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Creation PCut Vinyl Cutter
- Thread starter Gary@Zengco
- Start date
I agree that there was some issues with poor quality chinese products, but that was in the past, things are changing very fast.
Have a look at a $2000 LG plasma/LCD TV... A top model, Korean brand, it's got a sticker that says, "made in China"! Soon, most japanese brands, european brands, etc, have a potential to be made in China, simply for the one reason - lots of factories, cheap labour.
I work as an engineer, and I find that making a same component from China, either mechanical or electronics, is so much cheaper than made locally and businesses love it. The quality maybe slightly inferior in some cases, but even so, it is still cheaper.
All your movie DVDs, majority of your PC components, guts of your entertainment electronics, your Sony Playstation 2.... they are all made in China.
China has the largest number of manufacturers in the world. With cheaper labour, majority of countries just cannot beat their mass production capabilities.
The benefit you and I get, is that these items come down in price very fast, because of their mass production in China.
Support is a big issue. Well-known brands have more experiences in dealing with consumers and already has a good systems set up for customer services. They will have dedicated people/system for dealing with customer complaints, where as, less-known brands may not.
As for my PCUT CT630 issue, i think it's resolved, it's been cutting away signs beatifully. Thanks again.
Have a look at a $2000 LG plasma/LCD TV... A top model, Korean brand, it's got a sticker that says, "made in China"! Soon, most japanese brands, european brands, etc, have a potential to be made in China, simply for the one reason - lots of factories, cheap labour.
I work as an engineer, and I find that making a same component from China, either mechanical or electronics, is so much cheaper than made locally and businesses love it. The quality maybe slightly inferior in some cases, but even so, it is still cheaper.
All your movie DVDs, majority of your PC components, guts of your entertainment electronics, your Sony Playstation 2.... they are all made in China.
China has the largest number of manufacturers in the world. With cheaper labour, majority of countries just cannot beat their mass production capabilities.
The benefit you and I get, is that these items come down in price very fast, because of their mass production in China.
Support is a big issue. Well-known brands have more experiences in dealing with consumers and already has a good systems set up for customer services. They will have dedicated people/system for dealing with customer complaints, where as, less-known brands may not.
As for my PCUT CT630 issue, i think it's resolved, it's been cutting away signs beatifully. Thanks again.
Techman
New Member
That is the difference. Those LG products are made in China under the supervision of a Korean based company with engineering influence from around the world.
Those chinese cutters are not made with the same quality control and engineering background. They are designed to fit the low end niche. Yes they do it very well. But paying hobby prices for professional machines is not smart.
ITs like buying a Murry mower that has a duty life of 100 hours verses buying a john deer with a duty life of years.
Rod
New Member
Some background info on PCuts
Hi all,
I was just reading some interesting PCut comments over on the uksignboards site. A fellow there that claims to have background knowledge about PCut and how the machines were brought to market. Here is an excerpt from the thread for your consideration.
Cheers,
Rod
Taken from:
http://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=24467
Hello Russ,
You complain about gremlins in your PCut
There are two manufacturers in China of PCuts. They are brothers who argued and split the business into two companies. They have never spoken to each other again. I am good friends with one of the brothers and have done a lot of work with PCuts and know their ins and outs pretty well.
So here goes and see if I can shed some light on some of your gremlins.
gremlin one: causes p-cut not to respond and cut from software, but just on occasions
Aha, you do not say what model you have. Is it new, old or USB and serial or USB only or serial only?
I have seen this in USB connections. I have not seen this on serial only. Solution if it is USB. Change USB port and make sure that you are using the main USB port of your computer. If it is serial make sure that the settings in device manger are the same as in your software. If USB make sure the same setting apply as well in both software and Device Manager. (USB is a type of serial -- USB does stand for Universal Serial Port) Most Chinese cutters are USB 1.
Gremlin two: causes p-cut baud rate to flip from 9600 to 19200 whenever it feels like it (mines not done it for a while though)
The same answer as above applies. The setting on the USB or Serial port MUST in Device Manager match to the settings in your software.
gremlin three: causes the pressure setting to always revert back to 255 whenever it is turn on (my biggest annoyance)
Not a gremlin. Simply there is no function or memory to retain settings in your particular PCut. These cutters are produced for a very low price and sold for very low prices. Do not expect all the bells and whistles of a cutter that is three to six times the price. Compromises must be made in producing anything low cost. The PCut guys have done a remarkable job to produce a reliable cutter that does a great job.
(About who makes & designs PCuts --- Sam Sun, my friend was the first person in China to design a vinyl cutter from scratch. He was a sign maker so poor that he decided to make his own. He did not even have a Roland cutter or access to another cutter to copy it. So from absolutely from scratch he made the first PCut. He is a genius -- could you as a poverty stricken sign maker that needed a cutter desperately make one from scratch with parts bought from a local electrical supplier? Sam did and it worked and he then went on to make them for other sign makers in China. And of course as soon as the first one was sold it was copied by others everywhere. So today in China there are 47 manufacturers of cutters, nearly all based on Sam’s design)
gremlin four: has trouble remembering where the start and the finish of the letter is when cutting no matter how you set the blade offset (only by a fraction but enough to make weeding a pain)
I think you may have a real complaint here. It does not do this when I use a PCut and as there are about 2,000 or more month made and sold to the west I would heard screams about this long ago.
