Trace and cut for wall art

[59viper]

Been going for a year now with my T shirts and thought i would edge out into wall art, I am looking at the usual economy large cutters as i simply cannot afford a Graphtec or Roland. My question is do any of the cheaper cutters trace and cut? By that i mean taking a vector image from Shutterstock and tracing it then cutting it, Believe me if my first year had gone better i would be buying a good industry standard machine but it is just not an option. I am looking at a Mh721 at the moment but specs are sketchy and i can find little on YouTube and the like. Thanks in advance.

[webtrekker]

I don't understand what you mean by tracing and cutting a vector image. Do you mean converting a bitmap image to a vector image which you can then cut? All vector images, whether from Shutterstock or not, are already in the correct format for cutting and should just need resizing and positioning. It all depends on what software you use to drive the cutter.

I have an 18" Silver Bullet with SCAL 4 software. SB's are available in 24" widths too. They are superb cutters for the price and have a 'laser-type' red dot system for alignment, making them super accurate. The latest models have a camera built in so that you can see the dot and the registration marks enlarged on-screen for easy alignment.

Support from Thyme Graphics is second to none. They have a range of cutting blades for different materials (30, 45 and 60 degrees) and standard and detail blade holders. You can also fit embossing, engraving and punch tools instead of the blade. Pens, pencils, Sharpies and glue pens can also be used instead of a blade.

Cutting force is variable up to 1.25kg, and cutting speed up to 800mm/sec. They have an excellent 'Repeat' feature to repeat exactly a cut that hasn't gone deep enough at the first attempt, thereby reducing the need to scrap media.

You can pick these up second hand in very good, hardly used condition.

[59viper]

Hi, thanks for that. I suppose i am showing my inexperience but if i don't ask i don't learn. What i am getting confused about is when i see online videos its all mostly for cutting transfers and registration marks are required, i want to cut wall art images, do i assume i just resize it and send to the cutter and it cuts? Depending on what software is being used of course, can you recommend software for the SB? i will look for one. Thanks again for your input.

[webtrekker]

If you're simply contour cutting and don't need to align the contours with printed artwork, then yes, you simply send your design to the cutter without the need for printed registration marks. The cutter will cut what's shown on your screen. You can set cutter speed and force through the software.

I use SCAL 4 (Sure Cuts A Lot from Craftedge) as my preferred software, but others I know use SignCut or even cut directly from Inkscape. I like the layout options of SCAL though and the ability to either design vector artwork from scratch or to tweak imported artwork.

The SB is a solid beast, very robust and not as tinny or toylike as the Cameo cutters. It has four moveable rubber rollers which never allow the work to slip. Blades are manufactured in the UK and cost around £10 for a new blade last time I looked. It's got to be at least 9 months since I last replaced a blade!

Connection is via USB cable to a pc, Mac or laptop. Once you have sent a job to the cutter, a press of the 'Repeat' button will cut the job again, as may times as you like. You can also Pause a job and manually alter speed, force, etc if needed. It's not only a vinyl cutter, though it does that job brilliantly, but can be used to cut many types of media: paper, card, mylar or acetate (for stencils), thin balsa or chipboard, magnetic sheet and many others. You can use the embossing tool on leather, thin metal, card, acetate etc. and the engraving tool on metal or acetate.

I'll let you know if any come up for sale on the member's forum.

[59viper]

Well thank you for ending my days of searching, i should have posted this earlier. You have answered all my questions in one go, that's why i have always said this place is a bargain for a Tenner a year.

[webtrekker]

Well thank you for ending my days of searching, i should have posted this earlier. You have answered all my questions in one go, that's why i have always said this place is a bargain for a Tenner a year.

I should add that the support forum for the SB is private and for SB owners only. If you buy a second hand machine Dawn, (who owns Thyme Graphics and runs the forum), will enrol you as a member, and in there you will find answers to any questions you may have and unrivalled help from the many members. It's the best support forum I've ever known. Dawn even runs weekend workshops (called 'Retreats'), twice a year where you can spend 2 days making up the examples with expert supervision. They are based in Derby though, so may be a bit of a travel for you.

Have a look around the website, particularly at the Gallery photos - https://www.thymegraphics.co.uk/

[59viper]

Thanks for that :biggrin: