Cricut, best in price range?

[EJBusch]

Hey all, I'm into dyeing but thus far have only been doing hand cuts. I enjoy it but wish I could do more complex designs without it requiring oodles of time and then after all that lacking the precision I might get from a machine.

So I'm looking at plotters, but only if I can get one at a reasonable price. I know that many people end up making their money back on their plotter by creating car decals, dyes, etc for others and that's certainly an option, but even still I'm not sure I need to go all out right away.

The Cricut Explore Air has dropped from $299 to $229 at JoAnn (Two in stock at my store down the road, no less) and that feels like a great deal. http://www.joann.com/cricut-explore-air-machine/14142350.html

I have seen that some people use this and seem to have some pretty good success with it. Does anyone here have this or have any experience with it? Is it pretty good for also printing things like car decals/stickers etc? If so I could also use it with my local charity org and that would be great!

Additionally, the Cricut seems to be pretty friendly and can even print from an iPad. That's not a bad thing for me either.

Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[C_Dub]

I got one of these about a month ago. I did a ton of research and found that, in this price range, this was the best reviewed machine I could find.

http://www.amazon.com/USCutter-Viny...=UTF8&qid=1442481104&sr=8-1&keywords=uscutter

I have been rather happy with it. It cuts right out of the box, is really easy to set up, and the software works great. You can design in the software itself, or get the script plug in and export from Illustrator (which is what I do) or Corel Draw (which I didn't even know still existed, but apparently is still a thing in the vinyl community). Compatible with both Mac and PC (I am on a Mac and can confirm). Getting the blade depth perfect is challenging at first, but you definitely want to get it right, or your more intricate designs will be a b!tch to weed. Seriously. You are going to burn a bit of vinyl learning how to get this right, but it is worth it in the end.

The stand with rollers works perfectly. I have been running 24" Oracal 631, which is great because I can run 2 cuts side by side on 12 linear " of material. I have also run 12" material. I haven't had any feeding issues with either. Having a machine with a stand and material rollers is something that you should DEFINITELY consider. I could not imagine having a cutter that sat on a desk and had to have room fore and aft for the sheet of material to go back and forth, let alone not being able to use rolls and having to align a new sheet for every cut. No way.

Good luck no matter what you end up going with.

 

[C_Dub]

Oh, and to answer your other question, you can cut car decals (I would use Oracal 651 for these as it is a thicker, more durable material made for use outdoors), heat press vinyl for T-shirts, etc., or any other media made to feed through a vinyl cutter.

 

[EJBusch]

I got one of these about a month ago. I did a ton of research and found that, in this price range, this was the best reviewed machine I could find.

http://www.amazon.com/USCutter-Viny...=UTF8&qid=1442481104&sr=8-1&keywords=uscutter

I have been rather happy with it. It cuts right out of the box, is really easy to set up, and the software works great. You can design in the software itself, or get the script plug in and export from Illustrator (which is what I do) or Corel Draw (which I didn't even know still existed, but apparently is still a thing in the vinyl community). Compatible with both Mac and PC (I am on a Mac and can confirm). Getting the blade depth perfect is challenging at first, but you definitely want to get it right, or your more intricate designs will be a b!tch to weed. Seriously. You are going to burn a bit of vinyl learning how to get this right, but it is worth it in the end.

The stand with rollers works perfectly. I have been running 24" Oracal 631, which is great because I can run 2 cuts side by side on 12 linear " of material. I have also run 12" material. I haven't had any feeding issues with either. Having a machine with a stand and material rollers is something that you should DEFINITELY consider. I could not imagine having a cutter that sat on a desk and had to have room fore and aft for the sheet of material to go back and forth, let alone not being able to use rolls and having to align a new sheet for every cut. No way.

Good luck no matter what you end up going with.

So certainly it is maybe much more machine at $60 more dollars than the Cricut (actually closer to $100 more after a JoAnn coupon)

I am curious as to how different it is to run 24"x12" rather than 12"x24"

That is the biggest difference between these two machines, correct? The Cricut is perhaps more "ready to go" out of the box?

Could you speak any more to possible pros and cons? To me being able to go to a store and get the Cricut is an advantage, particularly at $100 cheaper. I like the fact that I could easily return it if there is an issue, and getting parts, etc. would be easy as well.

It looks like the USCutter can cut 8' long, which is quite impressive and incredible but... I don't see myself needing more than the 11.5"x24" the Cricut allows.

 

[C_Dub]

So certainly it is maybe much more machine at $60 more dollars than the Cricut (actually closer to $100 more after a JoAnn coupon)

I am curious as to how different it is to run 24"x12" rather than 12"x24"

That is the biggest difference between these two machines, correct? The Cricut is perhaps more "ready to go" out of the box?