The blade offset should be 0.3 not 0.25 for a normal red tipped blade. The blades in PCuts are the same as in Mimaki cutters and Omega Cutters. Did you know there are four different blades available for different uses. They have the following offsets. 0.15 for very small letters, 0.3 for normal work, 0.5 for reflective and 0.75 for the real heavy duty 3M reflective stuff. The 0.75 is what the scrapbook industry also uses for cutting light card.
So do not alter your offset values. You do not say what software drives your PCut. As far as I know only SignBlazer and ArtCut can drive all PCuts. In SignBlazer the software does an over-cut. In other words it cuts (always) past the start point to stop this happening. I am not sure in ArtCut. I doubt it. We invented this over-cut way back in 1992. I have never mentioned this before and it is not in any of our advertising about SignBlazer. So without testing ArtCut I could not tell you if it does an over cut or not. I am sure that other western sign cutting software programs have added this however I am not sure. Some of the early western brands of cutters has this problem and this was our solution.
Another cause is a resharpened blade or a blade with a broken or damaged point. So try a new blade as well.
Good Luck! If you need more info just post a reply.
Hi all,
I was just reading some interesting PCut comments over on the uksignboards site. A fellow there that claims to have background knowledge about PCut and how the machines were brought to market. Here is an excerpt from the thread for your consideration.
Cheers,
Rod
Taken from:
http://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=24467
Hello Russ,
You complain about gremlins in your PCut
There are two manufacturers in China of PCuts. They are brothers who argued and split the business into two companies. They have never spoken to each other again. I am good friends with one of the brothers and have done a lot of work with PCuts and know their ins and outs pretty well.
So here goes and see if I can shed some light on some of your gremlins.
gremlin one: causes p-cut not to respond and cut from software, but just on occasions
Aha, you do not say what model you have. Is it new, old or USB and serial or USB only or serial only?
I have seen this in USB connections. I have not seen this on serial only. Solution if it is USB. Change USB port and make sure that you are using the main USB port of your computer. If it is serial make sure that the settings in device manger are the same as in your software. If USB make sure the same setting apply as well in both software and Device Manager. (USB is a type of serial -- USB does stand for Universal Serial Port) Most Chinese cutters are USB 1.
Gremlin two: causes p-cut baud rate to flip from 9600 to 19200 whenever it feels like it (mines not done it for a while though)
The same answer as above applies. The setting on the USB or Serial port MUST in Device Manager match to the settings in your software.
gremlin three: causes the pressure setting to always revert back to 255 whenever it is turn on (my biggest annoyance)
Not a gremlin. Simply there is no function or memory to retain settings in your particular PCut. These cutters are produced for a very low price and sold for very low prices. Do not expect all the bells and whistles of a cutter that is three to six times the price. Compromises must be made in producing anything low cost. The PCut guys have done a remarkable job to produce a reliable cutter that does a great job.
(About who makes & designs PCuts --- Sam Sun, my friend was the first person in China to design a vinyl cutter from scratch. He was a sign maker so poor that he decided to make his own. He did not even have a Roland cutter or access to another cutter to copy it. So from absolutely from scratch he made the first PCut. He is a genius -- could you as a poverty stricken sign maker that needed a cutter desperately make one from scratch with parts bought from a local electrical supplier? Sam did and it worked and he then went on to make them for other sign makers in China. And of course as soon as the first one was sold it was copied by others everywhere. So today in China there are 47 manufacturers of cutters, nearly all based on Sam’s design)
gremlin four: has trouble remembering where the start and the finish of the letter is when cutting no matter how you set the blade offset (only by a fraction but enough to make weeding a pain)
I think you may have a real complaint here. It does not do this when I use a PCut and as there are about 2,000 or more month made and sold to the west I would heard screams about this long ago.
The blade offset should be 0.3 not 0.25 for a normal red tipped blade. The blades in PCuts are the same as in Mimaki cutters and Omega Cutters. Did you know there are four different blades available for different uses. They have the following offsets. 0.15 for very small letters, 0.3 for normal work, 0.5 for reflective and 0.75 for the real heavy duty 3M reflective stuff. The 0.75 is what the scrapbook industry also uses for cutting light card.
So do not alter your offset values. You do not say what software drives your PCut. As far as I know only SignBlazer and ArtCut can drive all PCuts. In SignBlazer the software does an over-cut. In other words it cuts (always) past the start point to stop this happening. I am not sure in ArtCut. I doubt it. We invented this over-cut way back in 1992. I have never mentioned this before and it is not in any of our advertising about SignBlazer. So without testing ArtCut I could not tell you if it does an over cut or not. I am sure that other western sign cutting software programs have added this however I am not sure. Some of the early western brands of cutters has this problem and this was our solution.
