# Roland Stika SX-15/12/8 Vinyl Cutter feedback



## Ken Styles

Does anyone have any experience with this cutter?

Here is a link to a site that sells them.

Pro's? Con's?

Thanks

Ken

http://signsupply.com/Hardware/Roland/Stika.asp


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## jdr8271

I have the SX 15. It works fine for me. It does everything that it is advertised to do. Vinyl can be time consuming to weed.

I will eventually buy the Roland GX-24, as it is a better and faster machine.

Funny thing about the ad (http://signsupply.com/Hardware/Roland/images/sx12.jpg) on the page you linked to is that they make it appear that the vinyl comes out of the machine already weeded. Actually youll have to do that by hand with an exacto knife.


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## Ken Styles

yeah I've noticed that most vinyl cutter ads show it like that in the pictures

what kind of transfer paper do you use for that cutter?

Ken


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## MotoskinGraphix

If all it does is cut vinyl it wont be any faster or better....just larger!!!!!


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## JoshEllsworth

The GX24 cuts vinyl, twill, and has the optic eye for cutting around pre-printed transfers. The Stika line of cutters were just redeveloped and released at the beginning of this month. The new Stika features instructions and software to manually register a printed image so that it can be cut around. This is, of course, more complicated than using the GX24 with the automatic registartion, but definitely a great advancement for folks operating on a budget.


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## JoshEllsworth

FYI, the new line of Stika cutters is the SV series, anything with an SX model number would be the last model.


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## Ken Styles

Thanks Josh,
Does imprintables sell a compatible heat transfer paper that can be cut with this machine?

I just bought a SX-12 and I just want to be able to cut letters and numbers on paper for dark shirts. (Comes with drivers, printer cable and software).

I wonder if I can cut directly from Illustrator ..I'll figure that out when I get the unit

Also do you guys sell the power adapter? Apparently the lady that I'm buying it from lost it during a move.


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## neato

I'd forget the Stika. I haven't used one personally, but know that people sell them as fast as they buy them.

For the same amount, you could by a used 24" Roland, Graphtec or Summa. All great brands. It would serve you much better. I see them all the time in the $800 - $1000 range used.


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## Ken Styles

I understand that.

It's my first one just to try it out and do some letters and numbers.

Nothing fancy. I'll upgrade once I learn the basics and need it for more difficult designs


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## Ken Styles

Hey I found the vinyl heat transfer paper on imprintables

going to try the spectra sample pack.


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## JoshEllsworth

neato said:


> I'd forget the Stika. I haven't used one personally, but know that people sell them as fast as they buy them.
> 
> For the same amount, you could by a used 24" Roland, Graphtec or Summa. All great brands. It would serve you much better. I see them all the time in the $800 - $1000 range used.


Stika is a Roland machine. They definitely have their uses for the hobbiest or someone wanting to do small production runs. Also as I mentioned before, the have upgraded to the new SV models that include a manual registration feature, which is huge for cutting around preprinted transfers. A used 24" would be a great find at that price though, I can agree with you there. However, if you are relatively new to a vinyl cutter in general, you'll probably want some support from an authorized distributor (I would think).


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## JoshEllsworth

Ken Styles said:


> Thanks Josh,
> Does imprintables sell a compatible heat transfer paper that can be cut with this machine?
> 
> I just bought a SX-12 and I just want to be able to cut letters and numbers on paper for dark shirts. (Comes with drivers, printer cable and software).
> 
> I wonder if I can cut directly from Illustrator ..I'll figure that out when I get the unit
> 
> Also do you guys sell the power adapter? Apparently the lady that I'm buying it from lost it during a move.


I think you might have some registration issues with the SX units. The new SV models allow for cutting around these images. However, I remember someone mentioning on here before that they used their Stika SX model for this purpose. You might want to seek out that thread. Different styles of paper for this process are available from a lot of sources, we do carry one type currently.


