# Silhouette Cameo vs Brother Scan n Cut



## 03km0 (Jul 25, 2014)

Hey y'all! 

I am FINALLY getting my business started. I've been waiting quite some time to buy a vinyl cutter. What I'm going to be doing is a small vinyl decal business. Within the next year or so I will be branching out to embroidery/applique work. I am buying my machine within the next few days and am totally stuck on whether to purchase the Silhouette Cameo or the Brother Scan n Cut. My embroidery machine is a brother and I'm drawn to the fact that the applique process looks easier on the scan n cut. I'm also drawn to the fact you can just scan something in and have it cut without too much fuss. However, I've read so many different opinions and it seems like people really like the cameo. Plus it's a great deal cheaper. I've never done anything with vinyl before so I'm really just gonna have to get in there and figure things out. I just am hoping someone can guide me on the best option out of the two.


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## Mtnview (Nov 5, 2009)

Is this a craft hobby you are starting? Both machines you describe are hobby machines. They even describe them as hobby machines on both their pages. Neither of those will make someone serious money. They only take 12" sheets and won't accommodate roll material. Most rolls of material are a minimum of 15". Rolls are less expensive that sheets but even if you get set up to buy rolls you will have to cut them down to fit the hobby cutter which takes time and wastes material. Starting a business I wouldn't go with either of those. Just my 2 cents.


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## MAXDesign (Sep 24, 2013)

Mtnview said:


> Is this a craft hobby you are starting? Both machines you describe are hobby machines. They even describe them as hobby machines on both their pages. Neither of those will make someone serious money. They only take 12" sheets and won't accommodate roll material. Most rolls of material are a minimum of 15". Rolls are less expensive that sheets but even if you get set up to buy rolls you will have to cut them down to fit the hobby cutter which takes time and wastes material. Starting a business I wouldn't go with either of those. Just my 2 cents.


Sorry, but I totally disagree with this. I have a Cameo and run a small business...depends on what you want to do. I have used HTV for adult and children's tees, contour cut A4 and A3 JPSS sheets for tees, baby grows, bibs and toddler tees, created decals and vinyl wall art. Depends on quantities and sizes of things you want to create. I have also purchased 12" rolls of Oracal 631 and 651, so rolls are available. As I said, all depends on what type of business you want to run really...


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## Blue92 (Oct 8, 2010)

You can start a business with a smaller capacity cutter. We started with a Stika SX-12. We did both football and baseball uniforms for several youth organizations along quite a few other jobs. We also did multiple banners, mostly 3' x 5'.

Being limited to 12" wide material, with a max cut width of 9.8" was a challenge. We used both 15" and 20" material by just cutting 12" strips off the end. Overall it worked well. We also had larger work we farmed out the cutting work to another shop.

Still have the Stika but it hasn't been used since we picked up a GCC Expert 24 LX. 

It's more important to get started. 

You can always stash some of the profit for a bigger, more high end cutter.


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## jeepers94 (Nov 25, 2011)

I have both,a Cameo and a Scan N Cut 250. They are both capable of great cuts. I have not used the Brother very much yet.The fact that I can scan a drawing in and cut it right away is nice. They both can contour cut.
I really can't tell you which one is best for you,but I think you will be happy with either one. I do have a 24" cutter also,but I like the small size of these machines. I can take them into any room I want to work. I could do 80% of my work on these cutters if I wanted.


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## 03km0 (Jul 25, 2014)

I'm starting out as a small craft business. Hopefully one day I will be able to expand but I want to test the waters first. For small car decals I believe these machines will be adequate, however I will certainly will need a bigger machine for bigger decals. 

Thank you all for your input. It's scary jumping in! I don't want to make the wrong decision! After watching a few more tutorials and overviews today I think the scan n cut will be my best option considering the embroidery I plan on incorporating into my business. Wish me luck!


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## iwantsomething (Jun 3, 2012)

There is always someone with the "can't make money with a cameo." every time. Just like the other people on this page, I pay my bills with a cameo. There are a couple of small complaints that I have about it. But once you learn how to work with it, it's great.


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