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Suggestions Upgrading one of my plotters. Graphtec or Summa?

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bsipsy

New Member
So I am looking into replacing one of my current plotters with a new model. Right now I am using a Graphtec FC8600-130. It's aging and I'm beginning to have more failed cuts (more specifically x-axis errors saying the media is too heavy) and we're quickly approaching the busiest season of the year. I need to replace this old Graphtec with something that will be able to handle the kind of cuts I typically do. Here's what I'm looking to get out of a new plotter:

1. Accurate tracking over long cuts - I will be doing some really big jobs this summer, where each job will require 13 cuts of 50" material at about 95ft long. Other cuts for each job will probably be in the 30-40ft neighborhood.
2. Take-up Roller because I don't want to roll up all those cuts by hand

That's really all I NEED in a cutter, though things like having 2 tools (ie blade and pen) at once would be nice. The tracking is absolutely the most important thing, because I'm going to be doing 30+ of these jobs this summer. It will all be done in Oramask 813 material, so I don't need OPOS or ARM print/cut capability. We have other cutters for that. This is basically going to be a dedicated stencil cutting machine.
So, I'm trying to decide between a new FC9000 or a Summa S-Class T-Series (or if there's an option that's better than either of those, I'd love to hear about it). Obviously the Summa will outshine the Graphtec when it comes to small intricate details due to the true tangential cutting head, but in my experience, my FC8600 tracks so much better on long cuts than the t-series. With my Graphtec, I have been able to do a 35.5" cut on 36" material for 120ft with less than 1/16" media shift over the entire cut (before the x-axis problems, naturally).

So, if anyone has experience doing lots of long cuts, I'd love to hear your suggestions!
 
J

Joe House

Sign Equipment Technician
It sounds like you kind of answered your own question. Your primary criteria is tracking over long distance and your experience with the two plotters shows that the Graphtec tracks better.
I don't know how small you need to cut, but (just to show what it can do, not because I would recommend it) I've cut 1/16" Helvetica letters on a Graphtec many times. And the S*bucks logo at 3/16" high.
In either case, I don't think you would go wrong, but if your more familiar with the Graphtec, you'd probably be better off staying in that ecosystem.

Good Luck
 
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bsipsy

New Member
Joe House said:
It sounds like you kind of answered your own question. Your primary criteria is tracking over long distance and your experience with the two plotters shows that the Graphtec tracks better.
I don't know how small you need to cut, but (just to show what it can do, not because I would recommend it) I've cut 1/16" Helvetica letters on a Graphtec many times. And the S*bucks logo at 3/16" high.
In either case, I don't think you would go wrong, but if your more familiar with the Graphtec, you'd probably be better off staying in that ecosystem.

Good Luck
Click to expand...
So I guess I should clarify a little bit. The Graphtec I'm currently using for this job is really old, and the summas we have are S2 T-series. I don't have any experience with the newest versions of the FC9000 series (although we do have an older one that doesn't track as well as the even older FC8600 that I'm replacing) and the S3 T-series. I'm hoping that maybe there's something in these newest models that may make enough of a difference that I'm not going to be running basically the same cutters that we already have, just with a shiny new shell, if that makes sense.
Another thing that sort of divides my thinking on the issue is speed. Our summa cutters run much faster than the graphtecs, which will add up quickly especially given the amount of material I'll be cutting. If the new S3 summa can track accurately over those long cuts, it would be an easy decision.
Another issue that I came across is that the Graphtec website says the auto take-up system can do up to 65ft, which is about 30ft short of what I need. Summa doesn't list a max length for take-up that I have seen.

I wish I could just pick the parts I liked about each one and have one franken-cutter :\
 
J

Joe House

Sign Equipment Technician
Well, running faster usually means that you're going to loose accuracy. I wouldn't rely on specs to tell you how fast you can cut "your work" That's just a number as to how fast they'll let their motors spin.
I don't think much has changed in either machine as far as the X-drive components, so tracking should be comparable, but new machines generally will track better than the older (aka Higher Mileage) plotters from the same line up.
I don't have experience running that long of jobs. Hopefully you'll get some valuable input from someone who's run both machines or at least run your type of jobs on these.

Good Luck,
 
M

MNT_Printhead

Working among the Corporate Lizard People
bsipsy said:
So I guess I should clarify a little bit. The Graphtec I'm currently using for this job is really old, and the summas we have are S2 T-series. I don't have any experience with the newest versions of the FC9000 series (although we do have an older one that doesn't track as well as the even older FC8600 that I'm replacing) and the S3 T-series. I'm hoping that maybe there's something in these newest models that may make enough of a difference that I'm not going to be running basically the same cutters that we already have, just with a shiny new shell, if that makes sense.
Another thing that sort of divides my thinking on the issue is speed. Our summa cutters run much faster than the graphtecs, which will add up quickly especially given the amount of material I'll be cutting. If the new S3 summa can track accurately over those long cuts, it would be an easy decision.
Another issue that I came across is that the Graphtec website says the auto take-up system can do up to 65ft, which is about 30ft short of what I need. Summa doesn't list a max length for take-up that I have seen.

I wish I could just pick the parts I liked about each one and have one franken-cutter :\
Click to expand...
I do full laminated 150' rolls on my FC9000. The take up has its quirks, I would definitely recommend getting a good demo on it so you understand what you are in for.
 
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bsipsy

New Member
Yeah that's a good idea. I may have a conversation with our logistics and ordering guy and see if he can set us up some demos of both cutters.
It's so hard to know what a cutter can really do just based on the specs, because our work is definitely not typical. Most people aren't cutting 50'x94' jobs.
That's why I really prefer getting input from people with experience using the machines rather than specs on a website.
Also, just a side note... if there are any good 3d print files out there for parts to improve these cutters, I'm open to that as well. We have various parts that I've 3d printed on our cutters, but so far the only ones that affect the cutting quality of the machines are some improved roll stoppers on the media feed rollers that help reduce shifting.
 
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