When comparing Roland Stika SV-12 vs Graphtec CE6000-60, the Slant community recommends Roland Stika SV-12 for most people. In the question“What are the best vinyl cutters?” Roland Stika SV-12 is ranked 2nd while Graphtec CE6000-60 is ranked 4th. The most important reason people chose Roland Stika SV-12 is:
This simple-to-use vinyl cutter can work with various materials, such as standard vinyl, twill, paint mask, heat transfer, reflective vinyl, and etching materials, which makes it perfectly suitable for domestic DIY applications.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Good for domestic use
This simple-to-use vinyl cutter can work with various materials, such as standard vinyl, twill, paint mask, heat transfer, reflective vinyl, and etching materials, which makes it perfectly suitable for domestic DIY applications.
Pro Rigid and durable
The body of this vinyl cutter is made from very durable high-quality, injection-molded plastics. Overall, it feels very rigid, with no loose parts.
Pro Portable
Due to its small dimensions (17-⅜” x 8-⅛” x 4-½” ) and lightweight design (only 6 pounds), you can take this machine anywhere you want.
Pro Simple, straightforward software
This machine comes with a simple, clean, and reliable software: Roland CutStudio. With it, you can either create new vector designs or import existing ones from the BMP, JPG, STX, AI, or EPS files. After the design was created, just adjust the outline options and press the start button. The machine will do the cutting automatically.
Pro Capable of cutting custom designs
This machine can cut custom printed designs. The process is implemented by the aid of registration marks and a camera. This is a must-have feature for those who want to cut custom stickers or do multi-color heat transfers.
Pro Can export a design directly
With this cutter, using the provided Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw plug-in, users can export and cut specific design files straight from those editors. Step files are not required.
Pro Great for production runs
There are two main things you need in large production runs: speed and repeatability. This machine has a good maximum cutting speed of 35-inches/s, which is more than enough for home business applications. An automatic paneling feature takes he repeatability to a whole new level. It allows the machine to separate multiple long jobs into smaller blocks and cut them individually. This feature highly improves accuracy and media tracking.
Pro Ideal for commercial use
The Graphtec CE6000-60 is a professional machine, designed specifically for commercial use. The machine will easily deal with 24/7 production runs.
Pro Can do complicated cuts
It is a perfect machine if you need to cut complex shapes. Due to the combination of tangential emulation and overcut features, the device can cut almost any shape you can come up with.
Pro Can cut pre-printed graphics
This vinyl cutter has a registration mark sensing system. This system allows you to contour-cut the pre-printed graphics (full-color heat transfers and stickers).
Pro Spare parts are easy to get
Many spare parts, including motors, pulleys, bearings, and gears, are easily available online. You can buy those parts on Aliexpress, Amazon, or eBay.
Pro Sturdy and durable
This machine is built with high quality materials. The body of the machine is made mainly from metals. Therefore, it is very heavy, stable, and durable.
Pro Can do long cuts
Graphtec CS6000-60 can produce extremely long cuts, up to 1968” (at the maximum width of 23.7”). This allows for high volume production runs even in a domestic environment.
Pro Can cut thick vinyl
Due to the 4.9N of cutting force, this machine will easily slice through any vinyl you would ever want to cut.
Pro High precision blade controls
A digital servo motor control system is used to precisely control the position of a blade. The used digital control system is a high-precision, very expensive one usually only found in premium grade machines.
Pro Free software
A free copy of Graphtec Studio software is included with this machine. The software is used to either create new vector designs or import the existing models in various file formats. You will also get the necessary Windows drivers.
Pro A stand is included
This vinyl cutter comes with a free stand. This is remarkable, because manufacturers usually provide a stand only as an optional accessory, and brands like GCC and Roland charge between $200 and $500 for their stands.
Cons
Con Unsuitable for commercial use
Even though Roland Stika SV-12 is a decent machine, it is not the right option to use in commercial applications. First of all, the cutting speed is slow when compared with more professional competitors. Secondly, its cutting quality is suitable only for cutting standard thickness vinyl: since the blade is actuated by a stepper motor, the machine struggles to adjust the cutting depth with enough precision to cut thin vinyl. Furthermore, thick vinyl cannot be cut, as the downforce of the blade is too weak.
Con Can't cut fast
Regarding cutting speed, this machine is on the lower end of the market. The speed of almost 2 inches per second seems like a joke when compared to the speeds of larger Graphtec, Roland, and USCutter machines (more than 30 inches/s).
Con Imprecise height control
The manufacturer did not use a digital servo driver to control the Z axis of the machine. Instead, a cheaper and less reliable solution was implemented: a stepper motor.
Con Small cutting area
The cutting area of this vinyl cutter is minimal, only 9-13/16” x 39.47”.
Con Hard to find spares
The manufacturer does not sell spare parts for this machine (apart from blades). If a mechanical part (a motor, a pulley, a belt or a gear) fails, you will have to find an alternative part yourself.
Con Software isn't very user-friendly
The software is not intuitive. It will take some time to explore its full functionality. Specifically, some parameters might seem very unclear at first.
