Never posted on this board before but here it goes
I'm looking to purchase a vinyl cutter and am
wanting to know if these ebay cutters are as
bad as everybody says. Of course people
with Roland cutters will say they're shit,
but i won't be using it on a commercial level.
Has anybody bought one and if so, how are they?
>>995103
I have my doubts that anyone on here has one.
But as with anything chinese on the low end side, being sold real cheap on ebay.
Temper your expectations, and be surprised if and when it surpasses them.
I dont know vinyl cutting, but I have seen cheap 3d printers print plastic drag knives, then attach them and plotted pretty accurately through paper and stuff. Just hacking stuff together.
It cant actually be that hard for a specific built printer like in the OP to say cut out some letters and shit. I know their 3d printers and cncs are dirt cheap and actually do OK for what they cost. A plotter like this works on similar principles I would guess.
It honestly isnt that expensive, and its something you clearly want so I would just say fuck it and buy it. Sell it on craigslist if you dont like it.
If I were to get one I would put a really expensive quality blade on it before I even started the thing up.
>>995113
>It cant actually be that hard for a specific built printer like in the OP to say cut out some letters and shit.
dunno fug about them either, but, I'd dispute that greatly, for a start.. its got to drag a cutting edge around with great accuracy, at exactly the right depth, etc. - the potential for it fucking up, jamming or catching is greatly increased over say, a normal printer. And as we all know, they never fuck up..
These things are, what, $200 new, Rolands, $2k? - theres probably a reason. Personally, Id try and see if I could get a second-hand Roland for a good price first, you may not need 100% uptime, but if you start combining cheap cutters with cheap vinyl etc. may wish you had went the extra mile.
Other side, if these are indeed that shit, must be people selling these in ebay for $100 max or so - I'd also agree, likely no-one in /diy/ with one. That picture is also Photshopped to fuck tho, never a promising sign.
>>995143
Im experienced in the cheap chinese 3d printers, and the sheer accuracy and plotting ability of these cheap low priced stepper controlled machines is actually amazing. Much more so than you would think.
The cheap vinyl cutter in the OP looks to use the same GT2 timing belts and steppers, and I would assume the same general stepper controllers. Its all really cheap chinese shit, but it performs so much better than the price would project.
The knife cutting system is very basic looking aswell, Its not as complicated as you might think
Not saying its going to be amazing, or a better value in the long run instead of buying used.
It just on the face looks like it would be a useable machine, after knowing how well the cheap XY plotting systems the chinese are putting out for stupid cheap these days.
OP sounds like he has pretty much convinced himself to buy one anyways.
>>995103
I own a 30 inch Roland printer and use it as a hobby and make a little money on the side. I've never had any personal experience with Chinese printers but I'm telling you from printing experience in general don't get a low end Chinese printer. The amount of accuracy needed to make even decent looking stickers is way too high. I also often have problems (that's just the nature of these things) and doubt my printer repair man would fuck with your Chinese shit. Also I doubt the software for that thing is anywhere near Rolandworks.
Just my 2 cents, buy the largest used Roland you can find.
Cheers.
>>995275
That seems to be the general consensus. Theres an old Roland for sale in my area (Camm-1 950 i think) but I'm almost certain it doesn't have a USB connection, only the obsolete serial or parallel connection.
I once had an older cutter that I got for a bargain but it had the obsolete connection and I never got it to work, even with serial to USB converter.
I guess buying the Chinese one is just a matter of convenience but I'll wait a little bit to see if anything pops up.
fuyck yes sticker thead
shit i gotta make stickers for anime north idk what to make yet
>>995514
What cutter are you using?
>>995513
It's probably easier to get an old workstation dedicated to it running XP or something.
The main difference you're going to be experiencing is the shitty software. Whether it be print or cut, Roland has great friendly, generally idiot proof software.
>>995569
Most of the chinese cutters work with CorelDraw and ArtCut which aren't too bad. Probably not as good as Roland CutStudio but fine for what I need.
Most computers that have the obsolete port are horrible, which means I'd most likely need to upgrade/build it
Bumping in hope someone had experience with one of these machines
>>995682
Just go on youtube.
Ton of people using the cheap printers.
Honestly, I have almost convinced myself to buy the US Cutter MH721 even though I have never even considered owning one before this thread.
All the complaining about chinese printers seems to be coming from people using them commercially as a small business, and getting mad they arent lasting 10 years. Obviously thats a genuine concern for someone looking to make a living off of it.
Im probably going to make some basic decals, and some screen print positives. Would be pretty cool.
>>995695
In my search for more info on them I found the U.S. cutter brand. I think they're al basically the same generic model, or similar.
>>995697
Someone looks to have built a business on bulk ordering chinese cutters, putting their own branding on it, and selling the printers through ebay.
Not a bad idea, Its always kind of a scary proposition to pay hundreds of dollars for something knowing thats its going to ship from a chinese factory. Waiting 40 days hoping it will actually show up.
>>995698
I think I'm going to give it a go. The eBay account has great feedback so not getting it isnt a big possibility. It's $400 so worst comes to worst I sell it on for half that and learn a lesson in the process
Not much to contribute here, but I was just wondering how a cutter is able to preserve these islands in pic related. From my experience hand cutting stencils, it seems like when you cut out these parts to reveal the white, the green island in the middle is going to disappear. Is this just because the OP pic is photoshopped, or are there two layers of vinyl here?
>>995763
There's 2 layers; vinyl with sticky side and a backing. Just don't cut through the backing, then you peel of the vinyl bits you don't want, everything else stays.
>>995763
The vinyl has a backing on it
All it does is cut a thin line in the vinyl, then you peel it.
If you wanted to make a flower decal, you would have actually pulled all the green, and left the vinyl where it was white.
The way its shown could be transferred onto a silkscreen and used as a stencil.
![WP_20160519_13_57_20_Pro_LI[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/fV0HSsw.jpg "WP_20160519_13_57_20_Pro_LI[1].jpg")
My brother owns a cheap china unbranded Cutting Plotter that is basically your picture, but without a stand.
Pic related is the result.
If you see the poke marks on the letters, it's not a result of the printer. That's my dad trying to pull the letters off the page. It's quite accurate. Possibly more accurate than you care to be. If you make your cutouts too small then they may be impossible to remove from the page without tearing.
>>995943
shit there was supposed to be a photo with that post
i also use them to etch metal
i made over 80 of these, didnt stick a single one personally, think i have 3 left
>>995962
yeah. i use a clear transfer vinyl to line them up
also, to get free vinyl
go and find the sign district in your town
ask for garbage or loot the dumpster after hours
assloads of free avery/3m/ect vinyl to cut with
