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bycoon7

Recommend 48" Cutter/Plotter

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Guys i am shopping for 48" Cutter/Plotter.
Will be used for vinyl wall decals (mostly working with Oracal 631)

What is the best option right now?

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There is a pretty good buying guide on the USCutter website that explains a lot. For wide stuff at 48" you will be best served by spending the money on a Graphtec. There are a lot of cheaper cutters out there but once you go really big or really small the quality starts to really matter. Off tracking will be your biggest issue. You can overcome that with a few tricks like step-by-step cutting available in SignCut Pro and a few other cutting programs but if you do any kind of multi-layered work very large you will play heck trying to line things up that have been cut on a budget model simply due to the inaccuracy of the cutter. A high end machine costs 3 or 4 times as much and there is a good reason they do. 

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This was posted yesterday  by user    

Go-C Wraps

 

"what cutter do you have?

I have this extra CE5000-120 that I've been thinking about selling but I'm just not sure yet.  "

 

Maybe you can contact and make a deal...This is the Graphtec...

 

 

I have a 30" Graphtec and have never wanted or needed larger...

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Guys i am shopping for 48" Cutter/Plotter.

Will be used for vinyl wall decals (mostly working with Oracal 631)

What is the best option right now?

you will also find that most decals can be cut in sections and much easier to apply if 24" wide - I had a 50" cutter and hated masking and applying full 4 ft wide decals - finding most of the time I didn't actually need it all cut in one piece.  just food for thought

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Yeah I didn't mention that. I started out with a 48" and downsized to 30. The few times I have needed bigger it is still easier to mask and install in pieces. Good point Scott. 

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Guys, thank you for your replies. You saved me from buying wrong size.

Would never thought that smaller size is more comfortable to work with.

Just looked through youtube installation guides for large wall decals like trees. And all are made from smaller sized ones (most likely 24")

 

Which is best option to go for that size?

I see mostly 2 choices -> Rolland GX-24 and Graphtec CE-6000-60.

Which?

 

p.s. here is the kind of decals i am planning to create just to give you an idea ->

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/61690214/sample_tree.jpg

(consists of tree, separate leaves, separate flowers, separate birds)

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now you are starting the discussion - those that own rolands love them and those of us with graphtecs love them  - I own both but love cutting with the graphtec best

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Ford or Chevy? Ha ha! You might check around your home town for machine support and such. In my area they primarily deal with Graphtec. That being said I personally went with a completely different brand that has no local support so take it for what it is. The name brand cutters rarely have issues so other than consumables like blades and cutting strips it would be less common to need major machine repairs. Blades and strips are all small and easily ordered online. 

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Hello ALL!

 

Total noob here facing the same equipment dilema...

Instead of starting a new thread, thought I'd save some space/get some input from the pros!

 

So here's the deal,

I'm a designer looking to branch out into vinyl decals, murals, etc (no printing and cutting)

 

My biggest concern is being able to replicate even the finest of detail,

 

I've been eyeing the Graphtec CE6000-60 and the Roland GX 24,

based on the info I had seen, Graphtec was the way to go, But I just noticed Roland updated

the gx24 to the GS24 which now has slightly more cutting power...

 

Also, spoke to someone today about SummaCut D75, slighly more expensive but I was intrigued.

When I mentionned cutting fidelity, he told me that using ORACAL 631, he was able to cut text as

fine as 6pt!! ( I know.. i know..., I will rarely be cutting type at 6pt but it's awesome to know it can be done!)

 

So i guess my question is:

 

If you had to buy a first machine today, and precision was your main priority (not speed)

Which would you choose:

Graphtec CE6000-60 (affordable, comes with stand, tons of people swear by it)

Roland GS-24 (new model! but seems very similar to CE6000-60)

Summa D75 (not very much feedback from users, but apparently bad ass)

 

HELP!

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The Graphtec...and don't forget it comes with the stand as standard equipment   The Roland does not,,You will want a stand ,,,I cut 1/4"  chrome vinyl text, and I do a lot of detailed work with my cutter  Instead of purchasing a value cutter for my son a few years ago...I purchased another Graphtec, which was the Ce5000-60  never a problem, with it either.

 

 

Either I can't read, which may be possible, but I can't find the tracking length on the Roland GS 24      Anyone else find it? 

 

Here is the Specs   http://www.rolanddga.com/products/cutters/gs24/specifications.asp

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@Mz SKEETER Thanks for the input,

 

The GS24 says it can cut up to 25meters in length? Is that equal to tracking?

Someone on another forum clarified that worrying too much about "fine detail" (6pt n all) is a bit crazy, all three will do a great job.

 

In terms of value, I'm definately leaning towards the CE6000-60

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@Mz SKEETER Thanks for the input,

 

The GS24 says it can cut up to 25meters in length? Is that equal to tracking?

Someone on another forum clarified that worrying too much about "fine detail" (6pt n all) is a bit crazy, all three will do a great job.

 

In terms of value, I'm definately leaning towards the CE6000-60

Tracking is whether the vinyl will stay in place traveling the whole length of your design, while cutting,without moving left or right. Feeding the vinyl straight.  This ensures that all of the lines of the design meet correctly. 

 

Your welcome

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I have the Summa and love it and wouldn't trade it. The only thing I will say is any of the three you are looking at are probably going to give you fine details very similar, for small stuff the differences in the machines is fairly minimal. No matter which one you choose getting the machine set-up spot on is the key to fine details and to tell the truth it's harder to weed successfully that to cut. I learned good machine set-up by having a budget cutter for a couple years and there is an art to it that takes time and patience to learn and perfect.  Most of the time you will play hobb trying to get it to transfer and stay stuck on the intended substrate at the end of the day because there really isn't enough adhesive there to catch hold.  Vinyl is really not intended to be used that small but we do it now and then. I do 1/8 letters occasionally and have even done smaller but you have to weed the insides with an xacto blade and stab them out or weed them after application. My eyes are getting tired and I hate doing that kind of thing if I can avoid it. I would go Summa or Graphtec. And if I was going Graphtec I would go FC just for the added pressure. The Summa isn't designed for heavy cutting like sanblast resist or diamond grade reflective like you would see on street signs. I can cut them but I have to do it in two passes. Works fine for the few times I need to do it because the machine is so accurate that you can't tell it went over it twice but it's less ideal. 

 

These are my personal opinions and cost is not factored in. If you really want to go trick go with a Summa T series Tangential cutter. That's the shizz. 

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