Vinyl Cutter

[Underdog_19]

Can anyone suggest a reasonable vinyl cutter? Looking for it to cut custom stickers/labels for our gear.

[frcguy]

I personally own one that I got off US Cutter. They have a huge variety in different price points. My middle school has the "Titan" model and loves it for classroom use.

[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by Underdog_19

Can anyone suggest a reasonable vinyl cutter? Looking for it to cut custom stickers/labels for our gear.

45s or 33s? (sorry, couldn't resist)

[sanddrag]

We have had a 24" US Cutter SC series for almost 5 years now and it has been fantastic. It paid for itself on it's first use, and many times over since then. The ancient SignBlazer abandonware software it came with was a little interesting, but is actually a pretty decent program once you get the hang of it and understand its quirks. We also bought SignCut Pro which is not fantastic, and we ended up never really using. I'm not sure what software they're shipping nowadays, but the machine has been nearly flawless, and we've really done quite a lot with it.

[jaunvie]

I own a cricut and a silhouette. Easy to use, reasonably priced, but only a 12" cutting area.

[Type]

I can't think of the brand we use but we used them for making bumper numbers for the first time and they look amazing compared to our past years. We have only used it for bumpers but we may use it for other stuff like our pit or shop.

[cadandcookies]

GOFIRST purchased a Silhouette Cameo this spring and has had no major issues with it. We used it to cut all the decals for Perses and for some fun stuff (our equipment is open to members, and we have a small "vinyl cutter fan club"). We also used it to cut GOFIRST logos to put on all of our parts organizers.

A Cameo is a good place to start if you're looking to do 12"xN or smaller cuts (remember, vinyl cutters usually feed off a roll). We've been quite happy with ours.

[MrBasse]

I have a GCC Expert 24 in my classroom and have liked it. My only complaint is that it uses an optical sensor to track media and that doesn't seem to be "student proof" But it cuts beautifully when the eye tells it that it has media to cut. We have been using our laser cutter with some serious air filtration while that cutter is down.

[rees2001]

Originally Posted by frcguy

I personally own one that I got off US Cutter. They have a huge variety in different price points. My middle school has the "Titan" model and loves it for classroom use.

I can second the uscutter. We picked one up a few years back and it has worked out great. the 25" should be big enough to do most robot applications. THe software is fairly easy to use although basic. for the price it works. It would be nice to have a printer/cutter but is not necessary for what we are trying to do.

[TedG]

Another great source is Signwarehouse.com

I get all (or most) of my supplies here.
I have a 24" "Vinyl Express Lynx" with the LXI Master software.

HTH

[Underdog_19]

Thanks for the replies...lots of good information.

So for a quick schooling, what type of vinyl would we want for simple designs to adhere to a robot for signing/labeling, labeling batteries, etc.?

[MrBasse]

Originally Posted by Underdog_19

Thanks for the replies...lots of good information.

So for a quick schooling, what type of vinyl would we want for simple designs to adhere to a robot for signing/labeling, labeling batteries, etc.?

Unless you have the ability to print on it, vinyl is really a terrible choice for labeling. That's a lot of weeding to pick the letters and number for batteries and basic labels. I'd much rather print on sticker stock and stick those on.

We use vinyl for a few sponsor stickers, and occasionally for some small graphics. We also use it for our trailer graphics. But anything that we want to use multiple colors on that needs small detail we make stickers for.

If you're looking for vinyl check a local sign ship. To shop for material ideas, check coastalbusiness.com. they ship fast and offer fair pricing, but I get my sign material locally still and source t-shirt vinyl(heat press) from coastal.

[cadandcookies]

Originally Posted by MrBasse

Unless you have the ability to print on it, vinyl is really a terrible choice for labeling. That's a lot of weeding to pick the letters and number for batteries and basic labels. I'd much rather print on sticker stock and stick those on.

We use vinyl for a few sponsor stickers, and occasionally for some small graphics. We also use it for our trailer graphics. But anything that we want to use multiple colors on that needs small detail we make stickers for.

If you're looking for vinyl check a local sign ship. To shop for material ideas, check coastalbusiness.com. they ship fast and offer fair pricing, but I get my sign material locally still and source t-shirt vinyl(heat press) from coastal.

I mean, I recently put a GOFIRST logo on all of our small parts organizers, and I wouldn't say that was terrible.

How bad weeding is varies tremendously based on how large your design is and how detailed it is. If you're doing a few 1-2" block numbers for batteries and some relatively large sponsor logos, it really isn't going to be that bad.

Originally Posted by Underdog_19

Thanks for the replies...lots of good information.

So for a quick schooling, what type of vinyl would we want for simple designs to adhere to a robot for signing/labeling, labeling batteries, etc.?

This stuff (Oracal 651) is what we get for general use. That supplier is pretty good, but I'd recommend shopping around a bit, because depending on what you're getting shipping can be a factor.

[MrBasse]

Originally Posted by cadandcookies

I mean, I recently put a GOFIRST logo on all of our small parts organizers, and I wouldn't say that was terrible.

How bad weeding is varies tremendously based on how large your design is and how detailed it is. If you're doing a few 1-2" block numbers for batteries and some relatively large sponsor logos, it really isn't going to be that bad.



This stuff (Oracal 651) is what we get for general use. That supplier is pretty good, but I'd recommend shopping around a bit, because depending on what you're getting shipping can be a factor.

I agree, weeding I'd dependent on design. When I heard battery label I thought of our conventions where we keep information about the battery performance on the battery from year to year. If it's just numbers then no problem at all.

Our brand of choice is FDC cast calendered vinyl. For temporary stuff we use wall decal and step up to 3, 5, or 9 year for our permanent or outdoor graphics. One thing I forgot is that transfer tape almost seems more imprant than the vinyl. A good transfer tape can make a job feel easy when a bad tape can ruin your week. Find a medium to high tack clear tape for best results with most vinyls.