300mm or 610mm Width Cutter

[Jersue]

Hi All,

Is it worth buying a 300mm cutter? when it seems that most of the vinyls etc come in 24" or 610mm ?

Which one would you recommend please

Thanks

Jerry

[WorthDoingRight]

Hi Jersue,

You will find plenty of old threads on here look for the words 'chinese' and 'cameo'.

There are it seems two camps (a bit like mac/pc users), those that favour simplicity that go for the cameo type cutters and those that are a bit more gungho and go for the bigger width but perhaps a more steep setting up and using curve.

I am very happy so far with my chinese 610mm cutter that cost about the same as the latest silhouette machine e.g. around the £300 mark. I would however think that bigj2552 is happy with his new 300mm cutter. I suppose at the end of the day it is down to what you want to achieve.

My first sign vinyl attempt measured approx 50 cms wide by 15 cms and although a bugger to weed it went onto glass door nicely. I think the choice is down to what your ultimate aim is and if you need a larger cutter. Remember for around £300 it is possible to buy a 1200mm cutter but I have no where to put that.

[Jersue]

Many thanks for your thoughts, it seems a waste of money to buy a 300mm for the price of 610mm, especially when most of the better priced priced vinyl etc seems to be 610mm wide?

[bms]

Many thanks for your thoughts, it seems a waste of money to buy a 300mm for the price of 610mm, especially when most of the better priced priced vinyl etc seems to be 610mm wide?

Remember that with the Cameo you get an optical eye, whereas the cheaper 600mm wide cutters are just cutters. The Cameo allows you to use the software to print full colour onto various materials and then cut them where as the larger cutters will just allow you to cut. Depends what you aim to do, but if it is mainly flex/ flock/ printing garnets then the Cameo is an excellent machine. If you want to cut large lettering for Van sign writing/ shop windows then the larger cutters will be more suitable. Bigger doesn't always mean better as it depends on what you want to do.

[WorthDoingRight]

Bigger doesn't always mean better as it depends on what you want to do.

I have tried telling all the women in my life that but they all seem to disagree!!!!

[RogerC]

It depends on if you simply want to cut and not print....if it is cut only then IMO buy the biggest you can afford from a reputable source. Graphtec CE5000-60's seem to start at around £1100 ish. There's a thread that seems to pervade most topics like this at some point.....'Buy cheap buy twice'....

[Jersue]

Print and cut was to be my next question LOL, guess its all about how much you want to spend and the possible returns from that expenditure?

[RogerC]

Don't know anything about the Cameo.....but a new Versacamm will set you back in excess of £12000 but there's one on fleabay for £5000 or offers right now.

[Earl Smith]

What type of business are you? If full time , then go for the bigger size. I cut vinyl for around 50 t-shirts a week on average over the year. Summer time its about 100 a week, front and back. No way could I do that on a smaller cutter/plotter.
You will probably get a far bigger selection of vinyls and flocks for all types of material in the 50cm width as well. Ive never seen 30cm wide flex or flock on offer. 61cm wide tends to be for window vinyl.

[socialgiraffe]

As Early says, it all depends on what your main business is. If you are going to do car/van sign writing then I suspect a 300mm cutter will be pointless. If however all you are doing is garments then a 300mm will fit the job nicely. Again, if you want to print and cut then either go for a Cameo or splash the cash and buy a Roland Versastudio.

With regards to vinyl sizes, if you purchase these on a roll then someone like Grafityp offer a cutting service, so you can purchase a 600 wide roll and ask them to cut it in half free of charge.

[Earl Smith]

Forgot to point out. The versastudios are expensive printer/cutters ( I think) . I have a Roland GX24 , similar to the Graphtec CE5000-60 , and these are about 1,100 pounds.

[logobear]

If it is a hobby, and you can be bothered trimming down roll media, maybe 30cm is ok.....
If you want a business, you have to be able to handle 50cm media so you need 61cm tracking.
We do thousands a year, and have never bothered with the magic eye, even though all 3 of our cutters have them.
We have 2 x Graphtec CE5000-60, and 1 off Roland GX24. I would gladly swap the Roland GX24 for another Graphtec, - they are both great, but we are just more used to the graphtec.
Don't waste time producing waste! Buy great kit from day 1, then you can spend all your time developing your skill, NOT waste it trying to make good stuff from bad kit!
imho!

[Kate]

We cut over 100 t shirts and hoodies a day using the cameo and have not had a single problem with it, it's a great little plotter