anyone remember the Gerber 4b

[gabagoo]

I started with one of those gizmos back before the pc was invented. You could never really set up a job easily as there was no screen with it, just a red led info area. Doing the easiest of jobs took time but still faster than hand painting in some cases. The cost of this baby was $17,000....each font was $300 - 400.00 each. I then remember saving up to buy a digitizing tablet. $13,000 and you could redraw logos by taking artwork and blowing it up and then taping it to the tablet and using a mouse to digitize the graphic. OMG the computer it came with was an Apple 2e and I had purchased an accelerator card to speed up the redraws on my monochrome screen. Doing the simplest of logos was time consuming and in most cases we had to redraw all the fonts as they were not available or just not worth buying. I then purchased the job save program and that made things a lot better as you could save projects and recall them when needed. After that I bought a scrappy which hooked onto the Gerber 4B and allowed you to put scrap material through to save a few bucks. We then moved up to a Gerber Sprint and loaded it with 26 fonts....$35,000. We were really moving now. Twice as fast as the 4b and it came with a monochrome screen for layouts. The pc's were just coming out and then Signlab appeared and we put a fast card into the Gerber Sprint and that allowed us to set projects up in Signlab and cut through the Sprint. That was a major development for us. The signlab back then was nothing like we have now but was eons ahead of the Gerber Sprint setup. Oh the old days lol.

 

[Service Sign Co]

I still have a 4-b I sold all the fonts and the font extender after the LMK came around

 

[Mike Paul]

Yep, I had a 4B then upgraded to a Sprint.

 

[Barber]

I worked at the South Florida Fair in WPB and started on a 4B. I was able to program it and let it cut all night long, useing a Roland pin fed 15" cutter. Moved up to Flexi 4

 

[cgsigns_jamie]

Yep, started with a 4b and Apple 2e, still have 'em at the house. Both work just as great as the day they were new!! We have boxes full of 5-1/2" floppies loaded with tons of jobs from over the years, as well as the many notebooks to keep track what is on each disk.

In the early '90s we upgraded to CasMate PRO and a 30" Allen Datagraph Plotter and ever since it's been upgrade after upgrade...

 

[OldPaint]

i find this very amusing))))))) talkin bout a GERBER 4B like it was old history)))))(it would make sence if you was there )

 

[Jillbeans]

I bought one used, stripped, along with an LMK and GA 6.2 in 1998. That and a Dell computer, HP printer and a scanner from Advantange Sign Supply for $10K. Guy was supposed to train me but had trouble hooking up the printer so I trained myself.
It started acting up in about 2003 and I was able to get a used 4E from a local signgal for $400, it runs every day. The 4B is still up under my bed in case of emergency.
Had the busted part on it fixed by my cousin rather than shipping it back to Gerber.
The 4B and 4E are great because they can cut sandblast mask and make a damn nice pounce pattern.
If you don't mind waiting.
They rarely go off track. I can usually put in vynull and walk away, while the 4E cuts without complaint.
I would love to upgrade to an Envision and hopefully some day I will.
Love....Jill

 

[J.D. Iles]

Here is a post I did back in 2005 about the 4B along with one of the original Gerber ads in SignCraft

http://signsneversleep.typepad.com/signs_never_sleep/2005/09/walk_through_ge.html

J.D. Iles
www.signsneversleep.com
====================================

 

[gabagoo]

i find this very amusing))))))) talkin bout a GERBER 4B like it was old history)))))(it would make sence if you was there )

OP quit drinking so early and explain yourself? Like trying to read hyroglyphics with you at times lol

I will suppose you are talking about the ancient days of hand painting and letroset?

 

[beckys]

I still use my 4B-It cuts the the prints off the Edge. I was going to upgrade, but the plotter dr. don't ever, ever get rid of it-so I didn't.

 

[OldPaint]

OP quit drinking so early and explain yourself? Like trying to read hyroglyphics with you at times lol

I will suppose you are talking about the ancient days of hand painting and letroset?

to ME, that was 1984, ok? now consider iam 63. so in 1984 i was 40ish!!!! so it aint "history" to me...yet. when i start to think of OLD.....i was in the air force, and went to COMPUTER SCHOOL IN 1972!!!!!! nobody had em then.
when i went to college 75-78, WE TYPED ALL OUR PAPERS!!!!!!

 

[mikefine]

There are still in use and (apparently) in demand. A friend of mine sold a 4B, online last week, for unbelievably...$500.00.

 

[Fred Weiss]

There are still in use and (apparently) in demand. A friend of mine sold a 4B, online last week, for unbelievably...$500.00.

We sold a Sprint system with both a 15 and 30 inch plotter last year for $900. Although slow, these old Gerber plotters remain unmatched to cutting sandblast rubber to this day.

 

[Fred Weiss]

We got our first SignMaker machine in 1983. It was a SignMaker III which lacked the autokerning capability that was introduced with the IV series. The IV introduced autokerning, the IV-A added aligning pins to the standard IBM punch pattern and the IV-B added a more powerful motherboard with the ability to accept modules for outlining, shadowing and eventually the LMK for hooking it up to a PC.

We had three machines running by mid 1984 and had shifted into wholesale work. Our daily output averaged better than 5000 letters a day with those old, slow machines. As we evolved into faster systems, the only thing that changed was our work flow. Our production was still limited to what a human being could produce. The need for speed is highly overrated.

 

[gabagoo]

to ME, that was 1984, ok? now consider iam 63. so in 1984 i was 40ish!!!! so it aint "history" to me...yet. when i start to think of OLD.....i was in the air force, and went to COMPUTER SCHOOL IN 1972!!!!!! nobody had em then.
when i went to college 75-78, WE TYPED ALL OUR PAPERS!!!!!!

Pardon me for asking, but is it me or do I get the feeling that you are ANGRY!!!

 

[OldPaint]

GRUMPY)))))) NOT angry...........damn kids today))))))

 

[gabagoo]

GRUMPY)))))) NOT angry...........damn kids today))))))

Thanks for the clarification... grumpy old paint!!!!!

Just how ancient are you? pushin 80? 90?

 

[Service Sign Co]

There are still in use and (apparently) in demand. A friend of mine sold a 4B, online last week, for unbelievably...$500.00.

I was offered $1,000 for the 4-b about 3 years ago and turned it down.

 

[Dave Drane]

I still have my Gerber 4A serial #79649 which I bought in early 1985. I still use it for cutting pounce patterns, sandblast materials, and Scotchlite. I made so much money from it back then, it gave me a 3 month world trip in 1990. It is like a child to me and selling it would be akin to selling one's child. When I first got it, I immediately sacked a guy who was always taking sickies, and half drunk every Monday morning. When the Graphic Design Station cam along it was like pure bliss as you could sit there all day plotting points so that we could cut our own designs?? Of course the downside was doing multi line work and forgetting to insert a XY move would result in a mess. I lways drew it in small scale first which went faster as the pen didn't need to come up and turn. Once it got cutting you could then go and do a round of golf while you were waiting!! j/k :ROFLMAO:

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

I still have my 4B, and It's been running sence 1982 to date. I put in the swivlle blade and holder in to make it cut twice as fast. (it's still slow as a turtle) compared to the other cutters I have today.