[IsaYAHu26]

Hi

I am a freelance Graphic Designer looking to get my own vinyl cutter. I am trying to budget and start with something small. I called a supply house here in Chicago, and they told me about the KNK Zing 14"Cutter.

Is this a good machine to start off with?

I will be doing small vinyl jobs with it.

Thanks,

IsaYAH

 

[dazzabling]

Hi

I am a freelance Graphic Designer looking to get my own vinyl cutter. I am trying to budget and start with something small. I called a supply house here in Chicago, and they told me about the KNK Zing 14"Cutter.

Is this a good machine to start off with?

I will be doing small vinyl jobs with it.

Thanks,

IsaYAH

Yes, its the perfect small cutter. It can take a 15inch tube of vinyl. There is an optional stand and it has rollers. It has several accessories that are available and its very lightweight. The software is very easy to use and requires minimal training.

I use mine for scraps since it comes with 12 x 12 sticky mats so you can utilize all your vinyl.

 

[grooveegrl]

I have one as well. Works fine for small jobs.

 

[calhtech]

Yes, its the perfect small cutter. It can take a 15inch tube of vinyl. There is an optional stand and it has rollers. It has several accessories that are available and its very lightweight. The software is very easy to use and requires minimal training.

I use mine for scraps since it comes with 12 x 12 sticky mats so you can utilize all your vinyl.

Can you import from say Corel?

 

[dazzabling]

Can you import from say Corel?

not .cdr formats but many others

.ai
.pdf
.eps

the software is Make the Cut! Make the Cut!™ - Offical Website - Greatest cutter software yet created!

 

[IsaYAHu26]

Thanks on the feed back. I'm really liking what I see on this little cutter. It has a versatility that I think it's priceless for it's price.

I also checked out the US Cutter MH, and SC series. Also very cost effective.

Wondering if with the US cutters I'll be able to cut directly from AI?

 

[bykati]

I absolutely LOVE my Zing! Like everyone here has said, the software is great and not hard to learn, even for a newbie like myself . It's great to work with, quiet, portable and fun to use.

 

[studio772]

I bought one for $399. However, I am not sure it was the best deal for the money. I have seen some cheaper and that may work as good or better. What I do not like about this cutter is a few things that may just be that I am doing something wrong. One is no buttons on the cutter. It only has one button a power button. Two is I do not like setting the origin in software due to the fact that this cutter goes does not stop at that origin point. which makes re-cutting something you can not do. the laser is cool and most of you printable media will be 8.5"X 11" to 13" X 19" depending on what printer you are using this cutter will work fine for that heat or sublimation and printable vinyl media. What I think I really hate is there is no test cut button or I have not found one in the make the cut software that comes with it. That would be number three no test cut ability. I hope this helps.

 

[grooveegrl]

You can do test cuts. Click on the "Connected (com #)" button and it will bring up a test cut option.

Here's a helpful link:

Where are the 'test' designs - Make The Cut! Forum

 

[studio772]

Thanks I found that. You know that one little tip made me like this little unit even more. I used it with sticky flock and it does a great job. Used it with vinyl wall vinyl and the mat and found that with wall vinyl or t-shirt vinyl you most likely do not need the mat. However, with scraps that do not have the backing it would be great. I have not tried it yet on those kinds of scraps. However, that is what I bought it for. I also love the laser function and the MTC software. Hey,one thing I found is the cricket mats work on this machine. The zing is a good machine. Nice tool to have to cut loss and portable.

 

[AnneRene]

Has anyone cut the GlitterFlex Ultra vinyl? I would like to know the settings for that. Thanks!

 

[SandyMcC]

Has anyone cut the GlitterFlex Ultra vinyl? I would like to know the settings for that. Thanks!

Chad at KNK USA just tested it out for you on the Zing. These are the settings he used:

Force = 30
Multicut = 1
Cut speed = 10
standard material blade

I will get these added to the next update of recommended settings in the Zing User Manual. I'm glad you asked!

 

[SandyMcC]

I bought one for $399. However, I am not sure it was the best deal for the money. I have seen some cheaper and that may work as good or better. What I do not like about this cutter is a few things that may just be that I am doing something wrong. One is no buttons on the cutter. It only has one button a power button. Two is I do not like setting the origin in software due to the fact that this cutter goes does not stop at that origin point. which makes re-cutting something you can not do. the laser is cool and most of you printable media will be 8.5"X 11" to 13" X 19" depending on what printer you are using this cutter will work fine for that heat or sublimation and printable vinyl media. What I think I really hate is there is no test cut button or I have not found one in the make the cut software that comes with it. That would be number three no test cut ability. I hope this helps.

I see someone pointed out the test cut menu. That's good! I'm trying to get Andy to make that a short cut key... F6 (or whatever) so that it's faster to bring up when you are in the cut window.

When you need to do repeats and you want to use the same origin you just used, click on Use Last in the window where you set the origin and it will return to that same point. I use that constantly! : ) And if you need to tweak it a bit, you can still do that from that "use last" position. This should save you a LOT of time.

 

[mfatty500]

Like anything else you must experience on your own, that being said, listen to Sandy, she's like E.F. Hutton, she speaks you listen. ( If your old enough to remember E.F. Hutton)

 

[Dragon Slayer]

I just got my new Zing on Wednesday. I am having a difficult time figuring out exactly where the edge of the file is going to cut. The virtual mat seems smaller on the screen than it actually is. I am cutting in landscape. I am using knife point and putting the laser exactly where I wanted to test cut a rhinestone test and half was on the flock and half on the mat. I put the laser in the far right SE corner with all the flock material to be cut to the north. Picture this if you will, the on/off button is on the east and north is where the power cord plugs in.

 

[SandyMcC]

You do not use the laser light for setting the origin in Knife Point mode. You use the tip of the blade (aka knife point). There are some videos linked in the on-line user manual that might help:

KNK Zing Support Page | Digital Die Cutting With Sandy McCauley

Refer to Section 2.07. Also, feel free to contact me directly with Zing questions, if you like. My email is [email protected].

 

[DancingBay]

The tutorials they recommend you go through have you use the ball point pen to do a bunch of cuts just so you know where everything will cut in what settings. Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty straight forward.

If your pinch wheels won't stay up, just take a phillips head screw driver and tighten the screws on the take u levers. This happened to me after about a year.