Vinyl mask cutter
 

Has anybody had a play with one of these????are they any good????

http://www.graphicair.co.uk/products...-software.html

Thinking I could have some fun with one, but relutant to make the spend without hearing they are any good first...

I've got a Roland Sticka STX-7 which cost me a small fortune about 10 years ago, my mate picked one of these Craft Robo's up for about £150, a lot less than I paid for mine, it works just fine, you couldn't tell any difference in the mask I've cut to the mask he's cut.

You can get them a lot cheaper than this though so I'd look around but yes, worth having, probably the most useful thing I ever bought for my business !

http://www.graphtecgb.com/cutters/cr...-cc300-21.html

just found this, its pink, but a heck of alot cheaper...

really curious to hear peoples opinions on these... was looking at similar a few months back, but was told that i should be spending £800 or not bother.... for all i want to do with it, i was sure they'd be grand, but first hand experiences would be great!!

craft robo are a very good cutter. i have a few friends who use 1
ive got a roland stx which is also a great cutter , i dnt think u could go wrong with any, the softwere has to be as good as the cutter too

If you want to do logo's and work out designs like flames, slime, any repeatable graphic then a cutter is the way to go. It's an arse applying masking film into stuff but you can work around it.

Loads of my mates drive theirs through Coral Draw but Inkscape is completely free and if you're on a PC you can get a plug in to drive the cutters, no expensive software and for that cheap one you found you really can't go wrong ! £65 is an absolute bargain.

You will have to learn the software though, generally the stuff it comes with isn't up to much. Proper sign packages are too expensive for what we're doing but Corel Draw is good IF you do really want to buy something. Inkscape is perfectly capable, I just didn't get along with it's interface...

You really don't need to spend that much on a cutter these days, these cut A4 size sheets ( well 200mm wide or there abouts ) absolutely fine, as I said above I spent £450 on a Roland as that's what I was advised to get 10 years ago, these weren't about then. My mate got one of these about 2 years ago, it's turned things around for him and there is no difference in cut quality to mine and his cost about a quarter of the price. Being so cheap you really can't go wrong.

Well ordered one today, so in order to complete the thread, I will report how I get on with it, as soon as I have got it going....

If its all i expect of it, then it will be a very useful peice of kit :)

What software are you going to use to drive it ?

It will be useful for others to see how you get on with it !

I will have a play with inkscape tonight and see what i recon

im using inkscpe with my cutter i also use signblazer
ive tried to get a copy of coral draw but im to tight to buy it
there is a few how too;s on youtube .
how to trace bitmaps is good 1 for logo;s n stuff

+1 for signblazer! for doing vinyl cutter stuff

I bought a craft robo second hand off ebay the other week.

Althought i've improved in using liquid mask and a scalpel I wanted to accurately reproduce graphics and lettering.

Thoughts so far is it is brilliant. It came bundled with robo master software which has done the jo so far.

My first shell was a red bull GT shell for me and i'm pretty pleased with it for my first go.
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/...ed_Bull_03.jpg

well if i can acheive those kind of results, then I will be very happy, thats a cracking job there...

Hi ASKay.

Thanks for posting about finding the cutter - ordered one myself, i've being looking for one off e-bay for a while, so couldn't resist when I saw this :)

Do post how you get on, i'll be using mine with a Mac - so here's hoping :)

Cheers
Andy

I've had a Craft-Robo 330-20 for a couple of years now and it is stunning for the money.
I also use it with a Mac (PPC G5 - not intel) although I've found the bundled software isn't mac friendly - but a plug-in is available to drive it via Adobe Illustrator. Working out cutter pressure and speed for the medium you're using is the trickiest bit for me and because I don't use it constantly, I never quite remember what I last did but after a practice cut I'm normally there or thereabouts.
For logos and lettering it is brilliant.
The only drawback is your own artistic talent :blush: and to that - hats of to Jon Miller and all the other painters on here whose work I often drool over and which inspires yet frustrates me in equal parts

what do you all use for masking paper when cut?

