Less Expensive Plotter

[Joe Pelonio]

I discovered that a company nearby in Redmond, WA is importing vinyl plotters from China, (and considering doing the same with lasers and/or CNCs eventually.)

Since they are so close to me I went to visit their operation and check out the equipment. My current plotters cost me $8,000 and $3,000, these sell for like $549/25" and $999 for the 50", but they also sell them on E-Bay where one of the 50" just sold for $432.

After talking to him a while he offered to let me install one in my shop and use it for a period of time to see how it works. One thing I'll be looking at is how it cuts sandblast stencil. I'll report back later if anyone is interested.

[Mike Null]

Joe:

I'll be interested in reading your report.

[Rick Maitland]

I would also be very interested. What brand are they, or do you know that yet?

[Mike Hood]

I've got a Lynx 24 and I think it was around $700. Cuts GREAT.

[John Ramos]

I've got a Lynx 24 and I think it was around $700. Cuts GREAT.

Lynx 24 and all the other little cats are GCC.

Thanks,

John

[Luke Phillips]

Just got my ArtCut 28" Cutting Plotter Vinyl Flexi Sign Cutter for $310 on eBay - Nice machine - made in China of course but it works with Corel and it actually works!

[Mike Hood]

Lynx 24 and all the other little cats are GCC.

Yeppers... but uses Roland blades... servo motors and is 1/4th the cost of a Roland. Paid for itself in months.

[Joe Pelonio]

The company and brand are US Cutter, they are made in China but the boxes from the factory say US Cutter on them. I was there when a container came in by truck from the docks in Seattle. They come with "Artcut" software which I'll also be looking at, to see how well it imports vector files from Corel and other programs. He's bringing it here Friday.

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Joe,
Can this plotter also use Dye sub inks?
Thanks,

[Joe Pelonio]

No, that's a different process. This is a plotter that cuts vinyl and other similar thin sheet and roll goods, and has a ball-point pen that replaces the blade to print vector only.

[Doug Jones from Oregon]

Joe, looks very similar to my Master vinyl cutter. I got a 36" for just under $500 with flexi lite software. Works just fine for my paint mask material I use for sandblast mask.

Doug

[Joe Pelonio]

Having used this Copam CP-2500 plotter now for a while I would definitely recommend it for anyone looking for an inexpensive plotter. I can't say how it would hold up on heavy use 6-8 hours a day every day, I haven't had it that long, but it does a nice job and seems solidly built.

I tried exporting both eps and ai files from Corel to the Signcut software that comes with it, and it works. If you import a bitmap, this software will automatically trace it and open the resulting vector file with a warning that the quality may be less and that it's recommended that you import
vector based images and that ai format is preferred.

The program does allow you to set up our own sign files, entering text and so on but is without the frills of a more expensive program. One interesting thing is that instead of a dongle you need to have an internet connection while using it for security.

The plotter has a serial and a parallel port, includes a parallel cable and a USB to Serial adapter cable. I use the parallel cable since I have nothing else connected to it on that computer.

The retail price on the website is 1/5 the cost of what I paid for my last plotter and they can sometimes be bought for less than that on E-Bay, so
if you want to get started on cutting vinyl this may be a good choice.

[Dave Jones]

you need to have an internet connection while using it for security.

That's pretty odd. Do you have to print via that program, or is that just for creating image and you could print directly from a different program if the internet is not there.

The issues I see with requiring the internet is:

1 - what if your ISP is down one day? You can't use the plotter?

2 - If it is accessing a web site on the net to check security, and the company goes out of business or changes policies, then you can't use your machine anymore.

I personally would not buy a machine that only works if it has an internet connection to their site. That's far more restrictive than a dongle. If it's just a non-critical piece of included software, then that's not such a big deal. As long as you can live without it in the above scenarios.

[Joe Pelonio]

You can use whatever plotter software you want. I would consider it an entry level sign/design & cut package.

The software is not affiliated with the plotter maker other than they include it. You can buy a dongle version also, but it's close to $400 as opposed to free with the plotter, though there's a $100 certificate that can be out toward that.

There are programs available to plot directly from Corel, like Co-Cut.
The US Cutter website shows a corel driver that can be downloaded free, I have not tried that yet.