Vinyl Cutter Recommendations?

[Bruce]

Was thinking of maybe getting a vinyl cutter...

Which brand is best? Cricut? Silhouette? Other? Which model?

Is this something that you use a lot? Which software is the easiest to use? What's the story on the consumables? What else can you use it for besides making stickers?

So many questions...

 

[Dugway]

I've had a Silhouette Cameo 3 (and now 4) for many years. I chose it over the Cricut based mostly on the software. The Cricuit universe seemed much more focused on buying shapes from their proprietary library, while Silhouette is more like a printer that can handle whatever you can design. I like the Silhouette software so much that I ended up buying the upgraded version.

I use it for cutting vinyl for my rockets, and also cutting card stock for rockets and other hobby projects. I've learned to use only genuine Oracal 651 for vinyl, bought mostly off eBay. You can also buy Oracal masking material when you only want it attached long enough for painting.

 

[Budro0]

I do think @Dugway makes good points, but still i have a Cricut Maker and do just fine with custom designs. I do know my way around Photoshop to draw/prep the files, but uploading and cutting is pretty simple. I mainly use mine for stencils, but the Maker will cut balsa, basswood, and chipboard so I cut fins and custom jigs too. But if I were to do it again, I'd do my own research to see if there were better options. My wife got the Maker for me for a bday.

Some of my work with stencils:

 

[Back_at_it]

Been using a Cricut maker for about 2 yrs now. Software leaves a bit to be desired. I really wish it had more options for shapes but it's stupid simple to use. Learned the program in about 15 mins by messing around with it. I've found that I can reproduce most decal designs and cut them in vinyl. Looking to start playing with Stencils and Print then cut for multi color designs.

 

[karaRobert]

Silhouette White Cameo 4 are very good for vinyl cutting. I've one of them for the last 4 years without any problem. These cutter also great choice for small business.
Check here for details about the cutter.
Smart Tool detection system makes working with vinyl easier.

 

[jsargevt]

I have a Cricut Maker and while it works great the software is meh. A couple of months after I bought my maker they rolled out their plan to force users to have a monthly subscription cost (see here: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...s-to-make-device-owners-pay-subscription-fee/). While the rolled it back it left me with a bad memory of feeling duped and I expect they will take another run at this model again trying to force people into a monthly subscription to use their product. Since you MUST use their Design Space software to run the machine you are stuck in their ecosystem and they control the rules.

On the flip side, Cricut makes it simple to use their machines and the cutter hardware is very good. If I had to do it again I would look much closer at the Silhouette family of products.

 

[Back_at_it]

Been using the Cricut Maker for about 2 years now without a single issue. Have cut thousands of projects for various hobbies an work. The latest update to the software brought a number of needed updates.

 

[tab28682]

I use a Silhouette Cameo 4 extensively and really like it. Had a Cameo 3 before that and really liked it as well. My wife uses it for craft purposes as well.

I swore off the Cricut products years ago when they sued a third party software provider that offered a much more flexible user interface that would accept common art files.

 

[caveduck]

I've been in the Silhouette Cameo camp too for several years. In that time the software has gone from a bug festival to pretty good - it does a decent job of tracing edges out of raster art, which is much of what I do for decals. Definitely only use genuine Oracal 651 for your permanent decals...the cheap knockoff stuff is NFG. Likewise make sure you get good transfer tape, I use GreenStar and it works great. uscutter.com is a decent source for 12" wide Oracal and transfer tape. I do wish the Cricut hardware had open software, the dual-cutter Maker units look pretty useful.

 

[Pepe Le Pew]

+1 on the Cameo, it has served me quite well for years. But there are many potters/cutters out there that are basically defined by how much you want to spend and what you need it for.

 

[RCBrust]

Another vote for the Cameo. Their software lets you import DXF which I find very useful.

Randy