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## StitchShoppe

I Have a GX-24 with Cut Studio software, If you are going to use it to cut out printed transfers the SX 12 sounds like it should be large enough for 11x17 paper. Like I said I have "Cut Studio" make sure that the "Cut Choice" will print and cut. The GX-24 has an optical eye for registration. I can just speak for Cut Studio. I've used just about every brand of inkjet paper in mine and they all seem to work fine. Just so you understand the printable area is only 9 X13 for 11 X17 paper, as the unused is what the cutter requires to hold the sheet in place while cutting.


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## Ken Styles

StitchShoppe said:


> I Have a GX-24 with Cut Studio software, If you are going to use it to cut out printed transfers the SX 12 sounds like it should be large enough for 11x17 paper. Like I said I have "Cut Studio" make sure that the "Cut Choice" will print and cut. The GX-24 has an optical eye for registration. I can just speak for Cut Studio. I've used just about every brand of inkjet paper in mine and they all seem to work fine. Just so you understand the printable area is only 9 X13 for 11 X17 paper, as the unused is what the cutter requires to hold the sheet in place while cutting.


Good info thanks!

Hopefull I can print out a vector and then cut around it?

When I get it I will do some experiments


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## prometheus

Anybody get one of these to work with Vista?


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## fruitjars

I have a SX-15 that I bought used on eBay because I wanted to get into vinyl. It's working perfect for us and is exactly what we need right now, especially with very limited funds. We were having transfers made by Transfer Express but now we have the ability to do quick jobs, short runs and experiment with different designs, colors, etc. We love the durability and opacity of vinyl. Still using Transfer Express for larger jobs. One day we are planning on upgrading to something larger and fancier!


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## thrivers

does a stika 12" print & cuts like GX 24"?


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## thrivers

josh,
do you know if a roland stika 12" can print & cut ? i'm doing inkjet printing too and i just want to try cutting the image with it.


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## prometheus

It doesn't do print and cut as well as th GX-24. You have to manually line up the registration marks, where as the GX-24 recognizes them optically.


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## Kisskrazed

The only disadvantage with the Stika's (I have the 15" model) is your limited as far as sizes you can cut. With the 15" model you can only cut 13.3" wide & 39" long. If your making signs this can really bite. I also have a 24" Roland & it'll cut everything from regular vinyl, reflective vinyl to Thermoflex with minimal adjustments & you can cut 23" wide by numerous feet long if needed. We started small & wished we would have gotton the larger cutter almost instanly. There good machines , don't get me wrong, but if your only cutting small stuff it'll do you fine. Just my .02.


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## jcyganowski

Prometheus,

I have a SV and still did not get it to work on Vista. I eve nwent out to Roland's site and downloaded the drivers they said are for Vista. No luck. I ended up installing my cutter to another computer running XP.


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## prometheus

I wish I remembered what I did. I was downloading a bunch of stuff and installing it.


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## dcurtisroland

jcyganowski said:


> Prometheus,
> 
> I have a SV and still did not get it to work on Vista. I eve nwent out to Roland's site and downloaded the drivers they said are for Vista. No luck. I ended up installing my cutter to another computer running XP.


jcyganowski,
Did you uninstall the XP driver before installing the Vista driver? Also make sure to uncheck "Print using advanced features" That always causes problems. 

hope this helps,
-Dana


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## jcyganowski

Dana,

Thanks for the tip. It was the checked print using advanced features that was the problem. Once I unchecked it the cutter started working. No more transfering jobs from one computer to another. Thanks again!


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## rmsigns

oh my i bought myself a brand spankin new computer with vista on it.. and discovered that it didn't work with my gx24.. i had to upgrade my home vista to business i think it was.. working well now.. isn't that so much fun when you get excited over a new operating system.. and nothing is compatible..hahaha oh i find it funny now.. 
m


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## rmsigns

too funny i just posted my response else where.. ohhhhhhh must be losing my mind... vista.. yes i have vista and a gx24.. i had to upgrade my basic home vista to the next one up.. business i think. the drivers just weren't compatible with my home basic.. geesh.. hehe...
m


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## Ken Styles

being that I started this thread over a year ok, I must say I still have to same stika 12 and it has paid for itself maybe 6x already.

still working strong


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## sevarg

i have a roland sv-15 15 inch vinyl cutter and it is awesome!! I paid 900 bucks for mine and I see one on ebay for 500 bucks! I'm pissed about it because I wish I would have bought one used!


