matd81

Looking to Buy My First Cutter, Advise Please

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I am new here and I'm looking for some help. I have just started racing modifieds at my local track, I designed the numbers for the car and several other logos for some sponsors in illustrator. I have gotten them made from a local sign shop already but it has gotten me interested in buying my own cutter to save some hassle in the future. I was also thinking about maybe trying to start a little side business doing some other race car related vinyl for some of the other people at the track.

I was very interested in the Copam until I read this tread and it made me very nervous about the newer version of the cutter I was wondering has anyone had any similar issues?

My budget for the cutter is around $800 so in theory I'll still be under $1000 after I buy some vinyl and such. I'm looking for a cutter that will do good with race car graphics at least 24" wide. Speed and sound are not a huge deal for me but quality is. Do to the fact I'm not going to use it every day I want one good enough to work for what I want with out paying for more than I need

I was also hoping someone could help explain what the memory is for in a cutter and how it works.

Thanks for any advise I appreciate it very much,

Mat

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All very good questions.

The COPAM issues in that particular thread were apparently the result of a faulty machine.

A "lemon" from the manufacturer.

In any case, I highly suggest a 34" cutter, which allows you to use 30" wide material. As I've pointed out before, that area on the front windshield (ahead of your mirror) is a prime spot for applying long and narrow decals.

For the minimal amount of work you'll be doing, you may even get by with the MH871 for under $300.

I use it every day in a retail environment, it's fine.

Memory is all about how much data the cutter can hold while "Spooling" (gathering together) the information from your cutting program. With huge jobs, a cutter with lower memory simply cannot accumulate all the data.

I personally never ran into a memory overload using the basic MH cutter, and that's for vinyl cuts up to 12' long.

Good luck.

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Thanks for the help. Originally I was going to get a SC series but there doesn't seem to be a lot of reviews on it. Now I'm looking at a TC series but there doesn't seem to be a lot of reviews on that either so if anybody has any experience let me know. I don't know if it would be worth the little bit more for the copam, is there a huge quality difference?

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I have not read much reviews either . Call USC & ask them ... that is what i did & for the money ( 5 years ago ) the Copam was recomended by USC techs .

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That is a good suggestion I think I will call them. I am excited to buy one I just want to make sure to make a good decition

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