Well, the time has come for me to procure a plotter, the choices of which are a little overwhelming!
The folks at Grimco tell me a 24" Mimaki can be mine for 1500, & I've had previous experience with that brand in larger format plotters & I was impressed with their performance.
However, under my current circumstances it's hard to resist the siren call of the chinese knock-off plotters one finds at the e-bay stores!
A friend of mine has one (I used it to generate the copy for the 4 x 8 mentioned inna "Nosy Questions" thread I started) & I noticed that it went a little wild on the "o" in "For Sale", generating a "wild" point that bounced from the bottom of the outside edge of the letter to the top, leaving a long, thin triangular "space" inna letter.
So any suggestions you folks might have concerning the plotter-purchasing wilderness would be appriciated!
[ March 23, 2007, 12:06 PM: Message edited by: Christopher Cain ]
Posted by Patrick Whatley (Member # 2008) on :
Chinese knock off plotters seem to be a hit and miss proposition. You'll find 10 people who have had nothing but trouble with them and then one person who will swear they're the greatest plotters ever made.
Stick with something reputable. You'll forget all about price after a while. We used to run all Roland plotters until a salesman convinced us to try a Summa. We've since replaces all of ours with 24" Summa plotters and can't be happier.
Do a search on this site for plotters and the same names keep coming up...Summa & Graphtec. Occassionally OP will mention Roland plotters but in that case you've got to consider the source. Posted by Tom Giampia (Member # 2007) on :
If you are going to invest, buy something that holds it's value.
If you wasting your time screwing around with a knock-off, you can't be making money.
I've had my little Gerber HS-15 for 11 years and it's never failed, not once.
I've since added a Roland Sp-300 printer / Plotter and that also is very reliable.
If you plan on producing good quality work, you should start with good quality tools and materials.
Good Luck!
Posted by Curtis hammond (Member # 2170) on :
quote: However, under my current circumstances it's hard to resist the siren call of the chinese knock-off plotters one finds at the e-bay stores!
The knock off owners swear by them,, then 10 posts later they are compaining about some limitation, lack of support, bad tracking, strange software settings, or some other unknown factor. Personally I've observed that very low usage machine owners who cut only small stickers like them. Those who do more production based work and need larger size cuts soon regret having them. They couldnt sell them at a good price later either.
I shopped well and got an anagraph years ago. It has never let me down in any way. While others I knew bragged about their bargain knockoffs but later had to use mine to get their work done at my convenience. I loved it.
Posted by Duncan Wilkie (Member # 132) on :
ABC Anything But Chinese. Our countries are sinking fast enough as it is.
Posted by jimmy chatham (Member # 525) on :
i have a 4b with 10 fonts for $400.00
Posted by Sam Staffan (Member # 4552) on :
Two Gerber Plotters here, 15 years one for vinyl, one for rubber running fine.
Posted by Todd Gill (Member # 2569) on :
Ditto to what Duncan said....and Pat....and Sam....and Curtis...and Tom.
Basically - get a brand name plotter. You'll likely be screwing yourself with a no-name Chinese knockoff.
Also - I'd get a 30inch if you can afford it.
Posted by Christopher Cain (Member # 7409) on :
Well, I been keeping a eye out for what you'd all have to say about this, & it's pretty much running just as I thought it would.
Unless I run across a good deal onna used name-brand plotter, it looks like I might as well bite the bullet onna quality machine since I feel the key to my success inna niche I seem to have found myself occupying will depend on a mix of the retail airbrush work & small to medium sign assignments.
Unfortunately, Jimmy, while the 4-b sounds tempting (used one myself inna early days) I already find myself inna situation where I need a wider-format plotter with more flexibility than what the gerber 4-B has to offer.
Posted by Brad Farha (Member # 931) on :
Every bit of advice I got when I was last in the market for a new plotter said to go with a Graphtec. So I bought a FC5100-100 because it was supposed to be on the short list of the very best. I've had nothing but grief out of it. I had to send it back to Graphtec within a few months for a bearing problem they said was highly unusual (at my expense one way) and now it's doing the same thing. I also have been having trouble with the blade both NOT cutting the vinyl well enough to weed properly AND at the same time scoring the backing enough to make it tear when removing the vinyl. So I talked to two different techs at Graphtec (neither of which could speak English very well) and they said I needed to buy a new blade holder. So I bought a new blade holder and new blades from them and the problem remains. Very disappointing.
Posted by David Schulz (Member # 6931) on :
We just upgraded from our old faithful Mimaki CG-90 after 17 years of abuse and torment. I can't begin to tell you how indestructable these machines are. When the time finally came, only because I couldn't get a new rubber cutting surface, I went right back to Mimaki for a CG-160FX and we couldn't be happier. Just think about how much time and materials you could waste with vinyl that didn't cut deep enough or too deep and the paper shreds. These are very pricise machines and when I think precise I rarely think no-name Chinese. Unless you were a hobby user I would stay away from any discount machines.
Posted by Gerald Lauze' (Member # 6443) on :
Amazing how some posts come up just when you need them. I have had a local guy doing my vinyl elements until he held on to one of my jobs for 2 months before saying he couldn't do it. I lost the job and had to refund the PAID IN FULL deposit. And lost the next project with the client for 2 $3000 signs. It doesn't make me look very good. I've had a couple other vinyl providers with excellent, competent work ethics. Why I didn't go with one of them I don't know.
So I too am looking for a vinyl cutter plotter, something that will cut out anything I feed it. I've heard of some cutters that can only cut fonts that are stored within in, I want none of that. I'm glad to see some of the suggestions above. I would imagine that I'd only be using the cutter for smaller print , maybe letters and shapes no taller than 12". What's the price difference over a 30" to a 24" and why would I want it? Bigger is better? IS there something smaller than 24"? What should I be looking at if I look at buying a used machine. I still have my eye on an older Roland.
cheers
Posted by Jerry Starpoli (Member # 1559) on :
When I first started I had a 4B. Then added aninterface module. When that became just too damn slow, I searched and searched and asked everyone's opinion. I bought an Anagraph. Nothing but nightmare from day one. No tech support. Shipped it back (at my expense, under warranty) to be told there was nothing wrong. Learned to work around certain things and fought with the machine for 2 years before giving up. I now have 2 Vinyl Express plotters that work flawlessly. Tech support is great too! Anagraph is still here in the storage shed. It is probably good for spare parts.I think about putting it on eBay but I couldn't sell it and sleep with that on my conscience. I would never buy from anyone that does not have American Tech support. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
We have our old Graphtec stashed as a back up. Never needed it though, they seem to be so dependable. I would part with it for a grand if you're interested.
Posted by Joe Golden (Member # 6870) on :
I began with the old faithful Roland 24" plotter, loved it, moved it three times and dropped it once, thing was a workhorse. After about 6 years of running hard, I sold it along with everything else I owned to move here to Kentucky (another story for another time). Well when time came to replace, I went back to a Roland, bought me a 30" Camm1 Pro, not even a squeek of complaint from it. I looked at the Graphtek cause of pricing, but I liked the Roland and they guys over at SSK threw in a free stand and roller system for it. The larger cutter minizes the amount of Paneling I have to do when doing larger signs, and that is a blessing all on its own, it also cuts a smaller letter with more precision then the old 24" I had.
Bigger isnt always better, so go with your need, but get something you can get some support with in the event that it breaks, cause that would TRULY suck!!
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