This may be in the wrong place, please feel free to move. I've been looking for a vinyl plotter/cutter to cut sandblasting masks. Any comments or suggestions on this machine would be appreciated. https://www.amazon.com/Graphtec-CE60...dblasting+mask
This may be in the wrong place, please feel free to move. I've been looking for a vinyl plotter/cutter to cut sandblasting masks. Any comments or suggestions on this machine would be appreciated. https://www.amazon.com/Graphtec-CE60...dblasting+mask
boy, the prices of vinyl cutters sure have come down--
That said, when I checked out the Graftec, the first machine below in the 'related products' is a US Cutter machine for all of $370- If all you're going to do with it is make sandblast stencils, the cheap machine will work just fine...
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ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
FOUR - CO2 lasers
THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
ONE - vinyl cutter
CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle
The first question I would ask is what are you using for the sandblast mask? Is it a paint mask for simple blasting or are you using a thick rubber mask (Anchor type)? The Graphtec may handle the rubber mask but the US Cutter may not.
Real Mercier
Epilog Mini 24 - 45 W
Roland PNC1000
CorelDraw X3
FlexiSign 7.6
That US cutter shows 350 grams max downforce, that's nearly 8/10ths of a pound; that and the right cutter should do it-- but yes, asking the seller would be a good idea
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ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
FOUR - CO2 lasers
THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
ONE - vinyl cutter
CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle
My Graphtec cost $4,400 back about 2004, and I have cut a lot of Anchor stencil for sandblasted wood signs on it. I haven’t used it in a few years but it was still working well, and when I had the sign business it was cutting vinyl every day for 6-8 hours. It was my 3rd plotter, and none of the other two lasted more than 4-5 years.
Sammamish, WA
Epilog Legend 24TT 45W, had a sign business for 17 years, now just doing laser work on the side.
"One only needs two tools in life: WD-40 to make things go, and duct tape to make them stop." G. Weilacher
"The handyman's secret weapon - Duct Tape" R. Green
I searched for "Sandblast Resist" material and came up with this and it's 8mil or about .320 thick. http://www.whittemoredurgin.com/7271-vinyl-resist-12in
Is that right or am I misreading the info?
8 mil isn't 8 millimeters, it's 8 mils. That's about .008" of an inch thick.
If you guys are frightened off by the $1700 one, don't look at a Summa Cutting thick masks, for doing things like bricks, you'd want the Anchor rubber masks. For those, a drag knife will struggle. A tangential knife helps a lot. The knife direction is controlled by a computer, not which way it's being dragged. When it gets to the end of a cut, it lifts the blade out, rotates it to the new line angle and goes back down. Doing small text on rubber mask with a drag knife is going to make someone very unhappy
Then again, our Summa's list price was about $10,000.
Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
Printers : Mimaki UJF-6042 UV Flatbed Printer , HP Designjet L26500 61" Wide Format Latex Printer, Summa S140-T 48" Vinyl Plotter
Router : ShopBot 48" x 96" CNC Router Rotary Engravers : (2) Xenetech XOT 16 x 25 Rotary Engravers
Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.
Ok I had a talk with my "inner tightwad" and decided on the Graphtec machine mentioned at the beginning of this thread. I'll be using it for wine glasses, etc and possibly for ageing/distressing wood which seem appropriate based on your comments. If bricks come up enough to make sense then I'll look at the $10k machine, lol. Thanks to all who responded!
Steve
I bought mine--same model-- from this company. https://www.coastalbusiness.com/vinyl-cutters.html
Look into the vinyl for apparel as well. It's easy.
The machine is a good one. I sold mine when I downsized but it's still in use and works very well. Graphtec is good stuff.
Mike Null
St. Louis Laser, Inc.
Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
Gravograph IS400
Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
Dye Sublimation
CorelDraw X5, X7
Totally the wrong machine to do masks for wine glasses. That’s photopolymer type masks. We do that too. Done 1000’s and 1000’s of them. We have a 400 piece glass order in house now. Done with Ikonics photoresist mask. You can make a dozen or so masks in 3 minutes. Google Ikonics sandblasting. All you need is the box of film to print the negative on in a laser printer or inkjet printer. Then you expose the film in a UV light source and it’s done. A zillion times easier than cutting and weeding masks.
Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
Printers : Mimaki UJF-6042 UV Flatbed Printer , HP Designjet L26500 61" Wide Format Latex Printer, Summa S140-T 48" Vinyl Plotter
Router : ShopBot 48" x 96" CNC Router Rotary Engravers : (2) Xenetech XOT 16 x 25 Rotary Engravers
Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.