MaNaMiyUki

Hello,

I am very new to the T-shirt market and I want to invest some money into a vinyl cutter to make custom Tees. I wanted to know what model cutter people use, and what are the pros and cons of the machines that you use. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

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Chani

We have a Graphtec CE5000-60 and HIGHLY suggest it. You will read a lot on these forums about the Roland GX-24, but the Graphtec is a better VALUE in my opinion (along with several other people here). When you count the cost of a stand (which the Graphtec comes with) you're looking at a $500 price difference between the two machines (GX-24 being higher), which are basically capable of exactly the same things. Actually, on some sign sites, the Graphtec rates a little higher than the Roland.

If you're only planning on doing T-shirts, tho, and no signs, I'd suggest the Graphtec CE5000-40 CraftROBO Pro. It's the CE5000-60's little brother. It's basically the same machine, except that instead of cutting almost 24" wide, the CR Pro cuts about 15" wide and can accept media up to 19" wide.

If this is only a hobby for you, I can also suggest the CraftROBO CC200-20, which is just that, a hobby machine. It will only accept media up to about 8.5 or 9" wide, tho, which is fine for 8.5x11 inkjet or laser transfers.

I also suggest buying your machine at Specialty Graphics Supply

They offer the best price, a 5% T-Shirt Forums discount, and 10% off of all supplies for 30 days after you purchase your machine.

For the CC200-20, they also offer t-shirt vinyl cut into rolls that will fit that machine.

Good luck! If you have any questions at all about Graphtec machines feel free to ask.

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TeeGopher

 

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MaNaMiyUki

Can the Graphtec 24" C5000 also cut heat transfer images? or can it just cut vinyl. I saw that the 15" ROBO said that it was able to cut heat transfer sheets so I was just wondering if the 24" model was capable of the same thing. Thank you for the quick reply

 

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Chani

Yup!

The CE5000-60 also has the ARMS (Automatic Registration Mark Sensor) for contour-cutting transfers. Well, I'm sure they originally meant for it to cut printed stickers, but it handles t-shirt transfers just fine.

We have one, and we absolutely LOVE it!

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TeeGopher

 

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MaNaMiyUki

How about the actual vinyl? Is there any brand or a type of vinyl that you recommend over other types of brands? I was doing a search for vinyls I saw that there are all kinds of different vinyls.

 

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Chani

We've been using ThermoFlax Plus because of all of the vinyls we tried when we first started it seems to have the best "hand", or feel to it and the most available colors.

It hasn't been without its problems, tho. We've been having troubles with the first layer of our designs getting a little distorted. We're still not sure if that's the ThermoFlex Plus or the shirts themselves.

There are some vinyls that we haven't tried yet, and we'll be checking those out as well.

There are a couple of suppliers that will sell their vinyls by the foot, so you can buy just a few feet of several brands of vinyl and see what you like once you get a plotter.

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TeeGopher

 

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