Not sure I fully understand what you mean, if you mean to mask around it I just use paper tape (3M 2328 masking tape) but any cheap paper tape will do as you only throw it away.

I only cut masking film, not coloured vinyl. The masking film is called 'paint mask' and is transparent grey. If you call up vinyl suppliers asking about it they'll send you samples. I normally get a 600mm roll cut into 3 so I end up with 3 lots. Some of my mates use the same cutter as me so we normally split the order between us. I'm alright for vinyl at the moment but when I need it I'll probably put a thing on here as 50M x3 is a lot to get through so maybe we could all split it on here ?

If that hasn't answered your question Mark put up some more info and I'll try and answer it.

For the mask itself, this is what i have ordered, so I will let you know how i get one, it would be interesting to hear what and where from other people have used also...

http://www.graphicair.co.uk/products...-of-10%29.html

Have you got a link for that ? I'm using an old PC, getting on for 10 years now, have to back save then put on a USB from my mac and finally onto the PC, would be handy to be able to do it straight out of the mac. Although I've got a Roland STX-7 and I've searched before and couldn't find anything.

Aside that it's plugged into a serial port on my old PC, will have to get an adapter for the cutter to go into USB...

Here you go

http://downloads.graphtecgb.com/support/

I'm using Illustrator CS2 on my Mac and the plug-in enables my .ai files to be exported to the cutter via the cutting master software.

Works pretty well - its just my illustrator knowledge that is rubbish :cry:

Good stuff guys! :thumbsup:

spot on cheers

i have the stx15 and am using the cutstudiio software, what do you use?

I would recommend using illustartor with the cutstudio plugin because if you fancy/need upgrading the machine later and don't get a roland then you are stuck with a load of cutstudio files that you cannot use in other programs. unless the newer cutstudio versions have an export function?
that's why i would use illy and export using the plugin to cutstudio. that way you will have all yer files in ai or eps whis are more or less standard formats.

Do let me know on the masking vinyl stuff, I need to get some soon :)

Thank you - give me a shout if you're getting stuck.

I'd have to completely agree with everything Jon has said there, makes perfect sense. Also if you need to do anything else with your files at a later date, maybe use the design for a print on a sticker or T shirt design or anything else it will be better to have it in a common more recognised format. It will save you or anyone else having to create it again.

Sorry dude got loads left at the moment, maybe you can get some other people on here together to spread the cost....

Help !!!!

Craft Robo cc300-20 lite arrived today, reading the instructions it says to cut media with a backing sheet you need the more expensive cc330-20, any idea why this is ?

Why can't I cut vinyl with this ???

I would hazzard a guess that on the 300 model you can't alter the pressure the blade puts on the media. I'm really not sure on this though. Obviously if you want to cut without damaging the backing you will need less pressure than if you want to cut right through.

I'd experiment but you will definitely need to use the mounting sheet (that I hope would've been supplied) so you don't cut into the black cutting strip and damage the blade.

Let me know what you find.

Can't see any reason why you can't cut vinyl. It's only a tad thicker than paper.

Phew. it's fine !

Works a treat :)
Apparently you can just feed the vinyl without the carrier sheet - makes sense, all other media (without a backing sheet) need you to use the carrier.

Looks awesome though - using a Mac and Illustrator, ace stuff :)

Now to design a new shell...

im not good with illustrater, any good user guides?

Stick at illustrator Mark it's really good ! There are good tutorials with in the package itself, or plenty for free on YouTube. Aside that people like Digital Tutors - http://www.digitaltutors.com/trainin...ator-tutorials or Lynda.com - http://www.lynda.com/Illustrator-tra...als/227-0.html are all good.

People often over look the training and tutorials that come with the software but it's very good. If I ever get stuck using adobe stuff that's the first place I look. Post anything on here I'm happy to help, or there are plenty of illustrator forums out there.

Corel draw and inkscape are both okay but depending on where you're getting stuck they all work much the same, it's just the interface and short cuts I struggle with on those 2 so don't use them. Illustrator is the industry standard for a reason.

