own work arounds Mx material if a odd animal

I'd agree with this. I've seen guys with Graphtec cutters who set up a cutting table both sides of the cutter so that MX material can stay flat. Cheap and easy to do. Use boards with a smooth surface such as melamine faced chipboard. This allows the material to slide back and forth easily.

There are many work arounds to get consistent results. I've also seen setups with infra red heaters over the benches to soften the material and weights on the blades to increase blade force.

Or just buy a Summa S class T

 

[ikarasu]

I've never used a Summa, but we havent had any problems with our grapghtec. It's always accurate, even on 20-30 FT runs. The only problem we have is cutting diamond grade 3M, And recently Engineer grade. Engineer grade has so much dust/crystals flying everywhere, it clogs the blade and it can't turn, making it not cut all the way. It never used to do that... so I'm presuming it's a formula change in the 3430 series.

The Diamond grade... Well, it cuts, but its not consistant. It skews a lot, which causes it to not go all the w ay to the liner. It's still doable, but it's a pain in the butt.

Does summa have these issues? I can't see it getting around all the debrees going into the blade, but maybe it tracks diamond grade better.

I just recently bought a FC for home,as I wont be cutting on them two materials...and what I've seen from it on vinyl, and laminated vinyl has been perfect. I was looking into Summas... but got quoted $9900 for the D series, and $12,200 for the T series... whereas graphtec was only $6000. I couldn't justify $4000 more, even though all the summa features looked awesome... roll to roll cutting sounds neat. Maybe my next one will be a summa!

 

[Jackpine]

I use a summa D75 and a graphtec FC. Can't go wrong with either.

 

[1leonchen]

i would love to test out a summa one day. did graphtec it was good. mimaki blew me away except for reflective. roland was ok . Gcc expert i dint like i think i got a bad machine. jaguar machine is good. gerber was a boss. i shopping for a cutter also and i drifting towards summa. nothing but good reviews. i want to do print and cut graphics. will be following this thread.

 

[tomence]

i would love to test out a summa one day. did graphtec it was good. mimaki blew me away except for reflective. roland was ok . Gcc expert i dint like i think i got a bad machine. jaguar machine is good. gerber was a boss. i shopping for a cutter also and i drifting towards summa. nothing but good reviews. i want to do print and cut graphics. will be following this thread.

Summa is the best when it comes to print and cut, it uses simple reg marks and finds them all the time. I am using the plug in for Corel when designing and in the few years i owned it have never missed a mark. I started with the summacut d75 which i have for sale now and upgraded to a the 64" tangential model, very happy with the upgrade. I used to own all the other brands before including graphtec and with the all of them i had problems when doing print and cut jobs.

 

[1leonchen]

Summa is the best when it comes to print and cut, it uses simple reg marks and finds them all the time. I am using the plug in for Corel when designing and in the few years i owned it have never missed a mark. I started with the summacut d75 which i have for sale now and upgraded to a the 64" tangential model, very happy with the upgrade. I used to own all the other brands before including graphtec and with the all of them i had problems when doing print and cut jobs.

saw the ad. wished it was a 54 model i would have bougt it from u.