Hello Good People,
I just bought my first cutter, a 15+yr old CE5000-60. It never served in a print shop and saw very little use from the original buyer.
I've been reading the forums here and have learned a great deal.
I'll need new blades and a cutting strip. For blades it seems the consensus is Clean Cut. For doing mostly vinyl, paint mask and maybe HTV, is 45 degree sufficient or should I get a few different angles?
For the cutting strip, it's hard to find anything listed for the CE5000 as it's ancient. Could someone please confirm the CE6000-60 uses the same part, such as this:
https://uscutter.com/graphtec-ce6000-replacement-non-stick-cutting-strip-2-pack/
As for workflow, I'm a Mac guy so my idea is to design on the Mac with Illustrator, save as EPS file, then cut from a Windows 7 laptop dedicated to the cutter using Graphtec Studio. Trying to set up Cutmaster to send direct from a newer Mac seemed difficult with all the compatibility between the cutter's firmware, MacOS version, Illustrator version and Cut Master version so I'm OK with the workaround unless there's a better way.
Feel free to also throw in any other wisdom you are willing to pass down to a newbie. My usage will mostly be for hobby - decals, paint stencil, maybe t-shirts. Thanks in advance - it seems you have a nice little community here.
Best regards,
Doug