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## fruitjars

We're still using our Stika and it's working out great for t-shirts and decals. We haven't found it limiting for us.


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## thrivers

is there a specific instruction in installing new blade on roland stika 12"? do I have to move the plastic screw for height adjustment? I moved it,so i'm having problem putting it back to the same height,etc..

Please Help ASAP!!!!


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## thrivers

also, is there a "correct" position of the blade in the blade holder of the roland stika 12"?


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## freestylezz

does SV-12 has an optic eye function like GX-24? Josh, ive seen ur youtube videos of contour cutting an opaque transfer using the GX-24... i cant afford it right now tho but i love it, if SV-12 is something close to GX-24 interm of contour cutting an opaque transfer and if it is almost as easy to use thn i'll buy SV-12.

a little info on it will be appreciated.


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## prometheus

The Stikas do NOT have an optical eye system. What they do have is a manual registration. You use the software to print out your image with the registration marks, then place the paper in the plotter and use the software to register the marks. This is done by lining up the cutter head with the registration mark manually and then confirming it via software. There are three marks, so this has to be done three times, then it cuts.


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## freestylezz

prometheus said:


> The Stikas do NOT have an optical eye system. What they do have is a manual registration. You use the software to print out your image with the registration marks, then place the paper in the plotter and use the software to register the marks. This is done by lining up the cutter head with the registration mark manually and then confirming it via software. There are three marks, so this has to be done three times, then it cuts.


seems like a lengthy process. but as long as it gets the job done... n look professional

i have seen one of those chinese models, not many ppl use it. its rabbit hx720... its hard to install coz its an old model with serial port instead of usb... its software autoart has been getting bad reviews... although it gets the job done as well

so im in a dilemma here 
Stika vs rabbit


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## prometheus

I haven't done it yet. Haven't had the time, and I 'd also have to buy some of the special backing paper you need.


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## thrivers

I have roland stika 12" since almost 2 years ago,as a hobbyist , I was able to cut a 9.7" (the widest) and 11" height graphics and printed it on 50 shirts for church fundraising.
I am now doing (with new blade) almost a 100 pcs. of car decals (9X4.5) for a taekwondo gym.
so far so good with the cutter!!! 

I don't have the money for a roland gx24, I hope I can get one someday...

just sharing!

edwin 
burbank,ca


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## freestylezz

thrivers said:


> I have roland stika 12" since almost 2 years ago,as a hobbyist , I was able to cut a 9.7" (the widest) and 11" height graphics and printed it on 50 shirts for church fundraising.
> I am now doing (with new blade) almost a 100 pcs. of car decals (9X4.5) for a taekwondo gym.
> so far so good with the cutter!!!
> 
> I don't have the money for a roland gx24, I hope I can get one someday...
> 
> just sharing!
> 
> edwin
> burbank,ca


thankx edwin... 
if it has no problem contour cutting an image from opaque transfer paper, thn i shud definetly buy it...


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## thrivers

uzii,
I did not say that I did the "contour cutting or manual registration" with my works as what prometheus said here.
I used it as the regular vinyl cutter using thermoflex and oracal 651 so far.


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## eesales

I just bought a used Stika SV-15. Got a good deal on it. You have to start someplace. This machine is good for just that "starting". There is a learning ciurve to anything. Macjine is good for what it is advertised as hobby small office etc.. Cut a few stickers, get your feet wet and go from there. I would buy a GX-24 next and get it new. People are paying almost retail for used ones on Ebay with no waranty. Just my .02 worth here.


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## jedoi

What vinyl transfers can be used with a Stika? Can we use thermoflex with it? and those metallic ones? or is the stika limited to a number of vinyl transfers unlike the gx 24?


