theishkid

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Posts posted by theishkid

  1. Posted

    Well I ended up ordering from greatlakescaster.com.

    Less than $15 dollars shipped to Oklahoma, two wheels plain, two with brakes.

     

    If anyone else is interested you have to call because that model with metric is not on their website,

    it is model: TWUN-60N-M23-GS

     

    I spoke with Travis Popma,

    His direct line is: 616-528-7050

    • Like 2

  2. Posted

    I want to put my new plotter on wheels. Graphtec won't sell me wheels from the 120 model so I'm on my own.

    I took one of the threaded feet off mine to find the size and it fit perfectly in the M8x1.25 hole at Lowes. Just one problem... it's really hard to find metric casters.

     

    I found some online that look pretty nice, will roll well on carpet, and I can add brakes to a couple of them (for when I finally get off my carpet).

     

    http://www.needcasters.com/eshop/10Expand.asp?ProductCode=TWUN-60N-GS

     

    The question... is there any reason I shouldn't do this? And is there something else I should be looking at instead?

  4. Posted

    You definitely helped! The cut quality is pretty amazing. I was able to weed a design in about 10 seconds that used to take 2 - 3 minutes because it never fully finished cuts on the PCut. 

     

    Really the only thing I like more about the PCut... and this might even be a setting I just haven't got to yet... Is right now the Graphtec only cuts as wide as the media rollers. So on a 24" roll I'm only getting to cut about 22.75" instead of getting to cut about 23.75 on the PCut. It's not a deal breaker but I definitely want that extra inch back. 

  7. Posted

    Well I wasn't expecting Graphtec to respond so quickly... here is their reply in case anyone else finds this. I'll have to adjust the setting when I get home tonight.

     

    "This is what we called initial blade action where the blade orientate itself, what you see if normal, you can change it so it won’t be in the cuts.  When ready, press Menu >> Tools >> UP arrow >> initial blade >> Outside >> Enter >> Menu."

    • Like 1

  8. Posted

    I have not finished the entire manual yet so I apologize if it talks about this later on...
    Graphtec CE6000-60
    MacBook Pro running Flexi Starter 8.5
     

    J

     

    On all of my test cuts I am getting a really weird J that is cutting into the film (but not as deep as the rest of the cuts). It's also been on a few but not all of my designed cuts. And on some of those designed cuts it is on an area that is going to be weeded away so I don't think it's necessarily anything to do with the design.
     
    Is this something anyone has seen before? Blade holder is clean, the cutter is cutting everything extremely well... But this happens every now and again.
     
     

  9. Posted

    Well I got home and I finished up the install and setup and will go over a few of my first reactions.

     

    13 - Stand

    Here is the completed stand. It took about 20 minutes to setup.
     

    14 - Completed Front

    And here's the completed cutter on the stand! You can see the PCut in the background. It doesn't matter at all but the Graphtec is two or three inches shorter than the PCut. I'm 6'4" so I wish it was taller, but this is probably a perfect size for everyone else.
     

    15 - Completed Back

    And here the back of the completed cutter and the one true "flaw" that I have found. The roller bars are not perfectly straight. Spinning vinyl on them is not very smooth. It's like a natural braking mechanism... I don't know if this is a flaw or standard but I know the PCut is more smooth than the graphtec due to its thicker bars. Everything feeds fine and straight, it's just an annoyance that this $1700 machines rollers don't beat a $400 dollar machines.  

     

     

    So here are some very VERY initial assessments of the cutter. I'm only up to about page 70 of the manual so I have a lot to go over and learn.

    Setup with my Mac was ridiculously simple. I plugged it in via USB! No more keyspan!

    I haven't started using Cutting Master, I didn't like it when I started it up for 2 minutes this afternoon, but in fairness I haven't looked at the instruction manual so I'll leave thoughts on that later. It would be nice not to leave Illustrator just to jump into Flexi so I'm excited about the potential.

     

    Starting FlexiStarter, I set up the plotter using the CE-5000 driver (there wasn't any kind of driver on the disc that came), It worked like a champ. I love the poll size and the show me feature! It's going to be so nice to take out all the guess work of how much area you can work with and how much vinyl you're going to use so you can pre-unroll the material.

