trakers
06-14-2007, 02:18 AM
So I wanted to drop a note thanking ya'll for your assistance over the past few months.
As I started this adventure I was seriously considering a Master cutter. Reading the forums here I decided to go with a Graphtec CE5K. It hurt for sure since it costs so much more upfront, but will be worth it.
Thus far it has performed perfectly. Today I cut some text that was smaller than .25 high. Now, while it was a *bitch* to weed the letter centers, it came out looking fabulous. I attribute the results to using high-quality Oracal fim and a quality plotter like the Graphtec.
Over the weekend I was at a friends business who uses a Master cutter. In its defense it has cut a *lot* of vinyl for him, but it also has the "go crazy and ruin 10yrds of vinyl before he can run across the room to pull the plug" syndrome. What was simply astounding to me was that thing is friggin LOUD!!!! On the Graphtec the knife going up and down is the loudest thing, on the Master it sounded like the gears were being ground down. Oh and it was perhaps 1/4 as fast as the Graphtec.
I also found sort of a split in the forums. Some folks swear by dedicated sign software and others use Corel. Since I despise Corel I went for the FlexiPro dedicated S/W. Every time I use it I like it more.
As I do more and more vinyl I find I am able to use less and less App. fluid as my confidence builds for dry installs. My goal is to be virtually dry soon.
One important thing I have noticed is that I am not "afraid" of vinyl any longer. Before I had a cutter I was scared to death applying graphics that I had others cut. One false move and back I would go to plunk down another $20 for a re-cut. As I gain experience I find little boo-boo's are easy to fix. Today I hosed an "O" on a graphic when the weeded middle flew around and stuck permanently to the "O" rendering it useless. I cut another "O" and transplanted it with perfect results.
I installed a rather large sign today. Turnkey from a blank, white computer screen and blank, white Alumacoor to the finished cemented in place sign. What a sense of pride that provides. I drove by 3 or 4 times during the day just to admire my handiwork.
Anyway, what a wonderful world we live in where like minded people can communicate on a board like this, helping others and perhaps learning a thing or two along the way.
I have learned a *ton* in the last few months, but rest assured I have a lot more questions coming, just don't know that they are yet!
As I started this adventure I was seriously considering a Master cutter. Reading the forums here I decided to go with a Graphtec CE5K. It hurt for sure since it costs so much more upfront, but will be worth it.
Thus far it has performed perfectly. Today I cut some text that was smaller than .25 high. Now, while it was a *bitch* to weed the letter centers, it came out looking fabulous. I attribute the results to using high-quality Oracal fim and a quality plotter like the Graphtec.
Over the weekend I was at a friends business who uses a Master cutter. In its defense it has cut a *lot* of vinyl for him, but it also has the "go crazy and ruin 10yrds of vinyl before he can run across the room to pull the plug" syndrome. What was simply astounding to me was that thing is friggin LOUD!!!! On the Graphtec the knife going up and down is the loudest thing, on the Master it sounded like the gears were being ground down. Oh and it was perhaps 1/4 as fast as the Graphtec.
I also found sort of a split in the forums. Some folks swear by dedicated sign software and others use Corel. Since I despise Corel I went for the FlexiPro dedicated S/W. Every time I use it I like it more.
As I do more and more vinyl I find I am able to use less and less App. fluid as my confidence builds for dry installs. My goal is to be virtually dry soon.
One important thing I have noticed is that I am not "afraid" of vinyl any longer. Before I had a cutter I was scared to death applying graphics that I had others cut. One false move and back I would go to plunk down another $20 for a re-cut. As I gain experience I find little boo-boo's are easy to fix. Today I hosed an "O" on a graphic when the weeded middle flew around and stuck permanently to the "O" rendering it useless. I cut another "O" and transplanted it with perfect results.
I installed a rather large sign today. Turnkey from a blank, white computer screen and blank, white Alumacoor to the finished cemented in place sign. What a sense of pride that provides. I drove by 3 or 4 times during the day just to admire my handiwork.
Anyway, what a wonderful world we live in where like minded people can communicate on a board like this, helping others and perhaps learning a thing or two along the way.
I have learned a *ton* in the last few months, but rest assured I have a lot more questions coming, just don't know that they are yet!