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## thrivers

i used thermoflex plus and oracal 651 for t-shirts and car decals respectively.it's really a workhorse.but it's a waste of vinyl (about 3-5 inches) because you buy a regular size or the smallest size (width) of 15" in stores and you have to ask the suppliers (for additional cost) to cut the extra 3" from the 15" vinyl just to get the 12" vinyl that can fit to your stika cutter 12"!
It's really an entry or hobbyist type of cutter.for me i learned a lot of experience from that really small cutter.i hope i have the money for the real roland gx24!!!
i'll go for roland brand 'coz of the reliability.i was able to make lot's (hundreds) of t-shirt transfers and car decals,of course with 2-3 changes in blades.i'm using my roland stika 12" since 2005!

it's trial and error too,from importing graphics from photoshop up to extracting contour in the roland studio.make sure about everything,check your graphics,etc.. before clicking the cutting button. i know how to be excited in cutting your first transfer to your shirt!!!LOL...

enjoy it!


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## jedoi

where do you buy these transfers?


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## thrivers

jedoi said:


> where do you buy these transfers?


I buy mine at signsupply.com (ordway sign supply), they are based here in california and te nearest to my place.


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## jedoi

okay. so if i order, will they be able to cut it to fit to the roland stika cutter?


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## jedoi

how many yards do you usually order? i mean.. how many prints can i make with a yard of vinyl


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## thrivers

jedoi said:


> how many yards do you usually order? i mean.. how many prints can i make with a yard of vinyl


it's signsupply.com (or the ordway sign supply).they are in van nuys,california.

yes they will cut it for you (with additional cost) to make 12".

The vinyl ordering depends on the size of your image to be cut and how many numbers of shirts. from the 12", you can have only the machine's maximum cuttable width of 9.84 and maybe 12" of length (height).the longest(height) cut i've made so far is 11".

Click the file browser first and check the cutting set-up.that's where the maximum sizes are located.you can adjust the length but not the width (except if you're making a smaller image).

Always check the cutting set-up so that you can get the correct size of your image.while adjusting the image after extracting the contour lines of the image,check the sizes at the right bottom of the window.it don't indicate the width or height signs ,so just learn which one is the width or height when adjusting 'coz the numbers goes up and down.

Please watch some video tutorials at youtube.com, type roland stika vinyl printing,etc..

Hope I helped some..


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## jedoi

Thank you very much Sir Edwin. Will look forward to getting some samples at sign supply.


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## cowpuncher007

I bought a new Stika-8 from Specialty Graphics about three months ago. I bought Roland because of their reputation. I knew nothing about any of this at the time. I hadn't yet found T-Shirt Forums. We make dancers clothes and I wanted to start doing small vinyl transfers, since nobody in our industry is doing it.
When I bought the machine, I bought several colors of Thermoflex plus to try out. This little cutter is great. I've now made hundreds and hundreds of one, two and three layer transfers without a single problem. I use the Illustrator plug-in with Cut Studio. I suppose you could do some stuff with Cut Studio by itself, but it's a very limited program, so why would you?
Anyway, I've bought all my vinyl, (Thermoflex plus some holos, glitters, that chrome lookin' stuff, etc.) from Specialty. For my machine, they cut the 15" piece in half, for free, and I get twice the yardage to work with.
Compared to most of the people in here, my experience is very limited, but I just wanted to get my opinion of the Stika series in.

Steve Grimes


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## jedoi

Thank you Steve for that very helpful input. Thats what I needed. As im looking into buying my own vinyl cutter soon.


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## JJ78

prometheus said:


> Anybody get one of these to work with Vista?


I cant that what Iam need help too got the program to work but cant print need to find a driver that works


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## 2ATee

Hey Ken, I started out with the Roland Stikas. Wish I had stayed with the line. But to answer your question about the power adapter, I had one go out on my Stika and I was told to go to Radio Shack and sure enough, they had an adapter and it cost much less than a Roland replacement. Good luck.


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## Doug C

Good Day; 

This thread (granted olde) popped up when doing a google.ca search for info on the SV-8/12 series. 

I'm a ModelRailroader (avg. 1:24scale) with a use for vinyl labelling on rolling stock, etc. and doing research on feasiblity to acquire this tech' for direct design-cut-apply . 