Another cause is a resharpened blade or a blade with a broken or damaged point. So try a new blade as well.
Good Luck! If you need more info just post a reply.
VMP Pcut
Cheers
Thornfire
Hi mate have got your cutter sorted yet ?if not send me an email as I have VMP working with Pcut 630
Cheers
Thornfire
My friend purchased a pcut 760 a while back and we've never really got it working right. the biggest we had when we were trying to get it set up is, it would cut properly through maybe half the art, then it would only maybe score the vinyl, or not cut it at all. Any suggestions? I'm not sure what program we were using, it was what ever came witht the machine.
Ct-1200 Drivers For Flexi
I just purchased the PCUT Ct-1200 plotter. As of now I am using WINPC Sign or whatever that program is called. Honestly, I don't like it. I haven't spent that much time with it, but if I could get the driver for Flexi, I would be much happier. Also, my letter curves are not very good at all. Is there a setting I need to adjust or is that just the way it is with this plotter? Please advise.
thanks
Elie
:
I just purchased the PCUT Ct-1200 plotter. As of now I am using WINPC Sign or whatever that program is called. Honestly, I don't like it. I haven't spent that much time with it, but if I could get the driver for Flexi, I would be much happier. Also, my letter curves are not very good at all. Is there a setting I need to adjust or is that just the way it is with this plotter? Please advise.
thanks
Elie
:
BobbyFosson
New Member
Flexi 7.6v2 and higher has the driver for the Creation P-Cut cutters.
Listed under the 'Creation P-Cut' manufacturer.... Flexi 8 currently lists 8 or more drivers including the CT-1200
Listed under the 'Creation P-Cut' manufacturer.... Flexi 8 currently lists 8 or more drivers including the CT-1200
Replicator
New Member
Elie,
Welcome to signs101
I would suggest contacting Gary the original poster of this thread . . .
gary@zengco.com
http://www.zengco.com
Welcome to signs101
I would suggest contacting Gary the original poster of this thread . . .
gary@zengco.com
http://www.zengco.com
Sometimes gaps appearing is not avoidable. If you are cutting a larger quantities of vinyls, cut 1 vinyl out, find where the gaps are. Draw line through the gaps on the cutting software, and let the vinyl cutter close the gaps. Then cut the rest of the 1000 vinyls.
It will save you time when you are weeding a large number of vinyls.
It will save you time when you are weeding a large number of vinyls.
Custom Stickers
New Member
CT 630 problems =(
Hey guys,
I recently bought a vinyl cutter from a friend who bought it from CHINA. The instructions and software is all chinese and it didn't come with a seral cable.
I was able to get my hands on a software FlexiSign 7.6 (i think), and i got a serial to usb cable from the shop (rs 232 to usb). but unfortunately no luck
I have played with the setting so much im beggining to think its the cable i bought. does anyone know what cable i need to get or even the diagram of the cable layout. is it a RS 232 C????
also i have done a test cut on the hardware itself and that works so i know its not the cutter.
any help is appriciated.
Matt
Hey guys,
I recently bought a vinyl cutter from a friend who bought it from CHINA. The instructions and software is all chinese and it didn't come with a seral cable.
I was able to get my hands on a software FlexiSign 7.6 (i think), and i got a serial to usb cable from the shop (rs 232 to usb). but unfortunately no luck
I have played with the setting so much im beggining to think its the cable i bought. does anyone know what cable i need to get or even the diagram of the cable layout. is it a RS 232 C????
also i have done a test cut on the hardware itself and that works
so i know its not the cutter.any help is appriciated.
Matt
Me too me too!!!
Samm
New Member
Someone correct me here, but I understand that only the latest version of Flexi has the overcut feature?
Thanks to Fred for originally teaching me the following...
You need to adjust your knife offset in the production manager.
PM - Setup - Default job properties - click on the cut tab - fiddle and adjust your knife offset until it works well.
Good letters to practice on are t o a i l s - just use something plain like helvetica at approx 15mm.
Bear in mind that each time you remove your blade this setting wll need to be rechecked.
Hope this helps!
xSam
Thanks to Fred for originally teaching me the following...
You need to adjust your knife offset in the production manager.
PM - Setup - Default job properties - click on the cut tab - fiddle and adjust your knife offset until it works well.
Good letters to practice on are t o a i l s - just use something plain like helvetica at approx 15mm.
Bear in mind that each time you remove your blade this setting wll need to be rechecked.
Hope this helps!
xSam
i just purchased a cheap pro cut cr 1200 i think its the same machine with another name.. it came with flexicut i think flexi would give the plotter to you for free just so you have to watch there comercials about how you should buy the latest version of flexi. I'm a little old school i prefer casmate pro but it has no drivers for the plotter. i also have flexi 7.5 it also has no drivers for this plotter. i'm not going to send every sign job to 10 different programs just to get a plot. is this plotter a knock off of any other plotter that you could use the drivers from?