[Lab] Cricut & other cutters (was Re: Lab Digest, Vol 39, Issue 29)

[j ross]

Have a look here for a decent selection across price ranges: (Hobby to Pro)

http://signsupplycanada.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=41

I believe that the "Master VC2000" etc. falls into the so-called "Cheap
Chinese" category. That doesn't mean it's not a good value - it's a great
price and fills the gap nicely between the 12" Silhouette and the Graphtec
Pro machines.  I'd be very curious to see it in action.  The software
especially.  The YouTube demos I've seen don't give me a very "warm and
fuzzy" when it comes to software - especially compared to the Silhouette
Cameo which can work with SVG's (after the $50 software upgrade).

Anyone own a Master VC2000?

Jeff


On Tue, May 28, 2013 at 3:42 PM, Paul & Andrea Mumby <themumbys at gmail.com>wrote:

> Ultimately the same thing, though how cheap is cheap? When we looked into
> it, to find a decent wider format cutter, even the chinese import ones were
> more expensive than the Silhouette was from Michaels.
>
> (just curious if we missed any possible options lol)
>
> - Paul
>
>
> On Tue, May 28, 2013 at 3:36 PM, Darcy Whyte <darcy at siteware.com> wrote:
>
>> What about those cheap machines you find in ebay under vinyl cutter?
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Darcy Whyte
>>
>> Art+ inventorArtist.com | Aviation rubber-power.com | Software Since '88
>> siteware.com | Contact: darcy at siteware.com | 613-563-3634 by appointment
>> | Canada N 45° 25'03.1" W 75° 42'21.4"
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, May 28, 2013 at 2:04 PM, Paul & Andrea Mumby <themumbys at gmail.com
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> Yes the Cricut is VERY vendor locked. A few third parties even released
>>> software which allowed cutting of generic SVG files on it via it's USB
>>> interface. And Provocraft (the manufacturer) sued those companies over it.
>>> Limiting your options to only their cartridges which are rediculously
>>> expensive.
>>>
>>> We had a Cricut for a couple years, and used it with the third party
>>> software, but once they shut that down we had to look at alternatives. (by
>>> the way I still have a 24" Cricut that I'll be putting up for sale soon, if
>>> anyone's interested lol)
>>>
>>> My Wife has the Silhouette machine now, and it's quite nice. The
>>> software for it is free, and works with an online store with a wide
>>> selection of designs. And also lets you create your own designs with
>>> drawing tools, or by importing images and "tracing" them and so on. But for
>>> an extra $50 you can buy the "Pro" software which lets you import generic
>>> SVG art from hundreds of sources on the net.
>>>
>>> Also one nice feature the Silhouette has is "print and cut" which lets
>>> you print on an inkjet, and it has an optical sensor that lets it detect
>>> registration marks, and accurately cut out the printed image.
>>>
>>> Considering the Silhouette is in the same approximate price as the
>>> Cricut, I'd say it's far more value for a hobbyist.
>>>
>>> (the one we have is the 24" model, and yes it will work with vinyl as
>>> well as other materials).
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, May 28, 2013 at 1:57 PM, Andrew Plumb <andrew at plumb.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 2013-05-28, at 1:47 PM, John Nicol wrote:
>>>>
>>>>  Hi,
>>>>
>>>> Have you looked at the Cricut?  http://www.cricut.com/home/
>>>>
>>>> This is a hobby machine that cuts stencils and I believe has a large
>>>> format version as well.  I also saw a machine in a hobby shop in the US
>>>> that was for fabric stencil creation for screen printing.  Can't remember
>>>> what it was called, sorry.
>>>>
>>>> John
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Maybe it was one of the (older) CraftROBO or (newer) Silhouette
>>>> machines by Graphtec that you saw?
>>>>
>>>> http://www.graphteccorp.com/craftrobo/
>>>> http://www.silhouetteamerica.com/
>>>>
>>>> They tend not to be as vendor locked-in as the Cricut system with its
>>>> proprietary cartridges.
>>>>
>>>> Andrew.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>>
>>>> "The future is already here.  It's just not very evenly distributed" --
>>>> William Gibson
>>>>
>>>> Me: http://clothbot.com/wiki/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Lab mailing list
>>>> 1. subscribe http://artengine.ca/mailman/listinfo/lab
>>>> 2. then email Lab at artengine.ca
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Lab mailing list
>>> 1. subscribe http://artengine.ca/mailman/listinfo/lab
>>> 2. then email Lab at artengine.ca
>>>
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Lab mailing list
> 1. subscribe http://artengine.ca/mailman/listinfo/lab
> 2. then email Lab at artengine.ca
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://artengine.ca/pipermail/lab/attachments/20130528/7d0140c9/attachment.html>