ericdmj

And just to close the loop on this, in the end we opted for a USCutter Titan 2, as ARMS is unlikely to be a driver for our purposes, and getting the Titan helped make purchase of the additional pieces-parts (vinyl rolls, extra blades, etc.) possible. If the use blows up in the next few years, we can submit for an even nicer machine down the road. Thanks again for the shared wisdom!

Thanks so much for the lists, haumana--that is wonderful, and much appreciated. At this point I'm now leaning a bit to the USCutter to give myself room for the paraphernaliaments, possibly including the heat press. I need to investigate that specifically just because there may be other challenges with it, but that's worth checking out.

Oh, god, the signage. Always the signage!

Unfortunately, darcshadow has the right of it--we don't get to hang onto this money for later if it's unspent, because it was budgeted for this project and has a time limit. But we can certainly get the cutter, vinyl of all kinds, and related accoutrements. Thanks again to everybody for your thoughts--and if anybody else tunes in and has opinions, please don't hesitate to share them. This has all been really helpful!

This is great info--thanks again for your responses! We often encourage a similar pattern of operation of our 3D printers and laser cutter--do work on your home machine and then bring it in to do the actual execution of the job. We use Inkscape with a pen plotter, so I've knocked around with that a bit as well. Good stuff!

That very thought--the dual platform nature of things--had me leaning slightly to Graphtec when I was doing my earlier research (though there appear to be workarounds with software and plug-in options for almost anything). Appreciate the encouragement!

Thanks, darcshadow. Interesting thought on the heat press--that's just a separate unit, right? Typically not integrated "into" a cutter. Could definitely see it being popular. We'll still have our Cameo, so we'll still have that capability (but also may want to get a newer one maybe in a year or two). Looks like all three of the machines (Graphtec, Roland, Titan) can do cardstock, too, if I'm not mistaken? We do have a laser cutter that lets us handle single ply paper (with careful supervision), so that's not necessarily required. For me I think the biggest decision point may be relative ease of operation for beginners. It's so easy to overbuy in a makerspace when you get handed the $$, jumping right to the most complex use cases, but I have to keep reminding myself that MOST people will be coming in to use the machine once, not for ongoing production. If it feels like any of those (or another brand/model) stand out for relative ease of use, I'd especially be interested to hear reflections on that. We do have staff standing by to help, but our approach is generally one of "teaching the student/faculty how to use it" rather than us doing it for people.

Hey, all-- I've luckily been given $2000 to spend on a new vinyl cutter for our makerspace. We've had a Silhouette Cameo for some years and would like a more robust machine. I'd originally been looking into the Graphtec CE7000 or Roland CAMM-1 GS-24, but I'm starting to worry whether they might be TOO much of a jump into professional-grade machines for our purposes. We're likely to see use by students doing signage and cut-outs for art projects (huge art school), but I suspect not so much stuff like ARMS with existing graphics, barcodes for managing jobs, etc. I do like that both the Graphtec and the Roland have some kind of capability to let design work happen in Adobe Illustrator and on Macs. I also like a size bigger than 12" width. Any thoughts on a good machine that allows beginners to use them but also offers some more capability? Either of the two above, or maybe something from USCutter -- or something else? I am as you can tell not an expert by any stretch, so all thoughts welcome. Thanks!