Cowboy0001

Intro from Wilson, NC

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Greetings everyone. Been doing things a little backwards most of my life and still haven't learned the lesson on research well enough yet, lol. I ha've just finished packing up my 721 cutter after I read it is not compatible with a Mac. So, now the research begins: I am needing a vinyl cutter to cut out small letters like words, from 1/4 inch to 3 inches for painting on motorcycles, cars or whatever or however the Lord leads me in my ministry. I am looking for any suggestions from you veterans in the vinyl cutter world. Have a Merry Christmas!!! Cowboy...

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Hello and welcome from West Virginia. Cowboy cutters range in cost from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. Graphetec, roland, gerber etc are your higher end cutters copam is a decent cutter for starting out around $750.00 and will cut fairly small copam has stepper motors where the graphtec, roland and so on have digital servo motors that make cutting smaller details turn out better . Do a little research on all the cutters and be a educated purchaser. Good luck and again welcome.

Dan

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thanks for the suggestions, really. I forgot to mention I have a 500.00 budget to work with and both suggestions run over that figure. Any other suggestions are appreciated. Blessings to ya Slice & Dice and Mabscotthandyman...

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looks like the sc is the model then- just put a little back from each job to upgrade down the road

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looks like the sc is the model then- just put a little back from each job to upgrade down the road

What is an SC? Sorry to be so dumb on this subject.

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If you've got $500 to spend, I'd recommend the TC... As the verterans recommend, "Buy all you can afford".

the 64 meg memory and it's history of so few problems (go ahead, search the forum) makes me think, "better board" (?).

I have run mine flat out for a year and a half @ 57600 baud on USB cable with zero problems.

 

Just my 2 cents.

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Hello and Welcome from Florida.  I'm running a Summa D60 that i picked up used.  iI's been going great for years now.

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Welcome from Colorado,

We picked up our graphtec used for $450, I agree graphtec is best for small cuts, maybe you can find one used close to you?

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Well, got a new Copam yesterday and have managed to waste some vinyl trying to learn the cutting process. Went way over my budget but figure I won't be sorry. Now I need to find out what causes the letters (1" in height) to tear as it cuts. I slowed it down 50% and the tears were less but still had tears and when I tried to peel off the excess most of my letters went with it. Gotta do some more research about this. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year coming, Blessings...

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If your tearing, sounds like too much blade exposed.    You should only be cutting with the tip of the blade.   Make sure you did not break the blade tip off also. 

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It might help to attach a pic of whats going on. Sometimes we can give you an idea based on what we see. You will want to check blade depth first. Just the smallest amount sticking out. Even cutting the thick GreenStar vinyl it is only 3mil which is only enough to see a slight glint off the blade when your looking at it. Somewhere someone gave counsel to use 1/2 the thickness of a credit card but we have found that to be erroneous. Thats about twice as much as you probably need. I personally take my bet guess (which is now fairly educated) and then as it's cutting I kneel down and shine a flashlight so I can see how far above the vinyl the blade holder is setting as it cuts. It should just barely be clearing the vinyl. The second thing is the pressure.I'm not sure what pressure the Copam is going to run at for basic vinyl but my P-Cut ran at about 112-114g for GreenStar and 85-95g for higher quality vinyl. My new Summa runs about 85g for GreenStar. I never exactly trusted the P-Cut pressure values. Symptoms of over pressure will be seen if you are cutting into the liner. If you cut into the liner it will often come up with the letters when you pick them off with the app tape. You should test cut before the actual job. Most cutters have some form of a test options that lets you see if it's cutting through the vinyl. Do a small test or make a file to test with and then pick the vinyl off and you should just see a very light scratch in the wax on the carrier. If you are not seeing a scratch then you're still a little light, if you are seeing deeper indent or even cutting through the liner you need to back off. 

 

Once you get the depth and pressure right then you need to be sure the blade offset is set correctly. Your info that came with the cutter should tell you what your settings will be with the blade. IT changes if you change blade angles and as you wear your blade down it may need minor adjustment (I never bothered with it with the P-Cut, I just swapped in a new blade when things started cutting poorly) You will get a lot of life out of a blade unless you start cutting reflective. By the time you need a new one you will probably be seasoned enough to recognize it. 

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Make sure that your cutting strip (the white thin plastic ribbon running all along the blade path) is exposed, and not covered with a protective tape that it comes with from the factory.

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