# Summa D60 R vs Roland GX24



## theCount

I will be ordering my plotter (cutter) next week and before I make the final decision I wanted to see if I could gather advice and info from people using either (or both) of the following models:

1. Summacut D60R

2. Roland GX24

Both are good plotters for entry level, but I would like to try and evaluate which machine is going to take me further by offering more flexibility.

Price, Support and Technical Specs for both are very similar (size, speed, accuracy etc) there are however a few differences



Software seems to be a difference - is OPOS (summacut) better for contour cutting or the Roland software?
The Summa comes with a Pen Holder (which sounds useful for testing design on paper) but I can´t seem to find anything about the Roland having this capability.
The biggest difference seems to be the blades: the Roland has a better selection of 6 types of replacement and special blades, with offsets down to 0.175mm. The Summa only has 2 different blade types: standard; 45° - Offset 0,50mm and Sandblast 60° with 0.9mm!! offset. How does this blade offset affect the cutting characteristics (for T-Shirt uses) will I be able to cut thicker materials with finer details on the Roland or the Summacut?
Any advice or Tips you can give me here will be most appreciated...


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## charles95405

Does the summa have an optic eye for contour cutting?? I have the Roland and have never looked back...


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## theCount

charles95405 said:


> Does the summa have an optic eye for contour cutting?? I have the Roland and have never looked back...


I presume it does: OPOS is the contour feature (OpticalPOSitioning) 

which knives do you use for T-Shirt transfer on your Roland?


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## tdeals

Hello theCount,

I bought the US equivalent of the Summa cutter you are evaluating a few months ago. The model I have is the Summacut D75-R and I'm very pleased! I use 36 degree blades for most heat applied materials, decal & sign vinyl. I use the 60 deg blade for material such as Flock. I only use Summa OEM knives and will not use anything else.

My D75-R can cut 30.7 inches wide, up to 30 mils in thickness and can also perform contour cuts. The Summacut model you are considering can perform contour cuts also, will cut up to 24.8 inches wide and accepts media up to 26 inches wide. The knives for the Summa work just as great as the knives for Roland (see more here).

I opted for Summa because of the overall feature set, speed & power, the metal build quality and praise it's received from other Summa users. I did not mind paying slightly more because I got a high quality product with a standard 2 year parts & labor warranty and 90-day replacement. The only thing that shipped with my cutter I did not like was the plug-in software. I use it, but want something more robust. I've tried SignCut-X2 which works well and now considering a Flexi Mac product.

I purchased directly from Summa and get my support directly from them as well. There is a special tech that has partnered with me from Summa who is extremely knowledgeable & customer-service driven. I am excited to actually meet my Summa salesperson in about 3 weeks at SGIA Atlanta who took care of me with my purchase. At SGIA, I will also evaluate the Summa thermal printer-cutter-in-one models as a potential future upgrade. 

The Roland is a popular product and does well for many. I'm even going to throw in the often talked about Graphtec CE5000 which falls between the GX24 and Summacut-R D60. However, if you're truly seeking flexibility, top speed and gram/force power in a starter cutter, the Summacut-R will provide you that. 

The differences you mentioned are not common for what I believe most people are looking for in a cutter. But, to touch on two of them: Both the Roland GX24 and Summacut-R can perform contour cuts with ease. I have cut tiny, and I mean tiny letters and numbers on my Summa perfectly with the 36 deg & 60 deg blades. The details of the cuts were great so there should be no worries about this. I'm not sure about small cuts with Roland blades.

The Summacut-R and Roland GX24 *is not* a true apples-to-apples comparison actually. See specs of both below, noting the features in red that many people look for in cutters.

Good luck with your decision and purchase! 

*____________________________*


*Summacut-R D60*​
SPEED 
Up to 1131 mm/sec (*44 in./sec*) diagonal

ACCELERATION 
Up to 3 g diagonal

KNIFE PRESSURE 
0-*400 grams*, in 5-gram increments

RESOLUTION 
*0.025 mm, 0.1 mm selectable (Metric)
0.001 in., 0.005 in. selectable (English)*

REPEATABILITY 
Within +/- 0.1 mm (0.004 in.) on plots:*
up to 8 m (26 ft.) long on rolls up to 760 mm (30 in.) wide; up to 4 m (13 ft.) long on rolls over 760 mm (30 in.) wide*

TOOL COMPATIBILITY 
Standard D-Series knife for vinyl, reflective and fluorescent films
Thick material D-Series knife for sandblast resist and other thick films
Pen for plotting on paper
Pounce tool (optional) for pouncing on paper

MEDIA WIDTH 
*Roll*: 7 to 67 cm (2.8 to *26.4 in.*) 
*Sheet*: 7 to 67 cm (2.8 to *26.4 in.*)

MEDIA LENGTH 
50 m (*164 ft.*) maximum

MEDIA THICKNESS 
*Up to 0.25 mm (0.01 in.) with standard knife
up to 0.8 mm (0.03 in.) with thick material knife*

CUTTING AREA 
63 cm x 50 m (*24.8 in. x 164 ft.*)

