I Bought A 23 Year Old Vinyl Cutter | Will it work?
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- čas přidán 30. 12. 2023
- I bought a 23 year old used vinyl cutter for $80 bucks. The GCC Panther or as Sign Warehouse called it the Vinyl Express GRC-61 24" Servo driven plotter with Digital LCD display. No stand and the cutter did not have the USB to connect the cutter to my Windows 7 PC with Flexi 12 Pro, I had to use a USB Serial Adapter and connect the 9pin to the 28 pin on the plotter.
A few tips and tricks I remembered along the way, like hardware flow control and what it does to interact with the cutter.
**Keyspan High-Speed USB to Serial Adapter, PC & Mac, USB-A to DB9 RS232 Male, 3 Foot / 0.91 Meter Cable
Very cool! They don't make these cutters as durable as they did back then. the quality still stands out. I have a 28" Graphtec CE3000-60 MK2 plotter from 2005. It has the USB built in, along with the serial and parallel ports, I only used the USB. Last time I used it was about 5 years ago and it still cuts very precise 0.3. I no longer need it and it's taking up space, but every now and then someone asks me to cut something larger than 20 inches. I have a smaller 15 inch I use a lot, it's just I don't have much use for such a large cutter.
I think you are 100% correct, the older machines were but like tanks 20+ years ago. You and I are about in the same boat, I might use the 24" cutter 5 times a month. Thanks for sharing!
I've got a Dgi om60 24 inch cutter 1998 model it had really never been used much before I got it ...servo motors only serial and parallel ports ...plus I have a graphtec ce6000-60 also I have gave away and sold my older cheap cutters.
That's awesome, I have a soft spot for vintage older stuff. Next I'm going to look for an Ioline or gerber cutter, those old cutters were tanks and made to last. Still missing my 8600 but it never got used and took up so much room. Thanks for watching!
Interesting video!!
Thanks for watching!
I had that same cutter and it finally gave up last year it was a workhorse though.
With our original one we had years ago I bet we ran over 1 million dollars of vinyl through it. Total workhorses if maintained still a great vintage investment, and still better than some of the junk cutters sold new today.
Apparently I didn’t have the bell notification turned on for your channel. I was wondering where you went!
Ding, ding!! LOL I'm still around, life's twist's and turn's plus venturing into other things!
Awesome content!! What print vinyl would you recommend for generic purposes like for indoor and outdoor signs and simple vehicle decals etc.?
Substance media is all I used.
I have a VJ-24 that I barely used. I'm 70 and don't have time to mess around and learn it. Would you be interested in it.
Thanks! Depends on what you want for it. Lets talk more about it, email me eyecandysigns@gmail.com
Just enter that communication menu and check if you can set it to 115200bps - that'll speed up communications 12-fold
Thank you! With the initial connection (not on camera) I tried at 19200 and it stopped communicating, probably something simple I overlooked. Gonna take another look at it, but that is a very good point.
Remember to change both sides and that speed, parity and flow control also must match. Most stuff don't use hw or sw flow control these days, though, and not all usb-serial adapters support it, which may also be a thing to keep in mind. @@TheSignGuy
Where do you get your vinyl at?
hi.what are the things i should look at when buying a used vinyl cutter? I'm new to this field.
Make sure it works and is compatible with the software you want to use, make sure you can still get cutter blades and parts.
New follower, hey have you used a Mimaki plotter??
No, never used a mimaki plotter.
@@TheSignGuyI have used one daily for about 8 years and I love it. I also have a USCutter plotter but it’s by far inferior to the Mimaki which for the price difference is expected.
I have a Gerber about the same age. The software runs on equally old computer running Windows 98. Uses PS/2 and DB9 port to control it. I wonder if there is newer or better software for it.
When I started out cutting vinyl, I wanted a Gerber FasTrack. Those were the Lamborghini's of vinyl cutters back in the day. Had another shop that had 2 and I can remember those things rocking back and forth cutting vinyl. You might be in luck, I just looked and you can add them in Flexi. Flexi, newer, probably, better, that is open to opinion. LOL
Wow, Flexi is very expensive. It's amazing this Gerber GSx plus has had about 24 years of trouble free service. lettered signs get created at least a few times a months with it. The computer has been replaced 3x, but a compatible one would be difficult to find now. Gerber quoted me $1200 5 years ago for new software. I found SignGo Lite for $139, I think I'll try out the trial.@@TheSignGuy
I had a gerber fasttrack, was my fist roll cutter! Sold it to a buddy, I should get it back. Love your videos! seeing your computer and setup looks exactly like mine afew years back. I have since got flexi as a subscription and doing so I had to upgrade my computer. And that's a rabbit hole of new equipment.
@@dirtycurty6113 Yup, get it back and keep it running! Lawd help me if my computers fail and I have to upgrade computers and buy into subscriptions.
Do you still sell vinyl decals through etsy like you do for a long time? Thx
No, I'm officially retired from sign making. Still have the etsy shop but don't sell there anymore.
@@TheSignGuy Got it. Thank you