You can take a desktop cutter or a wide format plotter a long way, whether you’re making custom t-shirts or window lettering. Somewhere on your journey, you’ll get to a point where you need to upgrade your cutter and invest in your business.
But you don’t want to buy a new cutter for the sake of it - you have to know if it’s something you need. So how can you tell when it’s time to upgrade your cutter? The following indicators should let you know if you need to purchase something with more capabilities.
Not Fast Enough
Once your vinyl cutting venture takes off, you might find yourself struggling to keep up with an increased number of orders. There’s nothing worse than watching orders flood your inbox while you wait for your cutter to complete jobs.
Cutting Speed Comparison |
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| 12 - 100 mm/sec | 10 - 500 mm/sec | 10-30 - 1,530 mm/s |
If you often find yourself hanging around or making more cups of tea than you used to, it might be time to look for something with a faster cutting speed.
Not Enough Cutting Force
For a lot of people, when they first get into cutting machines, they assume that their choice is limited to different colours of vinyl. It’s exciting to discover that you can also cut card stock, reflective vinyl, magnetic sheets, flock and a whole universe of other materials.
Blade Force Comparison |
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| ~110 gf | 3 -350 gf | 5 - 600 gf |
With such a wide variety of media available, you could be tempted to experiment with different applications. You might find yourself daydreaming about a hoodie with sparkly heat transfer vinyl or an intricate packaging design. Unfortunately, if your cutter just can’t manage thicker media, your ambitions could be cut short.
Not Wide Enough
“You can cut small on a big cutter, but you can’t cut big on a small cutter”. This graphics industry adage still rings true, and for good reason. At Roland DG, we always hear from customers who wish they had simply bought a wider device in the first place. For obvious reasons, there’s just so much more that you can do on a wider plotter.
Max. Cutting Area Comparison |
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| 340 mm x 1000 mm | 584 mm x 25 m | 1,627 mm x 50 m |
If you find yourself saying no to customers who want to create larger graphics like shop windows or large vehicle decals, you’ll probably need to upgrade to something with more width. This also means that you’re not restricted by the available size of the media.
You want a new printer
If you use your cutter as part of a print-then-cut workflow, you probably have a fairly reliable system in place to ensure both devices are well integrated. But perhaps you want to invest in a more up-to-date printer or something with a wider colour gamut. The last thing you want to do is mess around with your finely tuned workflow.
The Complete
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Since you are already looking to upgrade your printing capabilities, you might as well investigate your cutting options too. A more advanced cutter can give you extra gains like greater cutting force or better tracking accuracy. Better still, you could look for a print-then-cut solution designed to work in harmony between the two devices.
For example, Roland DG’s CAMM-1 GR2 series and the TrueVIS VF2-640 are designed to work perfectly together, using the same VersaWorks 6 RIP platform, taking the trial-and-error out of your new set-up.
It Has Seen Better Days
When talking about Roland cutters, the words ‘bulletproof’, ‘invincible’ and ‘tough’ often come up. It’s true that these devices, properly maintained, will give you years of profit, but every mechanical device can suffer wear and tear.
VINYL CUTTER
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| The kits contain a range of parts and simple-to-follow instructions for you to maintain your Roland device and ensure premium performance year after year. |  |
Over time, your pinch rollers and cutting strip will degrade and the rigours of constant production will take their toll. Although the components are easy to replace, you could consider this as a wake-up call, letting you know that it’s time to consider other options.
We know how easy it is to get attached to a device that has only ever given you 100% great results. Heart-breaking though it may be, everyone moves on to bigger and better things eventually. It’s up to you to look to the future and picture the business you want, not just the one you have now. With more advanced equipment, there’s less holding you back from making your dreams a reality.
CUT LIKE A PRO
Discover the new CAMM-1 GR2 Series wide-format cutters