Could you speak any more to possible pros and cons? To me being able to go to a store and get the Cricut is an advantage, particularly at $100 cheaper. I like the fact that I could easily return it if there is an issue, and getting parts, etc. would be easy as well.

It looks like the USCutter can cut 8' long, which is quite impressive and incredible but... I don't see myself needing more than the 11.5"x24" the Cricut allows.

The length of the material doesn't matter. It's the width. I use 24" vinyl so that I can cut 2 designs side by side, so it just means I can buy a long roll and not have to load material as often. Also, if you are planning on doing stickers, etc. the ability to use wider vinyl will allow you to gang more designs together on a single sheet.

Having not used the Cricut, it is tough to say. The USCutter is going to probably be a bit more heavy duty, as it is made as an entry level industrial machine. It uses Roland blades, which are industry standard, and for me anyway, having it sit on a stand with rollers for the vinyl would be the deal breaker for me. You really want the vinyl to be able to freely move back and forth, and when the thing is sitting on your desk, it is going to take up quite a bit of room.

I don't know if you are exporting from a pro vector program like Illustrator, or if you are going to use the included software, but if you are, make sure the Cricut can import the files from the app you are using. Because of all of the various things it does (printing, scoring, cutting) the software might be proprietary, which since I am an Illustrator user, would make this worthless.

 

[EJBusch]

The length of the material doesn't matter. It's the width. I use 24" vinyl so that I can cut 2 designs side by side, so it just means I can buy a long roll and not have to load material as often. Also, if you are planning on doing stickers, etc. the ability to use wider vinyl will allow you to gang more designs together on a single sheet.

Having not used the Cricut, it is tough to say. The USCutter is going to probably be a bit more heavy duty, as it is made as an entry level industrial machine. It uses Roland blades, which are industry standard, and for me anyway, having it sit on a stand with rollers for the vinyl would be the deal breaker for me. You really want the vinyl to be able to freely move back and forth, and when the thing is sitting on your desk, it is going to take up quite a bit of room.

I don't know if you are exporting from a pro vector program like Illustrator, or if you are going to use the included software, but if you are, make sure the Cricut can import the files from the app you are using. Because of all of the various things it does (printing, scoring, cutting) the software might be proprietary, which since I am an Illustrator user, would make this worthless.

I think you've sold me on USCutter. Question now is which one and where from?

This looks to be the same one but a slightly larger width and is a great price: http://www.uscutter.com/34inch-MH-Series-Vinyl-Cutter-w-Sure-Cuts-A-Lot-Pro-Design-Cut-Software

Am I correct?

 

[mcodyclapp]

http://www.uscutter.com/USCutter-MH-Series-Vinyl-Cutter-w-Sure-Cuts-A-Lot-Pro-Design-Cut-Software

If you're not looking to cut large designs, the 14" works like a charm. Plenty large for cutting disc dye designs. Built like a tank and easy to use. Also comes with some decent software. I got one for Christmas last year and absolutely love it.

EDIT: The link he posted is the same model, just the larger version. For the money, if you have room for it, the larger one would be a better investment.

 

[C_Dub]

I think you've sold me on USCutter. Question now is which one and where from?

This looks to be the same one but a slightly larger width and is a great price: http://www.uscutter.com/34inch-MH-Series-Vinyl-Cutter-w-Sure-Cuts-A-Lot-Pro-Design-Cut-Software

Am I correct?

http://www.amazon.com/USCutter-Vinyl-Cutter-Plotter-Stand/dp/B003D22H26/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1442481104&sr=8-1&keywords=uscutter

That's the one I have. MH-741 cuts up to 24" vinyl. The larger one wouldn't have been of any additional value to me. That's for sign guys. Either of the 2 smaller sizes would be fine for doing disc stencils. Jut depends on how much you want to spend and how much room you have.

I just want to stress getting one with a stand / media rollers.

 

[EJBusch]

Would the larger one feed the smaller vinyls? I don't think space is a huge factor but the fact that the 36" is cheaper than the 24" is probably why I'm leaning that way. If the vinyl HAS to be that wide then it may be a deal breaker.

 

[mcodyclapp]

No, it has multiple roller arms in the back to hold the vinyl in place, so it will feed anything UP TO 36".

 

[EJBusch]

That's good news. I'll probably snag the 36" and some vinyl to learn with! Hopefully their shipping isn't too slow! Itching to try it out

 

[C_Dub]

Would the larger one feed the smaller vinyls? I don't think space is a huge factor but the fact that the 36" is cheaper than the 24" is probably why I'm leaning that way. If the vinyl HAS to be that wide then it may be a deal breaker.

You can load the smaller vinyl on the larger machine. The guide rollers are adjustable.