# Signgo Pro Print-Cut



## larry30000 (Dec 20, 2006)

Hello All,

First post here!!! 

Anyone using this software with the manual print cut method. Don't want to shell out the big bucks for optical registration. 

Seen few 36" cutter's with with SignGo Pro go for under $400.00 on ebay. Cutter will be used mostly for vinyl with a few heat transfers to cut.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Welcome to the T-Shirt Forums!

Hopefully someone with this software will see your post and be able to offer an answer


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## foxesfarm (Dec 30, 2006)

I love cutting with signgo pro. i don't have a printer/cutter, just cutter/plotter. But my 32" master cutter works well with signgo pro. I paid twice what you say you can get one for. I'm not sure how much of a machine you can get for $400, the signgo pro software


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## larry30000 (Dec 20, 2006)

You can print out of Signgo to a color printer with marks, then put on cutter and do a manual reading of the marks for the cut path so the manual says.

Have you tried this method?

Also Signgo Pro & 36" Master Cutter paid 375.00 + $90 ship from DESAY USA on ebay hope it works.


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## foxesfarm (Dec 30, 2006)

No, my cutter doesn't have an optical reader for the marks. Hopefully someone else has tried it.


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## cottagecraftsmen (Oct 28, 2006)

Most sign makers have found out that these super cheap Chinese cutters like Master aren't worth the hassle. Why would someone pay $1,500 or more for a Roland or Graphtec 24" plotter when they can get a Master 30" cutter for half that??? 
If it sounds too good to be true...
You get what you pay for...

I have a Roland CX-300 that is plotting 30-40 hours per week, since 2002. I paid $2,800 for that plotter and I could sell it tomorrow for $1,500 in a heartbeat, despite the high mileage it has. 

I used to do some plots for someone in the area with a Master plotter when he was having trouble. He was out of business within a year.

Another old saying, Some people have to learn the hard way.


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## foxesfarm (Dec 30, 2006)

wow, bummer for your freind. I run mine about 10-20 hours a week, because I got it for something to do between massage sessions. Cant' massage 40 hours a week or my hands would fall off. I can't fathom paying that much. It only cost me $1,500 for my total startup costs. Although all profits over expenses went towards a wider variety of supplies for 2 months. I only had constant trouble when I tried to use a usb to serial adaptor. When I got an older Windows XP with a parrallel port, it worked fine. With the adaptor, it "went mad" and destroyed the job it was cutting every few cutting jobs.

Yeah, they say the master is loud. I can live with that. They say it's slow. Well, I can't weed as fast as it cuts, so for a one-man shop, I don't see the problem. I have one cut wrecked every few weeks, and at that price, I'll do fine. Not everyone needs a Cadilac. I cut vinyl signs, paint and sandblast stencils, and even score leather to speed up my hand tooling process. I no longer trace elements from a photo by hand onto leather or glass for a present, just have the cutter do it. Then I etch or tool it by hand. I'm happy with this.

If you're small, and have other things to do, the cheap ones are fine, and allow you to buy a wider variety of materials to stock, and other tools for the same money. I don't always go cheap on the knives, though. I've bought real Rolands, and some cheap ones to compare them too. i still use Rolands for the 60 degree knives for cutting thick sandblasting stock, small details, and scoring leather. They seem to hold up better to those extreme substances. They don't seem do any better when i cut out flexible magnetic sheeting, though. Maybe it's less abrasive.

I do get tired of hearing my cutter trashed on forums. I've had it a year. and think it's ok.

Wait, i don't think it even cuts for 10 hours a week. I work on stuff with the cutter for 20 hours a week, but when design, weeding, applying transfer tape, then applying a design to something is factored in, I think the machine only actually runs about 3-4 hours a week. Good for you, to run the cutter 30-40 hours a week, your business must be doing very well. Maybe I can afford to hire somone for weeding someday, but I don't see it happening. I can't sell a used master for $1,500, but I bet I could sell one for a couple of hundered, if it still works well. What i had trouble selling was 3 unknown cutters I bought straight from the manufacturer. So i traded them for masters at duluth sign supply. I should be able to sell the 2 extras now. When the sign business was doing so well that I turned work away, I went slightly mad and bought 3 GoldenSign cutters straight from the manufacturer. Really nice machines, but a stupid impulse on my part. i couldn't provide local support, so couldn't re-sell them.

Yup, if I had the money and inclination to set up a full scale sign-tshirt shop with employees, advertising, etc, then I'd buy a fancy cutter. I just don't see the point in a small shop. Unless I was printing stuff, then cutting it out. Then the only reason would be to get one with an electric eye to see the cutter reference points. I liked the suggestion that one t-shirt maker put on here. Just print a detailed background, and close trimming isn't necessary. Clever. Won't cover every contingency, but those few I can send accross town where someone can.

