720Mm - VS - 1350Mm Vinyl Cutting Machines

720mm - VS - 1350mm Vinyl Cutting Machines

OK – what is the difference between these two vinyl cutter machine sizes?

(1) The very first thing to do is ring your local vinyl supply shop – the one that that you will buy most of your consumables from when you have bought your new cutter (Yellow Pages should reveal several near you).

Ask them for a price on one meter of gloss black vinyl in both 610mm and 1200mm wide (these are the most common “off the shelf” sizes of vinyl).

You should find the 610mm will cost you between $4 and $7 depending on the brand and quality. You might be horrified to find the 1200mm will price at around $16~$19 a meter! Then ask your supplier what range of colours do they have in stock 1200mm wide? Don’t be surprised if the answer is “None!” or maybe a few common colours only.

(2) Next consider what you will use for application tape to actually prepare your work for application to the finished job. It normally comes in handy sizes around 300~600 wide. Yes, it is available 1200mm wide but almost all sign shops have these large rolls cut down to “manageable” sizes. Ask yourself why professional sign shops do this?

So you will find yourself patching application tape all over your nice 1200mm wide sign.

(3) Picture yourself (even with an off-sider) hanging on to a cut sign over one meter wide and perhaps two meters or more long, trying to apply it to the finished surface? Now multiply this difficulty by a factor of ten if you are attempting to apply this sign outside!

It is far easier to build up a larger sign with several smaller pieces – this is what every sign shop does! It is also safer because if you stuff up one section you only need to re-cut that one smaller piece – not the whole thing (again using expensive material).

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Simply put these larger machines are made for professional sign guys with many years experience. Even then the majority of them use a 720mm machine to do 95% of their work. They take up more floor space and do not perform the cutting job any better than a 720mm machine.

I won’t talk much about the few “in-between” sized machines as they can be classed as 1350mm for the purpose of this information sheet – actually they are nearly useless as the two standard vinyl material sizes are 610mm and 1200mm so you can still only use 610mm material in them anyway. I am at a loss to explain why the manufacturers even make them!

My advice if you are new to the field or only intend to make stickers or signs in your spare time is to stick with a 720mm machine, certainly until you have a few years experience. By then you will understand that you probably don’t need a 1350mm at all.

Yes, Katana Trading stocks 1350mm wide cutters. This information is provided to help you make an educated decision about which cutter to buy. If you can find a 1350mm at the same price as a 720mm and you have the floor space for it then go ahead and buy it!

Chances are you will never put a wide piece of vinyl through the machine! However it may have some use as a plotter for drawing in this width – again, paper size and availability should be investigated first.

For more valuable information see www.katanatrading.com