New Chinese Vinyl Cutters

[Halfnutz]

Does anyone have any experience with these cheap imports? For 600.00 I would love to have one, but only if it works of course!

http://cgi.ebay.com/32-BRAND-NEW-VIN...QQcmdZViewItem

[Halfnutz]

Nobody has any experiance with cutting vinyl on a plotter like this? How about the software? Is HPGL similar to or can it be converted into g-code?

[debogus]

I bought a model up from Here
Looks like a lynx. At the time I got the model up replaced by the panther
tangical emmulation wtf( 2000 more get a real one summa) a Gazillion more a gerber


All made in china anyhow.
All but Summa and a few others

The cheap ones china

Software ? Pretty much the same that came with mine. They usally come with a print driver that will follow a dxf file.But why bother .
G-code ?
Use the software they come with. No need to make it harder than it is.
Could get Cocut and drive it straight out of correl draw .

Guess it all depends on how much you plan on using it.
It will probally do just fine for most things.




Check the guys feedback ,sure is a good price .


Dave

[andyew]

I have used one like this... it's working fine, but of course, i dont think as tough as big brand like Roland. Anyway, for amateur level, it's a nice lil machine...

any1 interested, can PM me....

price wise... it's gonna b cheaper since i'm dealing with the manufacturer...

[Halfnutz]

Yes, for the price if it works at all it would be worth trying out. I was wondering if the code it uses, HPGL, could also run a g-code machine. So I could use the included software for my router.

From the feedback it sounds like a deal. Thanks for reply's.

[andyew]

it comes with a software that ressembles coreldraw or signlab... but it looks like it's more user frenly n easier for beginner... like me!

as for pricing... pls pm me n i'll get back asap

btw, i hv used this lil fella for cutting full circle onto plastic film (OHP transparency), it cuts it out, but need to peel it off alittle by hand since this kinda film is really thick n rigid. so, cutting vinyl is no-sweat for it n its bundled 3 knives...

[Oaktreeman]

My $.02.... You get what you pay for. Go search the sign forums and you will find post after post of people that are sorry they didn't buy a brand name machine. The most common issue with the cheap machines is uncontrolled cutting. For no reason at all it will trash a job. You put in new vinyl and it might cut it perfectly, it might trash another. Roland, Summa, Graphtec, Allen datagraph, all good machines.

[cadmn]

Roland & any HPGL driver I cut straight from corelword is never buy a plotter named after an Animal

[cbass]

I'd try here...

http://www.signindustry.com/mb5/


A sign-industry related forum.

Carlo

[aggie_67]

I never buy anything from ebay that lists the buyers as "private." No way to check feedback, what are they hiding?

[debogus]

Halfnutz,
No It wont run your router,if its a parallel port mach 3 type machine.
Perhaps if you had a serial port or a gecko grex type.

But it will probably allow a dxf export that will work with sheetcam then to mach3.

Thats what I do ,lol, haven't learned cad yet but can draw it up in the sign program.
You cant beat the assortment of fonts they usually come with.

The only problems I 've had with my Chinese cutter is me not changing settings when changing material.

Ive cut calender, cast and up to 35 mil hartco with it .
Mind you I use mine more as a hobby/side job machine but after 4 yrs it still does anything I want it to.

Take the time to learn the parameters of capability and your disappointments will be less.

(kind of like cnc routers)





Dave

[Halfnutz]

Wow, lots of great feedback, thanks to all. Sounds like a gamble of sorts, not a 2500 dollar Roland of course but probably worthwhile if caution is taken when selecting vendor and using a little gentle care handling the machines.

Being able to convert and utilize the software would make it quite a usefull addition, since most of what I do involves text.

Being able to make sandblast mask would really be cool to experiment with. I am torn between spending my money on one of these right now or investing in more parts for my yet to be made servo router. Man, servo stuff is expensive.

These vinyl cutters really look like alot of funfor the money.

SignWarehouse looks like a decent company to deal with, they are a little more money but still have starter packages under $1000.00.