MEMORY 
*16 MB*

INTERFACE 
*USB 1.1* and Serial RS-232C

LANGUAGES 
Summa DM/PL, HP-GL or HP-GL2 (with selectable origin HP7475 and HP 7580/7585)

*OPOS X optical alignment system - The world’s most advanced optical sensor comes to the SummaCut-R. OPOS X features a more advanced optical scanner that’s capable of reading registration marks on an even wider range of output.*

*____________________________


Roland CAMM-1 Servo GX-24

*Acceptable media width 
2” to *27.5”* (50 to 700mm) 

Maximum cutting area 
Width: *22.9”* (584mm); Length: *984”* (82 ft) or (25m)

Acceptable tool 
Special blade for CAMM-1 series

Cutting speed 
4 to *20ips* (10 to 500mm/sec)

Blade force
30 to *250gf* 

Mechanical resolution 
*0.000492” (0.0125mm)*

Software resolution 
* 0.000984” (0.025mm)*

Distance accuracy(1) 
*Error of less than +/- 0.2% of distance traveled, or +/- 0.004” (+/- 0.1mm), whichever is greater *

Repetition accuracy (1)(2) 
*+/- 0.004” (+/- 0.1mm) or less *

Interface 
*USB* interface (compliant with Universal Serial Bus Specification Revision *1.1*)

Re-plot memory 
*800KByte* 

*Optical Registration: Recognizes crop marks produced by a variety of print-only devices and automatically aligns media so that printed graphics can be accurately contour cut.*​


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## schenk

i have a summa, it cuts six days a week on fastest settings for 2.5 years now. never had a problem. incredibile reliable. 
dont worry about different knives, you probably just use 45 and 60 degrees


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## theCount

@ Ms Blue, many thanks for your excellent reply about the pros and cons of the Summacut and Roland cutters.


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## tdeals

You are most welcome!


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## dcurtisroland

theCount said:


> I will be ordering my plotter (cutter) next week and before I make the final decision I wanted to see if I could gather advice and info from people using either (or both) of the following models:
> 
> 1. Summacut D60R
> 
> 2. Roland GX24
> 
> Both are good plotters for entry level, but I would like to try and evaluate which machine is going to take me further by offering more flexibility.
> 
> Price, Support and Technical Specs for both are very similar (size, speed, accuracy etc) there are however a few differences
> 
> 
> 
> Software seems to be a difference - is OPOS (summacut) better for contour cutting or the Roland software?
> The Summa comes with a Pen Holder (which sounds useful for testing design on paper) but I can´t seem to find anything about the Roland having this capability.
> The biggest difference seems to be the blades: the Roland has a better selection of 6 types of replacement and special blades, with offsets down to 0.175mm. The Summa only has 2 different blade types: standard; 45° - Offset 0,50mm and Sandblast 60° with 0.9mm!! offset. How does this blade offset affect the cutting characteristics (for T-Shirt uses) will I be able to cut thicker materials with finer details on the Roland or the Summacut?
> Any advice or Tips you can give me here will be most appreciated...


theCount,
Summa is a great plotter manufacturer. They really know their stuff. Here's my take on your questions:
1.) Both are optical registration technologies. both are excellent for contour cutting. The feedback I receive from users of both is that the Summa plugins aren't as easy to use as CutStudio. 
2.) The GX-24 doesn't have a separate pen holder, but plotter pens can be used in the cutter when the offset is 0.00
Pens can be purchased from many sources. One that we deal with regularly is Home Page
3.) Ms. Blue can chime in regarding the Summa because she knows it better. We sourced blades specifically for this application and this market. ZEC-U5025 is an excellent blade for EZ Weed, Thermoflex, Eco-Film, etc. USA-RWEAR is a blade designed specifically for Twill and Flock and has a 54 degree angle. The offset and speed should be set to the same for both blades.

Hope this helps,
-Dana


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## andrewlangham

i am also looking to buy a summacut d-60. i had one a couple years ago at a shop i worked at and now i am starting up on my own, but i cant seem to find a place to actually buy the cutter from. any help? please reply here or to my email at [email protected] asap. thank you.


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## tdeals

andrewlangham said:


> i am also looking to buy a summacut d-60. i had one a couple years ago at a shop i worked at and now i am starting up on my own, but i cant seem to find a place to actually buy the cutter from. any help? please reply here or to my email at [email protected] asap. thank you.


Where are you located (Country, City, State)?


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## andrewlangham

I am in northern Indiana, USA


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## tdeals

andrewlangham said:


> I am in northern Indiana, USA


Oh, well that explains it. 

You will want to purchase the US version of the D60 which is what I have, called the Summa D75-R (aka SummaCut R). The D60 is the Belgium version.

These cutters are available direct from the Summa company and supported directly by the company. 

Summacut R


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## andrewlangham

thanks but no thanks. i wanted to know where i can get the summacut d60. if i wanted something else, like the d75-R which is almost $1000 more than the d-60, i would have asked for help getting that... anyone else know where i can get a summacut d60? i know you can get them because we had one at my shop a few months ago....


