Hi everyone. I'm looking for an inexpensive but capable vinyl plotter. I've looked at the Stika ones and they seem quite inexpensive.
I need it to be able to take standard width rolls of vinyl and thats about my only requirement.
Any recomendations?
Posted by Lotti Prokott (Member # 2684) on :
I recently bought a Lynx 60, because it was quite a bit cheaper than all other models. I've had some initial problems but now it works good, for how long I don't know... It goes under different names though. If I am not mistaken it is called SignPal in the rest of the world. Here it was actually sold as "Vinyl Express". If I had to do it again I would probably safe up some more and buy one of the established names. Wise decision to ask here first, might safe you some learning the hard way. Good luck.
Posted by Ant Lockyer (Member # 2909) on :
Spend the money and get a good one. I also have a Vinyl Express Ultra Pro T and I wish I had never bought it. Had it replaced the first 4 months I had it and the software stinks. Forever have to reset my preferences and uninstall and reinstall. If I ever get another one I think I am going Summa
Posted by Shane French (Member # 2098) on :
Amy,
Are you aware that you can cut directly from Corel/Illustrator with your plotter?
-shane
Posted by Ant Lockyer (Member # 2909) on :
So are the Roland ones not very good then? I really cant aford to spend more than £600, I'm hardly going to make that money back in a year Posted by Amy Brown (Member # 1963) on :
Shane,
I never could get it to work. OP said I need a parallel connection. Mine is serial and I don't have any available ports. Been considering buying a new port but for now am spending the money on other things!
Posted by Jeffrey Vrstal (Member # 2271) on :
My first plotter was a Roland Camm-1 (1000 series). Bought it in 1988 0r 1989. Got it from Vinyl Express. The first one that they shipped did not work so I sent it back to find out that only the fuse was blown in the plotter. I'm still using it. I got to a point where Vinyl Express tech support seemed to be inadequate. I would never buy from them again and have not. I also use corel draw to do some cutting... I switch back and forth from sign program to corel draw that some times I forget where I save a certain cut file. I have had very good luck with Roland tech support despite some of the problems that others here seem to encounter (knocking on wood).
Looking at that plotter on e-bay, I think you would do better to purchase something a little larger. It says that it is a 15" plotter... I'm not familiar with this one but will it actually cut 15"? If you do a little more hunting, I'm sure you'll find a great deal. Check out refurbished equipment from a dealer too.
[ April 17, 2002, 03:20 PM: Message edited by: Jeffrey Vrstal ]
Posted by Ant Lockyer (Member # 2909) on :
Thanks Jeff, I'll keep looking then. If nothing turns up in the next few weeks I'm going to buyone of these as the needis getting great. Perhaps I should just bite the bullet and spend the extra cash.
Posted by ScooterX (Member # 2023) on :
you haven't told us what kind of work you hope to be doing with the machine, other than cutting "standard" size material. vinyl typically comes in 15", 24" and 30" (and bigger), so all of those are "standard".
if you're going to be in the sign biz for more than a year, i'd recommend a larger, better machine. you can always cut smaller things on a bigger machine, and the larger ones have more features as "standard".
if you're only buying the machine for one small project, then maybe you'd be better off finding somebody who has a cutter already, and just sub-contract the work from them. the "cutting" isn't the expensive part -- the material and the labor to weed and apply the vinyl is where the cost is.
as for spending more cash... have you considered a lease?
(my sign cutting SOFTWARE cost as much as my cutting machine)
Posted by Bob Bond (Member # 26) on :
We have had Roland plotters in the shop for several years now and have had no problems with them at all. Only parts we have had to replace are the blades and the platen (little teflon strip). Didn't realize Stika's were up to 15" but I checked the Roland website and there it was. A 15" plotter will not cut 15" though, our mazimum cutting width on the 15" Roland 1050 is 13.189" We stayed with the 15" for about 8 years and then also purchased a much larger one and now utilize both (because Bob's favorite is still the 15" sprocket fed). We have an 8" Stika in here, mostly to show different options in Bob's workshops. I Never did use the Dr. Stika software much and can't list pros and cons on it. However we feel that Roland plotters are real workhorses and ours have all been maintenence free and well worth every penny. Hope this is of some help to you. Oops, forgot to let you know this is Jennifer doing the replying here.
[ April 17, 2002, 07:21 PM: Message edited by: Bob Bond ]
Posted by LEE ATTEWELL (Member # 2407) on :
Hi Ant,
Like Lotti I bought a Lynx. So far... 1. Can't use with windows XP 2. Had two mother boards replaced. 3. Had two motors replaced. My support people here are not too bad...but.
I've not had it for a year yet and already I wish I'd bought a larger plotter with more features as I've got so busy.
If you are going to stick in the biz, have some faith and go for it...It'll be worth it.
Posted by Ant Lockyer (Member # 2909) on :
OK a little more background.
I need to buy a machine for use here, I have done quite a bit of vinyl application in the past, for banners and shop fronts but always got the vinyl cut for me. Just recently I have gotten into hand letteringand striping and realised I really would like to do more vinyl stuff with a view to leaving my 9-5 job in the future.
I think I'll go with the Stikka 15 for now and wait for a more expensive machine to get paid for out of company funds.
Thanks a lot for all your replies.
Posted by david drane (Member # 507) on :
There is only one plotter that will hold up in the long run:- Graphtec. You'll never have a problem. Posted by Curtis hammond (Member # 2170) on :
for just a few hundred more you can get a great 24 inch machine and be doen with it.
ive often wished for a 30 inch machine. but.. life aint alwasy fair.
You won't be sorry if u just wait and get a real and bigger machine.. Someday you will wake up and have several BIG jobs to do and crying that yer machine just isnt fast enuf...
been ther done that and got da trophy too.
Posted by Brian Crothers (Member # 2888) on :
Running a 24" Lynx for 9 months, no problems. The Stika is rated as very slow from what I remember. FlexiSign has drivers for the Lynx. The only way you can burn anything out, is if you have a bad power supply, or the power supply on the cutter is N/A. I run a UPS on the cutter and one on every computer on the network. UPS are cheap. Put the Lynx on "draft mode" and use Flexi "FastCut" it'll make the viynl smoke outa the rollers! Waiting for vinyl to be cut is as much fun as watching paint dry.
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