     

    I did some initial cuts... very small stuff. I cut a little biohazard decal that used to take around 1:30 to cut on the PCut, with default Condition 1 on the Graphtec it cut 3 in 1:05.

     

    Because of the poor cut and poor closing of gaps on the PCut it used to take me about 2 - 3 minutes to weed each biohazard. With the Graphtec it literally took about 5 - 10 seconds. I might be in heaven. 

     

    So the only things I don't care for so far and I know it probably doesn't matter... but I was somewhat shocked by the amount of plastic used on the machine. It's good quality hard plastic, but I thought it would be more rubber and metal. I guess it will make parts easier to swap out if ever needed. 

    Then the roller bars wobbling and not being straight. I might call Graphtec about it. It really seems like a mistake.

     

    The quietness of this thing is remarkable compared to the PCut when cutting! It's about as loud as a desktop printer (my wife says). The Graphtec fan is about as loud as the PCut fan... maybe a few decibles lower.

    I love that the fan doesn't stay on all the time on the Graphtec just making it even more quiet!

     

    Loading material also goes in way smoother than on the PCut.

     

    So far I'm really happy. I think condition 1 is perfect for Oracal 651 but I need to read more and play around to get the right conditions for 631. I'm also going to go get some casters for it. I don't move it often but I think it will be nicer than the plain legs.

    • Like 1

  11. Posted

    I guess I need to change the thread to... Bought new CE6000-60!

     

    Anyway... I thought I would share a few images for those of you who enjoy unboxing shots and didn't figure I should start another thread. 

     

    01 - The Box

    FedEx actually delivered to my neighbors house by mistake. It's okay though, they put it right in front of his garage instead of on the porch out of sight for the world. And they didn't ring his doorbell to tell him... I thought that was good of them. This is a shot of the bottom of the box. Graphtec needs to spring for an extra strip of tape on the bottom as this was held together by the tape inside the box holding down the accessories.
     

    02 - Open Box

     

    03 - Out of Box

    Everything was taped down pretty well... I was surprised that all the (I don't know the actual name of it) black tray was plastic, I thought it was rubber. I don't think it makes a big deal, just surprised. The PCut almost feels a little more solid in this regard. 
     

    04 - All Taped Up

     

    05 - Control Panel Covered

     

    06 - Control Panel

     

    07 - Rear Top

    I love the little shelf on top. Finally a place to store the pen attachment or a little media cutter.
     

    08 - Rear Bottom

    More of the plastic I was talking about. Isn't it rubber on the CE5000? This piece was actually out of alignment... I just had to lightly snap it back down into place. Probably happened during shipping.
     

    09 - Accessories

    Here's all the accessories that came with it.
     

    10 - Stand

    The box with all the stand parts.
     

    11 - New Media Brake System

    Here's a shot of the new media brake system. It's not just a simple sliding back and forth... it's more of a lift and slide, might be a little more cumbersome than it's worth. I doubt I'll use it much anyway since I've used different plotters for over three years and never had a problem with unrolling.
     

    12 - CE6000-60

    And finally a shot of the new machine.
    • Like 1

  21. Posted

    Awesome! As long as I don't have to worry about it then I should be good to go. Just waiting for my business check card to get here. I was also checking out Cutting Master on Graphtecs website and it looks pretty awesome. Might be kind of nice to not leave Illustrator and have to load Flexi all the time. I literally only use the cut button in Flexi.

  23. Posted

    So I'm about to buy the new CE6000 sometime in the next couple of weeks.

    I'm currently using a PCut with my Mac and Flexistarter for cutting.

     

    I know it comes with the new Cutting Master plugin for Illustrator but I would also like to keep Flexi going while I learn the new software, plus I have a lot of repeat business and keep all my Flexi files.

     

    So the question is... Will Flexi be able to recognize the new CE6000? The build I have doesn't have the CE6000 settings in it yet (obviously). Do you think I need to wait a while till they come out with a new build of the software? Or do you think I can just set it to the CE5000 cutter?

     

    Thanks,

    Brad