BUT I can't find any info on the most important data ! What is the smallest text (height) that this series can design and cut on 2 mil vinyl (indoor or outdoor). I would be doing basic fonts, similiar to HelveticaBold, FranklinGothicMedium, or even BroadbandICG in caps. 

thanks for any info, 
Doug C 

p.s. a local former reseller rep of the Stika series mentioned to me the attractive pricepoint 'cricut' by provo... but I finally fd documentation stating min. 1" . Of course they are also quite restrictive in design due to their proprietary cart' tech' ! but I had spotted 2-3 fonts which could have been acceptable .


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## cowpuncher007

Hi Doug. Here's my two cents. I've been using an SX/8 cutter for several years now. Not for model railroading, but making thousands and thousands of small patches for clothing. It will do just what you want. In making my stuff, I've cut and weeded a lot of very small, (1/4" and smaller), letters. Cut Studio, which comes with the machine, again will do just what you want to do. It will allow you to cut with any font in your system, at any size you want. Here's the bottom line: In theory, the Stika will cut anything, of any size, that you tell it to. The reality is that there is a point when something is too small to cut properly and impossible to weed. For your application, although you're working with small items, I don't think you'd reach that point. A sharp knife and proper depth control is very important the smaller you get. When weeding small things, the most important ingredient is patience, which, to be a model railroader, you surely have an abundance of. I remember putting tiny decals on HO boxcars with my dad. It was good experience.


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## Doug C

Thanks Steve ! 

I just realized this a.m. before revisiting this forum, that this is actually a T-shirt forum but still the basics would apply ! 

As I'm in G-gauge, roughly 4 times as large as your HO moments  , it sounds promising ! 

Initially I was thinking just the side heralds side/end data down to .25" would make it a doable feasible scenario, but then also saw mention of printable vinyl where with (CutStudio) I maybe able to do the so-called lube boards black with white border (which I designed and hand cut black on white 2mil, 4 yrs back my eyes ached for 20hrs after that), but but the text (say) 1.5mm in height is white white ink for inkjet tech' is very elusive. But even being able to do the 'boards' by machine would be another positive point for Stika tech' !

Now to budget and research a bit more (did find the pdf manual for the Stikas). Which seems to indicate not more complicated than a personal inkjet printer but as you mentioned .... depth control and patience especially when weeding. Similiar to using a air brush practice ... patience ... practice ! 

But also see if there IS Stika product in town and if available, for what price point. In our MR gauge it seems to be mentioned quite often how more times than not msrp or higher seems to be the street price although there is the occassional reseller who profits enough to survive at the same time as growing their client base with lower prices. The reseller (of 4 in town so says the Roland locator) I stopped by this wk to ask questions, no longer bothers with the line (their prices were higher than msrp) and upfront the rep stated they don't stock parts for them like the 'protector strip' (her mentioning it had me wondering how often they have to be replaced which i surprisingly did not ask). She quoted indoor 2mil vinyl $2.75 /yd and out'2mil $5/yd which gives me a starting point. 

Another positive, all 4 indicated potential resellers of roland and consumables are within 15min. drive. 

I'll be sure to come back, and let ya know if the yellow (caution) light, turned to a solid green 


Thanks for your time . . . . We'll see 

doug c 


"G-Gauge may not RULE, But it GROWS on Ya !! " djc'99


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## Blue92

jdr8271 said:


> Funny thing about the ad ([media]http://signsupply.com/Hardware/Roland/images/sx12.jpg[/media]) on the page you linked to is that they make it appear that the vinyl comes out of the machine already weeded.


What, yours doesn't auto weed? I'd send it back and demand a refund.

My SX-12 always weeded as it cut. For another $50 you could add the "auto apply" options as well.


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## cowpuncher007

Yeah, I need auto-weed, auto-apply, auto everything! LOL


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## Kat1lpz

thrivers said:


> I have roland stika 12" since almost 2 years ago,as a hobbyist , I was able to cut a 9.7" (the widest) and 11" height graphics and printed it on 50 shirts for church fundraising.
> I am now doing (with new blade) almost a 100 pcs. of car decals (9X4.5) for a taekwondo gym.
> so far so good with the cutter!!!
> 
> I don't have the money for a roland gx24, I hope I can get one someday...
> 
> just sharing!
> 
> edwin
> burbank,ca


Hi, 

what software do u used for decal design? cos i want to buy stika 12 as well


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