looking for a new cutter either a summa or a graphtech

[dubhcaora]

Hello all!

First off if this is in the wrong section I apologize.

I was wondering if anybody who happens to own a Summa S2 or a Graphtech FC could chime in on there experiences with said cutters.
It is time to replace the old Mutoh Kona here and I narrowed it down to those possible two cutters. In particular a S2 T160 (64 inch) or FC8600 (64 inch).

I am leaning towards the Summa but the Graphtech looks like it has some nice bells and whistles on it as well, however the "tangential emulation" kinda makes me a little iffy about it.

Another question purely on the Summa offerings is about the OPOS-CAM upgrade, is it worth the extra 1.5k versus just getting the Tangential?

Thank you so much in advance!

Matt

 

[PHILJOHNSON]

Summa Questions

Hi Matt,

Please feel free to call or email me if you have any questions about the Summa cutters and I would be happy to go over everything. I can also get you in touch with someone that has used both Graphtec and our cutters if that would be helpful. My email is philj@summa.us and my phone number is (800)527-7778, ext 112.

Best regards,

Phil Johnson
Summa Inc.

 

[d fleming]

I can't tell you personally about summa but my experience with graphtec has been positive for many years. I can tell you that all the people I know who have a summa cutter love them as well. I would guess that either will serve you well in my humble little teenie tiny opinion.

 

[ProColorGraphics]

SUMMA without question!! I had TERRIBLE luck wth the Graphtec I tried and was luckily able to return it! I have the first gen S class T series! This was my first true tangential cutter. It has been super fast and amazingly accurate! Being able to read bar codes has also been HUGE timesaver! I will fill up a 150' roll with labels that I do, each section is about 38" long. I hit cut once and it goes through the whole role on its own. This is WITHOUT the OPOS-Cam too. I use all Macs, running Caldera. So the OPOS-Cam won't work with my setup.

I love my Summa and HIGHLY recommend it!!

 

[letterman7]

Never had a Graphtec, but just finished replacing the head on my T750 after 18 years of use. That alone should tell you how bulletproof these machines are. Personally, I prefer the T series if I'm doing small copy - drag knife can cut small, but tangential knocks it out of the park. Love my Summa - and it's tech support!

 

[visual800]

graphtec can suck it, go with summa

 

[0igo]

Yeah bro i have a graphtec sh*ts a pain in the a**. go with anything but a graphtec in my experience. also have you tried talking with graphtec customer care? last time i called a chinese guy answered and i understood probably about 3 words in the 6 minutes he spoke to me before i gave up and got on signs101.

 

[AF]

Summa is the way to go. If it is not in the budget today, keep saving and then pick one up. Not only is the actual machine built like a brick shart house, but the software drivers are bullet proof and the software package is excellent. Depending on what you plan to make with the plotter, Allen Datagraph is a very good unit for sandblast and diamond grade, plus it has the best system for holding stiff vinyl down against the platen.

 

[dubhcaora]

Wow! looks like the Summa camp is out in force! I was hoping to see one in person at the GASC but they moved from Chicago this year. Hopefully some vendor in the Chicagoland area has one that I can go see.
again thanks all for your opinions! they helped out a ton!

 

[d fleming]

Funny, I don't see IECHO listed in merchant category.

 

[Johnny Best]

His name is Lance, from China!

 

[d fleming]

You mean Rance?

 

[Sando]

Graphtech plotters are really unmatched at their price point. The FC7000 series were not the best machine they ever made in that I have had my hands on 3 of them and none of them would track as strait as the older 5000/5100 series. That being said I still have a running FC7000-130, it is about 10 now and it still works great with the exception that it will not make real long tracking runs, like flirting with disaster beyond 30 feet. I just got a 8600-160 and it is faster, tracks seemingly beyond 50' though I don't do much of that, does all the decal cuts and if you are savvy you can do a back cut for crack & peel. I keep saying I am going to save up for the summa but then keep buying graphtechs. I have been super pleased with the 8600-160. I think it was almost $5k less than the summa I was looking at. Next time I am getting a summa though... untill I buy another graphtech...

I also have a 52" Mutoh cutter, don't, just don't. It was free with my 1624.

 

[Robert Gruner]

Wow! looks like the Summa camp is out in force! I was hoping to see one in person at the GASC but they moved from Chicago this year. Hopefully some vendor in the Chicagoland area has one that I can go see.
again thanks all for your opinions! they helped out a ton!

Summa makes the very best R2R cutters in today's market. That is why HP chose to bundle the Summa cutter with their Latex digital printers. ALL Summa cutters come with OPOS. OPOS is sufficient for most die-cutting jobs; however, OPOS-CAM is a nice option for those people wishing to do heavy die-cutting with long runs.

 

[ikarasu]

I have a graphtec at work and at home. If I had the extra cash... I think I'd go with a summa.

Right now I don't do enough decals to justify roll to roll. But it seems like a neat feature to have. Most of our decals that we sell are small.. labels for airplanes and stuff, so like 1" x 3"/4/6 inch. Couple thousand at a time... Takes hours and hours to cut them all. But it's generally it'll cut for 2 hours then I just have to rescan the marks for the next run and leave it for another two hours. So while it is a cool feature... It's only worth it if your aways doing close to full rolls of decals.

Ive done 10000 .6" x .6" perf cuts on the graphtec, and it stayed pretty close on track. I've heard summa is also good. I mainly want a summa for tangential cutting.. but the price difference is too much. Either printer is good.

That being said, this threads a year old, and necromanced by the Chinese seller. So hopefully you've bought one by now ;p