Both massage and making things with my cutter are really just a way to get paid the equivelant of a good wage for doing my hobbies full time. I don't consider this something to build into a larger business. Partly because I don't want to manage employees or worry about renting a larger space, and partly because there's already places that size in my city. Different strokes for different folks.


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## cottagecraftsmen (Oct 28, 2006)

I seriously doubt the Master could make a 6' decal and get two colors in registration. From what I've seen, they track horribly. As for weeding... you can weed faster than any plotter, just look at this...

Hardware: Weeder Sheeter vinyl sign weeding and taping system


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## sandrwv (Aug 14, 2006)

How can I find out more about the Roland and can you add more then 2 colors to the art work


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## foxesfarm (Dec 30, 2006)

Well, i've never done a 6' long 2 color. Don't want to, it's not what i make. I make signs for farmers, signs on cars and trucks. So it's not an issue for me. Especially since I cut lots of stencils, and also use it for leather crafts and now t-shirts. T-shirts are not 6' long, neither is the tooling leather for custom motorcycle bags, wallets, or jewlery box tops.

Weeding machine, eh? More money spent again. Might be worth it. A tape applicator is an even better idea for time saving.

I've heard that the weeders don't do that well. They save lots of weeding time, but not on small letters/details, and you have to be prepared to cut it again. Have you found one that doesn't have such troubles? At only a couple of hundered dollars, it's something worth looking into, although it would use more space.

All I'm saying is that not everyone needs the expensive one. I make $30.00 an hour, even weeding by hand. In duluth, that's great pay. My full business, with machinery, computers, and stock cost $1,500 to start up plus 2 months work before I got to keep the profits for myself. Since everybody keeps saying it takes 1-3 years to build a business before making a living at it, I'm pretty happy. Mind you, I already had office space, as there was an extra room in my massage therapy office, but this could have been done from my basement, too. If someone asks for something I can't do, I send them to another. I still have plenty of work, and don't have to fiddle with stuff i can't do or don't want. Fewer startup worries, less risked.

Still happy that you are doing well and have lots of nice machines and enough work to keep a cutter going 30-40 hours a week. Wow, i'm still impressed at how busy that is. Don't want it, but impressed none the less.


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## foxesfarm (Dec 30, 2006)

oh, yeah, you can use as many colors as you want. you just have to cut each one out seperately, then line them up when you apply the graphic.


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## foxesfarm (Dec 30, 2006)

For Graphtec, try the sponsors listed on the left hand side of this page. Imprintables has them, too.


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## larry30000 (Dec 20, 2006)

cottagecraftsmen said:


> Most sign makers have found out that these super cheap Chinese cutters like Master aren't worth the hassle. Why would someone pay $1,500 or more for a Roland or Graphtec 24" plotter when they can get a Master 30" cutter for half that???
> If it sounds too good to be true...
> You get what you pay for...
> 
> ...


 
Yes, the Roland is a good machine. I don't need top of the line at this time. Most folks don't have many problems with the Master.

For the price I have paid For the cutter & SignGo Pro. I figured the cutter was free.

Anyway, this thread started with a question About Software not who makes the best cutter.


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## cottagecraftsmen (Oct 28, 2006)

foxesfarm said:


> Well, i've never done a 6' long 2 color. Don't want to, it's not what i make. I make signs for farmers, signs on cars and trucks. So it's not an issue for me.
> Still happy that you are doing well and have lots of nice machines and enough work to keep a cutter going 30-40 hours a week. Wow, i'm still impressed at how busy that is. Don't want it, but impressed none the less.


To be honest, I don't have the machine. I've been doing this work 14 years. I can weed by hand nearly that fast. Took me about 2 years to get that experienced. First step was to stop using the "easy weed" function in Flexisign. That makes for a lot less cutting.

I'd be dead meat if I had work that I've seen from Master cutters. I letter a lot of trailer bodies. At least once a week I'm cutting a stock decal with two 26" by 16' elements. It is two colors. Then there's smaller elements. I know for a fact that a Master wouldn't get it right. The only reason I have this account is because the now closed shop with the Master couldn't do it. When he closed, I moved on the account. I did about six of the plots for the other shop. I have no idea who was doing them before we were. So long as he was in business, I felt it was wrong to move in on his customer. Once he closed...

If the error is 1% you don't see it in something that is 12" because it is not even 1/8th inch... If the item cut is 192", that same 1% is now almost two inches, which anyone can see. My CX-300 might be off by .25" in a 192" plot. My 24" plotter will be off .5-.75". I wouldn't use it. I could never line anything up.

Running my plotter 30-40 hours a week isn't bragging. It's more like indentured servitude.


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## larry30000 (Dec 20, 2006)

Cutter is up & running. Did a print & cut see attached!!!!! Wasn't to bad with no optical registration.


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## freebird1963 (Jan 21, 2007)

Larry3000
I have the SignGO and was wondering how you did the print n cut ? I haven't been successful at print n cutting in signgo

Mark


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