# which vinyl cutter should I buy for making t-shirts and rhinestone designs?



## crownking1 (May 21, 2009)

Hello, i need a vinyl cutter for rhinestone apps and custom tshirt designing help what to buy and what software to use and who to buy from thanks.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

for about 600 bux you can get a us cutter and winpcsignpro and start cutting templates for rhinestones. the blast material is about 5 bux a foot so look for the best price. you will also need the stones and the transfer tape. so for 1 grand you are in the money on this one. these are high margin items. expect to make your money back in no time, less than 100 shirts. maybe even just 30.


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## ppts160 (Jan 16, 2011)

Hi
Really you are asking a multitude of questions in one . There will be numerous guys on here who think their cutter is the best and does the job but they may not be right for you. Firstly decide exactly what it is you want to do. Secondly look at the different software packages availble and then decide which cutter will work best with that software.

Some software for example is designed to work with certain cutters. Some cutters will work with most software but you have to know how to set the cutter up to work with the software. So your question has no straight forward clear answer.


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## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

I suggest a Graphtec CE-5000-60 cutter/plotter and the blingit kit. All available from Bling !t Biz.com, Iron On Rhinestone Transfer Systems, Rhinestone Shirts a division of Ryonet. The cutter will do vinyl and the template material for the rhinestones. This is the set up that I got and I love it. The graphtec cutter is able to produce the additional force needed to cut small holes in the thick material.

For extra blades and the 60 degree blades and blade holder that you will need for the rhinestone template material I suggest you go to Clean Cut Blade.


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## crownking1 (May 21, 2009)

Thanks for the help this site is great!!!!!!!!


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

I think now the 65 degree blade does a better job than the 60


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## DivineBling (Sep 14, 2010)

There is some information on what you're asking here:
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/t-shirtforums-newsletter-articles/t154192.html

As far as where to buy everything from... You'll have to figure out what you want to spend on each component and software. Once you decide on which to get, ask again and someone can direct you to the best place to buy each.


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## sjidohair (Apr 9, 2008)

The Options are endless for Vinyl Cutters,Heat Presses, Rhinestone Programs, Template Materials, Rhinestones and all the supplies that go with them.

Check out ANY and EVERYTHING in your price Range, and then Ask Those that use the products everyday for their opinion, (Not the people that sell them) 

That is where you will get your best answers to your questions when you first start up.

Spend your Money wisely as there are many things to invest in, in this ever changing Garment Business.

Work with your Budget and if you do your homework on each subject, your choice will be the right one for you.

But be prepared to get addicted to this buisness as it is a ton of fun creating and seeing people wearing things you have made. That alone is Priceless

There are many Talented people on the forum here to help anyone that wants help. Just ask.

Sandy jo
MMM


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## Nick Horvath (Feb 26, 2010)

Also I would like to add that if you are looking to cut Rhinestone templates, you need a cutter with a servo motor.


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## crownking1 (May 21, 2009)

thanks everyone so informative


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## baddjun1 (Aug 5, 2009)

An affordable cutter for stoning is the 24 inch GCC Bengal. It has a servo motor and cutting force of 400. GCC pushes its Puma and Jaguar models. Some use Roland gx24 and Graphtec c5000 models, but they are all over a grand, and except for the GCC models they have less force than the Bengal.


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## crownking1 (May 21, 2009)

where is a good place to buy with ongoing support?


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## crownking1 (May 21, 2009)

Where to buy this 24" gcc bengal?


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## scuba_steve2699 (Nov 15, 2006)

for the Bengal I would look at the preferred vendors for this site. Some carry that model and offer great customer support.


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## SandyMcC (Jul 23, 2009)

Nick Horvath said:


> Also I would like to add that if you are looking to cut Rhinestone templates, you need a cutter with a servo motor.


How can you say that when there are dozens... maybe hundreds now... of owners of stepper motor cutters who are successfully cutting rhinestone templates for their businesses? The materials being used are a piece of cake to cut! It's not like they are cutting chipboard all day long, WHICH our particular cutters can also handle! I have owners of stepper motor cutters, from the early KNK days, who cut materials MUCH denser than Hartco or even the black rhinestone materials AND they have to cut these materials off and on, all day long, with great accuracy for their particular applications. 

You simply cannot make a statement like you've made without proving to me and to the other members here, that it's based on actual experimental data that relates directly to rhinestone (or any other T-Shirt) applications. Again, cutting a few rhinestone templates from Hartco per day or a few hundred cuts from micro-thin, butter-cutting iron-on transfer, hardly constitutes any kind of challenge compared to what other business applications have been doing AND succeeding with their stepper motors including the cutting of Mylar, craft plastic, fabric, balsa wood, styrene, cardstock, and... OMG, here we go again, chipboard!

