# Vinyl Cutters in Australia, which to buy? I have a list.



## BrisbaneDanny (Aug 19, 2009)

Hi, 
I'm BrisbaneDanny and i'm having a hard time deciding which vinyl cutter to buy. My location is Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. And to buy a vinyl cutter from overseas is very costly in postage. Like a budget vinyl cutter from uscutter or whoever costs around $270usd in but costs around $550usd to post so $820usd and thats not including insurance, GST, import tax etc and usd to aud is around 1.22159785 conversion. So if i can pickup i would or courier service which is around $95aud to $150aud. The cheapest cutter i was able to find in australia was around $2000 which is way out of my budget. 


So what i'm looking for is a vinyl cutter for stickers for windows, sign writing, car graphics and t-shirt transfers and maybe gasket cutting if possable but not essential. My budget is around $1100aud but cheaper is better. Best quality for price ratio, speed dosent matter or noise just a good quality cut and accuracy even on big cuts. I know I ask alot, best I can get for the price. About 730mm wide or so it can take a std roll of vinyl.


Here is a list of vinyl cutters i have found that i can get. 

Creation PCUT PRO II 730mm Vinyl Cutter withFlexisign 8.5 v2 Design and Cutting Software + USB Dongle (Valued at $500+, Creation PCUT Edition AU $1,095.00 

EtiCut EX1351 with ArtCut 2009 AU $999.95

PRO REFINE EH1351 VINYL PLOTTER CUTTER 
with ArtCut 2009 AU $849.00
or EH721 AU $649.00

CREATION PCUT CTN630BE with ArtCut 2009 AU $495.00

CREATION KINGCUT 1200mm CT48(CT1200)
with ArtCut 2009 AU $899.00

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Refine MH721 with ArtCut 2009 AU $699.00[/FONT][/FONT]

2009 Rabbit HX720 with ArtCut 2009 AU $480

Rabbit HL-721 with ArtCut 2009 AU $530.00

If you know of any others i can get in Australia and where please let me know,

So which one is best for me, quality, solid build etc


Any help would be greatly appreciated, 

Thanks for you time.


Regards


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## dcurtisroland (Jun 5, 2007)

Roland DG Australia Pty. Ltd.

Allambie Grove Business Park Unit 14
25 Frenchs Forest Rd, Frenchs Forest
NSW 2086 Australia
TEL +61 (0)2 9975 0000
FAX +61 (0)2 9975 0001
Roland DG Australia Pty. Ltd


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## BrisbaneDanny (Aug 19, 2009)

Hi dcurtisroland, 



Thankyou for the site and address for Roland DG Australia. I'm sure they are a great machine to use and work with, but they are way out of my price range. 


The cheapest one I can afford is the Roland Stika SV-12 AU $1049.00 which cuts only 300mm vinyl. I'm looking for at least 720mm wide. Is there any others you could sugest thats in my price range? 


Thanks for your time.


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## tshirtnewby (Aug 20, 2009)

Hey i have also just looked at all these same vinyl cutters. I am leaning towards the creation kingcut as it has a stand.

Can anyone guide us to know if this cutter will be sufficent for vinyl t shirt transfers?

I have heard that the software is the key to a good cutter aswell?? 

Is this true and what is best and for how much?

Thanks


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## cookiesa (Feb 27, 2008)

i have a rabbit which has never been a problem. the software (artcut) is fairly ordinary butnever been an issue


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## tshirtnewby (Aug 20, 2009)

sweet as long as it will do the job. 

Are they pretty easy to use? 

Do i need much training?


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## BrisbaneDanny (Aug 19, 2009)

cookiesa said:


> i have a rabbit which has never been a problem. the software (artcut) is fairly ordinary butnever been an issue


 
Hi cookiesa, 
If you don't mind me asking, what model is your Rabbit vinyl cutter? 

Thanks for your time.


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## tshirtnewby (Aug 20, 2009)

cookiesa said:


> i have a rabbit which has never been a problem. the software (artcut) is fairly ordinary butnever been an issue


Hi justin,
just a few questions about the rabbit. 
firstly which model is it?
i just saw the king cut today i wasnt happy with the cut it performed, it seemed to leave dags and kept cutting through both the sticker and backing paper... 
do you have any of these problems?
do you know if they use actual roland blades?
also do you know what kind of motor it uses, if it is a servo motor or not?


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## cookiesa (Feb 27, 2008)

sorry for the late reply have been away!.

It is the Rabbit 720, The blades are the same as roland (It comes with three standard and I have only recently put a second blade in it. If the King Cut was cutting through the backing then I would guess either the blade is set to deep or most likely too much pressure being used. (These are both adjustable)

I have cut loads of Stahl vinyl, a very thick radiance material as well as sign vinyl with no dramas. I have also used the pen holder for drawing with no dramas. 

Not sure if it is a servo motor??

The biggest drawback is Artcut, but you learn to live with it! It does the job and I have cut quite detailed items from a JPG image with only minimal editing in a graphics program first.

I think it is a great first machine, the roland is definately quiter and cut studio is nicer but all in all a good strating/second machine.


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## BrisbaneDanny (Aug 19, 2009)

Hi Cookiesa, Thankyou for your response. Just to be sure, is your Rabbit Cutter the 2009 HX-720 or the 2009 HL-721 or is it another model?

Thanks again, and it's better late then never.
Cheers


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## cookiesa (Feb 27, 2008)

No problem, the beauty of this forum is there is lots of help available to everyone! HL721


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## SandyMcC (Jul 23, 2009)

Here is another Australian dealer: Skat Katz

SKATKATZ


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## Artsake (Aug 29, 2010)

Hi, I am new to the forum and was reading through this thread. I am also thinking of buying one of the cheaper vinyl cutters and was wondering which is better, the Rabbit or the HL? Is there much difference between the two quality-wise, or is one much better than the other?


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## Tizz (Mar 8, 2008)

Hi all,

I know this post has been going for a while now and I just wanna put my two bobs worth.

@ Brisbane Danny: how did you go in choosing which cutter to get, did you end up purchasing one, if so which one?

As for the Rabbit 720, I have owned and operated one for a few years now and I too chose to purchase an inexpensive cutter to learn on and start off with as I also had a limited budget at that time. All I can say is that if your just beginning to do t-shirt transfers, vinyl stickers and small signage with designs that don't have such a great deal of detail in em, then 'yes' I would suggest starting off with a Rabbit. But don't expect to get pure accurate results. Meaning, I believe these cutters aren't calibrated to cut exact sizes. I have designed and cut a great deal of t-shirt transfers, vinyl graphics and even large shop signs which have come out pretty damn good. But I couldn't produce high quality and accurate 'to scale' designs. I did start off with using Artcut 09, but found this software had a lot of bugs in it and wasn't stable. I switched to using FlexiSign Pro which greatly improved and am still using to this day. Designs are created in Illustrator and cut with flexi.

Through many mistakes and trials I have worked out how I can get the most out of my Rabbit cutter and knowing what I can cut and what not. 

Pros: Inexpensive to buy, uses Roland blades (cheap too buy also), easy to set up and operate.

Cons: Artcut cut software, Vinyl roll holder, a little bit noisy, not calibrated to cut accurately and consistently, vinyl track roller can marr the vinyl.

But I am glad I started off with this cutter, because I didn't know how long I will be in this business for. If I had stopped early then my start off expenses wouldn't be so great. But most of all I do know what I want in my next vinyl cutter and have made the most of my Rabbit cutter for what is was worth.


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