Does anyone have any nice tips for applying the masks to a shell?

I find the whole process fiddly, but then maybe I'm missing something obvious.
Especially with really detailed mask cuts.

Make sure you've got the area you want it to work in marked on the shell. Just a box will do, then you can get it in the right place easy.

If it's a real detailed one I'd tend to transfer the entire piece to the shell then once in place weed it out as it will carry better unweeded.

Make sure you cut too many as well ( the beauty of having your own cutter ! ) and then when you mess the first 2 up you still have spares to use :D

I will say putting things on the inside backwards is a complete arse to do though, I hate doing it, applying to a backwards curve is just a ****.

Can you get a whole A4 sheet for tape? That way you can cut out and peel of and stick it where its suppose to be?

Or do you just cover the cutting sheet with tape?
OR cut the paper then cut the mask

When I make masks I'll use put them in a square or rectangular area, that way when cut out I can tell where they should line up ? Is that what you meant OneKiwi ?

The vinyl I use is 200mm x 50m, so I just cut what I need off the roll, up to 1 metre long and feed that through the cutter. As for putting it on, I just use the same masking vinyl, it's clear, you can see through it, there are always off cuts lying about to use. And you can use it a couple of times if you're as tight as me :D

Thanks Eyayen. Box is a good idea - same size as whole logo.

Anyone tried wetting the shell first then sliding the masks in place? Does it work? Or does it just stop the mask sticking properly...
I'll give the water thing a go if no-one's tried it. Crap idea I think but has to be investigated!

Anyone used anything like transfer tape? (Commercial folk use that) but I've not found any really low tack tape. Any recommendations?
If anyone knows of any very low tack tape, I'd be happy to hear about it.

I think you missed it in my previous post, So the clear grey paint masking you're putting through the cutter doubles up as your application tape, Genius aren't I ! :thumbsup:

DON'T USE WATER... Just draw lines on the shell, make sure you're careful to line it up to these best you can, then carefully apply, if you sort of tack the lowest part on if it isn't straight pull it off and reposition it.

well my cutter has arrived today, have cut some neat designed masks, and are very happy with the results so far...

Sorry for resurrecting this thread, but I've been looking at one of these for a long time and never really understood the 'carrier' thing - now that so many of you have one, maybe you can tell me?! :confused:

The brochure says "The Lite will cut only with a carrier sheet: there's no option as with the CC-200 to cut backed media without one. However you can still cut vinyl with it." What does this carrier do? How is other backed media different from vinyl?

The carrier is really a mylar sheet which has a low-tack adhesive coating which enables you to do three things.

Firstly, if you are using a smaller than A4 piece of media, you can use it to affix the media whilst cutting - which makes it ideal if you just want to rev up your cutter for a small logo or something without wasting a whole sheet of material

Secondly, if you are using a material that you intend to cut through (or which doesn't have a backing paper), it keeps the material in place whilst you are cutting.

Thirdly, it helps prevent you from damaging something that's called the cutting strip. This is something that is situated on the cutter and which gives the cutter a consistent and flat surface with which to press down upon. If you mis-set your cutting blade depth / force, you can cut through your media and backing paper and scratch the surface of this cutting strip. The strip is replaceable (on the C330-20 anyway) but even so, it's clearly best to try not to damage your cutter.

With my C330-20, I always use the carrier sheet. Over time, the adhesive loses its tack but I bought a spare pack (2 pieces) and I intend to try and refresh the old one with some spray mount or something similar.

I can't speak for the Lite but the C330-20 gets a massive thumbs up from me - it's ace.
It's really one of those purchases that is always difficult to justify for casual use but once you do, you'll never look back and you'll keep asking yourself how it was that you ever lived without it.

If you've not found them yet, click here for a decent supplier. I get my vinyl from these guys and my CR consumables. The deliveries are super and even when I ordered the wrong carrier, they let me send it back and exchange it for the right one. Can't say fairer than that. Also have to say that the CR 330-20 Cameo (new model) looks the mutts nuts.