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Discussion Plotter/Cutter of Choice?

DL Signs

DL Signs

Never go against the family
Mimaki has some real work horses. we have a CG130FX that's been in service here since it was bought new over 17 years ago. We added an SR-III this year for some large jobs (seems like a toy compared to the CG), and that CG is still my go-to, never lets me down. I'm going to refresh it soon with some new rollers and springs just to see how long it'll go for, maybe another 17 years? Who knows... :cool:
 
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Sofia Lucas

Blue Dot Signs
Tommy Viv said:
hey all

i am currently using an HP Latex 315, and soon going to be setting up my HP Latex 365…

I’ve been having some pretty discouraging issues with my current “HP 54 Cutter”

what do you run? what’s your all time favorite plotter, and what do y’all recommend?

p.s. i’m interested if anyones selling any used equipment or have a go-to recommendation!

located in SC


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Good to know that you are switching to latex 365. Its such a good option to consider. It delivers very professional and high-quality results. 315 is smaller than 365, and also missing double-sided assist feature, but you will get it in 365
 
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cornholio

New Member
balstestrat said:
That HP Cutter is pretty much 99% Summa. It's made by Summa, parts from Summa, only firmware says it's "HP cutter" and they wanted a network port on it which didn't exist before on D140.
I think today Summa and HP even have the same part numbers on both of their inventory.
But if you would get a Summa, definitely upgrade to S2.

And yes, get a machine that has a mark detection. You do print&cut, you 100% need it.
I would not touch that US cutter...
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The HP cutter is a Summacut and the HP plus is a Summa S-One.
HP uses a special barcode with the SAI Software, which is pretty user friendly und when you need a printer, cutter and software; the price is nice.
As far as i can judge, it should be possible to "un-HP" a HP, or HP a Summa via Servicemode.(Funktion to set brand and type of cutter, used when a new mainboard

My ranking in cutters (sold them all)

Summa S2, S-one, Summacut are nicely built with very easy to use advanced functions and the best cutting quality in the market. (Summa Cutting Software(Winplot) could be better, the new Gosign is a step in the right direction)
Mimaki has a good cutting quality with lots of good funktions. Mimaki bundles their cutters with the best Pluginsoftware (Finecut) by far. It's very easy to print/cut with any printer and Rip. Adobe plugins lag behind about 6 months.
Graphtec has good cutting quality, but much too many menu settings in a unbelievably unlogical menu structure. They supplied a pretty nice Software/Plugin (Cutting Studio/Master) for a while(you could access the important settings, without fiddling on the cutter menu) now, they supply a SAI Flexi which has limited access to the cutters menu settings.
Roland doesn't reach the cutting quality of the others IMHO. The software is soso. I'm very fond of Roland printers and install them since more than 20 years. I installed the first Roland cutter in 93...
I have limited experience with GCC and some chinese cutters. While GCC isn't bad, i would not touch the nonames.
 
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Rayd8

New Member
cornholio said:
The HP cutter is a Summacut and the HP plus is a Summa S-One.
HP uses a special barcode with the SAI Software, which is pretty user friendly und when you need a printer, cutter and software; the price is nice.
As far as i can judge, it should be possible to "un-HP" a HP, or HP a Summa via Servicemode.(Funktion to set brand and type of cutter, used when a new mainboard

My ranking in cutters (sold them all)

Summa S2, S-one, Summacut are nicely built with very easy to use advanced functions and the best cutting quality in the market. (Summa Cutting Software(Winplot) could be better, the new Gosign is a step in the right direction)
Mimaki has a good cutting quality with lots of good funktions. Mimaki bundles their cutters with the best Pluginsoftware (Finecut) by far. It's very easy to print/cut with any printer and Rip. Adobe plugins lag behind about 6 months.
Graphtec has good cutting quality, but much too many menu settings in a unbelievably unlogical menu structure. They supplied a pretty nice Software/Plugin (Cutting Studio/Master) for a while(you could access the important settings, without fiddling on the cutter menu) now, they supply a SAI Flexi which has limited access to the cutters menu settings.
Roland doesn't reach the cutting quality of the others IMHO. The software is soso. I'm very fond of Roland printers and install them since more than 20 years. I installed the first Roland cutter in 93...
I have limited experience with GCC and some chinese cutters. While GCC isn't bad, i would not touch the nonames.
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I cannot agree more, the Summa D series has me stumped at how small you can cut with these with really good accuracy (ok, ok, i would lie should i not tell you that now and then i do have soms quirks with them, but honestly that's with about any make/type that i ever used). I feel these cutters will survive me as for sturdiness and accuracy. Low maintenance to do (just give them some cleaning love and keep those rollers/grippers clean and healty).
 
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Troy Oddo

Sharp Signs & Graphics
Anyone having issues with the Summa S2-D series cutting heavier weight vinyl? When we try to cut IJ680/8518 laminate, the plotter cannot hold the vinyl tight enough to allow it to run straight for more than 4'. All the rollers are on. Would love some input or if anyone has a fix for this that would be great.
 
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Splattgraphics

New Member
We run a Summa T series, and in like 15 years, I replaced ONE part: a ten dollar belt, this past summer. And plenty of blades this thing is a practically flawless workhorse.
 
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CC-CMYK

New Member
I have a summa st140 and a graphtec fc8600. We tend to use the graphtec more. I’m disappointed on how the summa is not user friendly at all. The software it comes with sucks and we now use flexi but that’s not too much better. If cutting master worked with the summa that would be awesome.

The summa is way faster at cutting though. We cut a lot of small text for museums and when we need speed we use the summa. If speed isn’t needed in cutting a large amount of text then we use the graphic.
 
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Baptiste repro

New Member
Hi there, I have a Summa S2 and I currently use Summa Winplot but I think it's pretty archaic and I'm looking for a better software with more options and flexibility to work on. Any thoughts ?
 
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Baptiste repro

New Member
not yet, apparently the last employee couldn't get it work. There are many softwares available so I'm a bit lost at this point and I want to upgrade the possibilitites of work
 
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CC-CMYK

New Member
Baptiste repro said:
and so which software do you use now ?
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We’re using Flexi. It’s still not ideal. I wished cutting master worked on summa. I know Sai makes cutting master and flexi. They are similar but I like how you can send jobs directly from illustrator with cutting master. With flexi you have to open the file with their design software.
 
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