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Has anyone bought (or considered buying) a cutting plotter for their artwork needs?


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The other night I was thinking of stenciling some retro arcade artwork on something (and have done similar before to my arcade projects). I also have a pinball-pool project in need of some repainting/stenciling.

 

It occured to me that a printer which perforates adhesive vinyl would be great for making your own stencils for arcade/pinball restorations or retro artwork. A little bit of research suggests that these are called "Vinyl sign cutters" aka cutting plotters.

 

Here's one on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/121076013020?_trksid=p5197.c0.m619

 

Has anyone had any experience with similar machines, or considered this kind of thing for artwork?

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The other night I was thinking of stenciling some retro arcade artwork on something (and have done similar before to my arcade projects). I also have a pinball-pool project in need of some repainting/stenciling.

 

It occured to me that a printer which perforates adhesive vinyl would be great for making your own stencils for arcade/pinball restorations or retro artwork. A little bit of research suggests that these are called "Vinyl sign cutters" aka cutting plotters.

 

Here's one on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/121076013020?_trksid=p5197.c0.m619

 

I purchased a cutter to do my own artwork on EM titles and have since upgraded to a wider format Roland printer /cutter. I'd be careful with unknown brands which are relatively a lot cheaper. The wider the material you can cut the more expensive a cutter will be.

Has anyone had any experience with similar machines, or considered this kind of thing for artwork?

 

I purchased a cutter to do my own artwork on EM titles and have since upgraded to a wider format Roland printer /cutter. I'd be careful with unknown brands which are relatively a lot cheaper. The wider the material you can cut the more expensive a cutter will be.

I found the 'Roland GX-24 CAMM-1 Servo' excellent for the restos and decal cutting etc I have carried out over the years. The Roland software supplied though is very basic (Cut Studio), however there is a plug in for other CAD software e.g Corel which gives a lot more flexibility.

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Considering the cost of domestic printers these days I find these cutters quite pricey, at least for home use. I reckon there's a niche market here (perfect for Kickstarter) for a low-cost cutter suited to doing arcade/pinball stencils and decals.
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Considering the cost of domestic printers these days I find these cutters quite pricey, at least for home use. I reckon there's a niche market here (perfect for Kickstarter) for a low-cost cutter suited to doing arcade/pinball stencils and decals.

 

Domestic printers are sold WAY below cost. They "hope" to make the money from consumables.

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i had a need to get some signage about 5 years back and it was going to cost me just over $1k to have it done. buggar that, so i went and bought a creation vinyl cutter and a heap of vinyl for just under that amount and did the signage myself. i fire it up every now and then when i need something done in vinyl (or want to etch or sandblast a mirror or so many other things that vinyl can be used for like marquees with the right vinyl) and despite thinking i may sell it several times, i figure it doesnt really owe me anything and i'll spew next time i need something done.

the price they are now is very reasonable for what you get and can do. i reckon with a 3d printer, a wide format printer and a laser (hi mike), i wouldnt have to get anything done outside the house :)

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I considered buying one about 12mths ago. Didn't think at the end of the day that I'd use it enough, so I just cut things by hand :redface

 

 

I know of one other AAer who came to the same conclusion Mick. $350odd is not expensive for what it is, but you need to get a certain amount of use out of it before it stacks up.

Dave

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Mrs foot is into scrap booking and has a craft robo .

 

It will cut stencils no worries in paper, cardboard and laminate sheets.

 

The software that it came with wasn't the best but I'm sure it handles cad files etc

 

Hers is about 5 plus years old and there are new models now which are bound to have better software

 

I used it on My Firepower restore to cut circles for inserts and the flames around the pop bumpers and the firepower wording under the flippers.

 

It can do any font you can download as well

 

Only does up to A4 but I see there is a craft robo pro that might do a bigger size

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