It's like a few people decided to just throw out the "servo versus stepper" statement to the boards and now it's become some kind of litmus test for choosing a cutter for iron-on transfers or rhinestone templates. Well, I'm the one with the engineering degree here and I want some experimental results proving that this is not just some ploy being used to promote more expensive cutters over another. I'm not saying that servo motors are not better in the sense of what they are designed to do! But you know what? I don't need a $4000 refrigerator to keep my dairy products at 35 degrees! I can buy a used refrigerator for $500 that can do that! 

And if you don't like my analogy, then check out this article that I googled and found in like 10 seconds:

http://torchmate.com/resource_center/editorials/stepper_motors_vs._servo_motors_vs._intelligent_motors_-_the_facts/


Then, just open your mind for a bit, step back, and ask yourself again, why are we able to cut rhinestone templates over and again if our machines can't do it?


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> How can you say that when there are dozens... maybe hundreds now... of owners of stepper motor cutters who are successfully cutting rhinestone templates for their businesses?


I don't think Nick is the only one who has ever said that a servo motor is preferred over a stepper motor.

I'm not sure why you seem to be attacking Nick on this. Others who have used both have also said they preferred a servo motor. It's not some big conspiracy.


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## SandyMcC (Jul 23, 2009)

Rodney said:


> I don't think Nick is the only one who has ever said that a servo motor is preferred over a stepper motor.
> 
> I'm not sure why you seem to be attacking Nick on this. Others who have used both have also said they preferred a servo motor. It's not some big conspiracy.


The statement made was this: "Also I would like to add that if you are looking to cut Rhinestone templates, you need a cutter with a servo motor."

That is just simply not a true statement.


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## bjdbjd (Nov 14, 2010)

SandyMcC said:


> The statement made was this: "Also I would like to add that if you are looking to cut Rhinestone templates, you need a cutter with a servo motor."
> 
> That is just simply not a true statement.


 I bought this Liyu TC1361E cutter : TOP PROFESSIONAL VINYL CUTTER/CUTTING PLOTTER TC1361E - eBay (item 190533137770 end time May-21-11 13:46:32 PDT)
I still have not tried it for any cut...I am a newbie in using cutters...
Is there anyone here who knows something about this Liyu TC1361E cutter? give an opinion about it..?
especially whether it can be successfully used cut Rhinestone templates?


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## Nisei (May 4, 2011)

Shouldn't you have been asking that question prior to buying it?


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## bjdbjd (Nov 14, 2010)

Nisei said:


> Shouldn't you have been asking that question prior to buying it?


 Why?? Vinyl cutter is not for rhinestnes only, right?
please write only useful posts....


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## Nisei (May 4, 2011)

bjdbjd said:


> please write only useful posts....


Pardon?
You've bought a cutter and now you're asking opinions about it. You're obviously interested in doing rhinestone templates but you don't know if the cutter is suitable for that. Is it so strange that I wonder why you didn't ask about that before you were going to buy it?


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## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

Before I bought my cutter I spent many long hours on here researching cutters and asking questions trying to decide which way to go and which one to buy. But with that said, I think you might be able to get away with this one. It's overkill as far as width is concerned. Most vinyl is 15" to 20" wide. This cutter is 54" wide which means it's going to be huge. My 24" cutter is enormous.

You will need 60 degree blades and a 60 degree blade holder for cutting most rhinestone template material. I have never heard of this particular cutter before and it doesn't even come with software to run it (except the Chinese software that is says is rubbish), so you might have issues there too. It sounds like a Chinese cutter.


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

Any cutter will cut almost anything you want.....It is more a case of how long you want your cutter to last....Rhinestone template material is harder to cut, so with a cheap cutter your cutter may not last very long....But no harm in buying a 400.00 or 500.00 cutter, doing many 1,000s of dollars of work and having to replace it.....You will still be ahead of the game....


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## bjdbjd (Nov 14, 2010)

Nisei said:


> Pardon?
> You've bought a cutter and now you're asking opinions about it. You're obviously interested in doing rhinestone templates but you don't know if the cutter is suitable for that. Is it so strange that I wonder why you didn't ask about that before you were going to buy it?


I said that I bought cutter not for rhinestone . not for rhinestone only! 
I too spent many long hours researching cutters and asking questions trying to decide which way to go and which one to buy.Then I still intend to do rhinestone designs, understand me?


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## Nisei (May 4, 2011)

Sure I understand Yordan.
I'm not blaming you for asking questions.
But I'm trying to be as helpful as possible on these forums so I was kinda surprised you were telling me to post only useful posts. But let's not make any problems about it ok?


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## bjdbjd (Nov 14, 2010)

Nisei said:


> Sure I understand Yordan.
> I'm not blaming you for asking questions.
> But I'm trying to be as helpful as possible on these forums so I was kinda surprised you were telling me to post only useful posts. But let's not make any problems about it ok?


 of course!and argue not with bad feelings


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## MrUKCutter2 (Aug 2, 2013)

If you purchase the liyu Tc631 or the ukcutter ctH-630 you shouldn't have any problems cutting rhinestones/flock and they will cut for many years with no problems and they are very affordable and if you require any help or assistance we are here to help

softwares UKCutter

Surecutsalot is a very good rhinestone software.


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