d0 a sEarch, n0000b! (Entry-level vinyl cutter?)

I like puttin vinyl on thangs.

Any recommendations for an entry level/mid level plotter with user-friendly software?

A vinyl guy at the Challenge recommended one...and where to get vinyl. But that was 2 or 3 years ago.

For Christmas I bought my wife a Cricut brand cutter from Joann's Fabrics. It's supposed to be able to cut vinyl, but I haven't tried it yet. I did see vinyl for as little as $1/sq.ft. on the Cricut website.

Cameo 3 or 4.

Both great, do NOT need proprietary bullE36 M3 like the cricuts do, usually available in a good starter pack with a bunch of vinyl and extra blades, cheap yet extremely functional.

The catch with cameo was a one time software upgrade, that you can get half price on the internet instead of through them, that lets you import files, so you can copy or modify other designs as well as your own. And I'm pretty sure the cameo 4 did away with that, might need to check with MNDSM for clarification.

You really, really want those "EXQUISITE HAND WHAMMIES" windshield banners in Cadillac script,  don't you?

I have not yet used the Cricut to cut vinyl since I haven't been able to come up with a Toiletbird Industries logo that I like.  But we have done a fair amount of paper and fabric cutting with it.  Their software may be proprietary, but it's pretty darned good.  After about five minutes of playing around in it we were getting great results.  The downside is the form factor that it can work with.  I think the biggest it will do is a sheet that's 12x24.

wae said:

I have not yet used the Cricut to cut vinyl since I haven't been able to come up with a Toiletbird Industries logo that I like.  But we have done a fair amount of paper and fabric cutting with it.  Their software may be proprietary, but it's pretty darned good.  After about five minutes of playing around in it we were getting great results.  The downside is the form factor that it can work with.  I think the biggest it will do is a sheet that's 12x24.

I think only the width is the limit.  Some friends of mine have a Cricut and it will do 5.5" x very, very long.  I'm not sure if that length is a length of roll limitation or software.

Honestly, that size seems small, but its perfect for 99% of racers who like to put stickers on things.

Please learn how to do this so I can bug you to make me a "vitesse chasseur" windshield banner for my next project.

I would be a little leery of buying a Cricut, it's not a standalone machine but is reliant on a cloud server that is available at the whim of the company.  They recently tried to make it a subscription service and got shouted down, but that just means they'll learn their lessons and be smarter next time.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/03/cricut-retroactively-adds-subscription-fee-to-millions-of-devices/

We have a Roland Stika SV-15 at work. It's been a solid little thing overall and has paid for itself a few dozen times over. It'll cut 15" wide vinyl which is widely available, max length of just over a yard. I did the signs on the side of our building with it as well as trailers and race cars and hundreds of windshield banners. It has a little brother called the SV-8 that would be a pretty handy home machine. There's one on eBay right now for under $400. Just make sure you get the CD with the software.

Keith Tanner said:

the CD with the software. 

What is this, America Online?! 

ProDarwin said:

Keith Tanner said:

the CD with the software. 

What is this, America Online?! 

That's what I thought when I threw ours out. Oops.

You can't really run it without the software, and the software is not free. You don't get another download because you pinky swear you had it once. I tried to get ours running on a Pi but Linux and printers...I may be able to get it going on a Windows box using the right open source stuff, but in the meantime I'm keeping a Win 7 machine alive and airgapped because it has the software.

I don't know how the software is distributed now, but the used one that's for sale on eBay clearly came with a CD.

Still on CD. $70.

Due to our license agreements for our software packages, we cannot offer free downloads. We can only offer software updates or a DVD version from the Roland DGA store. 

https://dgastore.rolanddga.com/product/roland-cutstudio-software-for-windows

Any of the generic vinyl cutters that use HPGL will work with inkscape.

Any other suggestions? Stuff that doesn't run on DOS? 

https://uscutter.com/34-mh-871-vinyl-cutter-value-kit-w-vinylmaster-design-cut-software/

In reply to poopshovel again :

https://signwarehouse.com/products/vinyl-express-r31-vinyl-cutter-lxi-apprentice-software

I have an older version of this setup, I used the software from my previous cutter but the sofware with this package is fine as well (I just dont like change)  This will get you started in a real setup for a reasonable price.  Despite having one of these my wife bought a Cricut......dont buy a cricut if you want to do anything serious in vinyl.

I have an older Silouhette Cameo. I've cut hundreds of feet of vinyl with it and made a couple hundred t-shirts as well. It's not pro-level stuff as it's limited to 12 inches wide by.... 10 feet? I don't really do anything over 4 feet so I'm not sure. It's finicky with very detailed stuff but as far as I can tell they all are. The software has gone through a couple revisions, all of them work and all of them pull in my old designs. You've probalby seen stuff I've cut at the Challenge more than once.