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## tdeals

andrewlangham said:


> thanks but no thanks. i wanted to know where i can get the summacut d60. if i wanted something else, like the d75-R which is almost $1000 more than the d-60, i would have asked for help getting that... anyone else know where i can get a summacut d60? i know you can get them because we had one at my shop a few months ago....


Perhaps the shop can tell you where they got theirs from to help you acquire one.

Good luck with your search!


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## theCount

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who helped me make my decision here... my *Summa D60* is installed and running perfectly - doing just what I wanted it to do, namely cut fine and detailed designs. The *Siser TS 1* Transfer Press is a big heavy SoB but solid, reliable and easy to use. Big thanks to everyone and especially Ms.Blue for your informative and helpful posts.


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## tdeals

theCount said:


> Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who helped me make my decision here... my *Summa D60* is installed and running perfectly - doing just what I wanted it to do, namely cut fine and detailed designs. The *Siser TS 1* Transfer Press is a big heavy SoB but solid, reliable and easy to use. Big thanks to everyone and especially Ms.Blue for your informative and helpful posts.


You're welcome and I'm glad to know you're enjoying your Summa D60! 

When I purchase a nice video camera, I plan to create videos of my D75-R and share on YouTube to give others info on how to use this brand of cutter. 

The Siser TS 1 has a cool water pipe design to it.


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## schenk

good choice.
if you have lots of small detailed stuff to cut use the turbocut function. it will cut alot faster. 
i asked a summa rep once if it could somehow be bad for the cutter to have it allday cut on turbo and he said it makes no difference to the engine.


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## tdeals

schenk said:


> good choice.
> if you have lots of small detailed stuff to cut use the turbocut function. it will cut alot faster.
> i asked a summa rep once if it could somehow be bad for the cutter to have it allday cut on turbo and he said it makes no difference to the engine.


Good to know. As I run more jobs, I will step up the speed as long as my cuts remain fine.

I'm excited about meeting my Summa salesperson and any other Summa employees next Thurs at SGIA Atlanta. I have a few questions and ready to get a demo of their thermal printer-cutters.


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## Summa

The D60 was discotinued about a year ago. The Summa D75-R 30" model replaced it, while the price has increased the features have as well. It increased in size from a 23" cut to a full 30" cut and has our OPOS Optical Positioning System for contour cutting color graphics included. I'm available to answer any questions you may have.


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## theCount

Summa said:


> The D60 was discotinued about a year ago. The Summa D75-R 30" model replaced it, while the price has increased the features have as well. It increased in size from a 23" cut to a full 30" cut and has our OPOS Optical Positioning System for contour cutting color graphics included. I'm available to answer any questions you may have.


thanks for taking the time to answer my (old) post regarding the D60.

My summa D60R 2E is installed and exceeding my expectations on a daily basis. Thanks for your offer and congratulations on a brilliant product.


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## Juanki

I have a silly question about these. My friend is offering me one at a good price (I think), along with some vinyl he's got left over and I'm thinking about buying it. Can I do dark shirt transfers on this plotter?


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## TXCutter

Can anyone tell me if there is any difference between a Summacut D60 and a Summacut D60R?



Summa said:


> The D60 was discotinued about a year ago. The Summa D75-R 30" model replaced it, while the price has increased the features have as well. It increased in size from a 23" cut to a full 30" cut and has our OPOS Optical Positioning System for contour cutting color graphics included. I'm available to answer any questions you may have.


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## TXCutter

Thank you. But there was also a D60R, or am I mistaken?


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## Nick Horvath

Juanki said:


> I have a silly question about these. My friend is offering me one at a good price (I think), along with some vinyl he's got left over and I'm thinking about buying it. Can I do dark shirt transfers on this plotter?


You are able to cut heat applied vinyl on any vinyl cutter, however if you are thinking about printing transfer paper and cutting out the images, you will need a cutter with an optic eye.

I hope this helps.


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## LBRPromos

Where did you buy the Summa??


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## valleyboy_1

I know it's been 3 years since this post, but I'm wondering if the SummaSeries D75 can cut Poly Twill? or Tackle Twill? i'm not sure if it's a difference. I want to use the cutter to cut printable aqueous vinyl, poly twill, tackle twill for embroidery applique, and regular sign vinyl. Tshirt vinyl from cadcutdirect as well.


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## Coachstep70

I have read some helpful hints here from many nice people and usually have used this info to fix my problems.I have a Summa D-60 and I just cleaned it but when I lower the rollers to load the material I keep getting the Load media message.I notice that when I put a 10 yd roll on.I also found that I can put a sheet on it loads and will cut.I have a feeling that this is a sensor but not sure which.Any help will be appreciated.I just found out that it will cut a white piece of econoprint but not the black


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## Tabooza

Good choice Summa cutters are very,very reliable. 

Sent from my SPH-M930BST using T-Shirt Forums


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## Jamey

My buddy has a D75. He has Corel, VinylMaster XPT, and even Co-Cut Pro. I am not sure he has got a contour cut out of it yet. Now if he was using Flexi...I know it would be a different story.

How are you D guys contour cutting and with what exactly?


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