Vinyl cutter question again

[woodturner]

Hello All,

I acquired some blank sheet inventory from a sign/printing company that went out of biz. This includes around 50 or 60 pre-cut white corplast (for yard signs), plus a bunch of other polystyrene and PETG sheets.

I was looking into having our (8x16') trailer lettered, getting new yard signs, maybe updating our van, and even getting some magnetics for my "other" vehicles. It adds up to quite a bit of cut vinyl (or printing on vinyl).

A thought occurred to me about cutting my own and no, I'm not in the sign biz. I looked at the spring loaded knife for the bot, but I'm also looking at the wide variety of vinyl plotters available for under $500 or so (see ebay or amazon for examples).

My (long winded) question is, have any of you faced the same make versus buy choice and has anyone successfully used these lower priced plotters. Also, are there any suggestions of which brand to lean toward or shy away from. And/or am I entering a "nightmare" of finicky machines and spending a ton of money on necessary supplies or software to complete the job? I know there was an archived thread where someone was considering one truck and the consensus was outsource it, but I have a bunch in mind to do.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

[beacon14]

I made some scoreboards for the '96 Olympics and got a quote for $3,000 for the hundreds of vinyl numbers and some letters that were needed. Bought a vinyl cutter for $1,200 (back then, I guess they are less expensive and more available now) and about $300 worth of vinyl. It was pretty easy to use and I saved a bunch of $$$. I used it for a few other jobs over the years but haven't needed it for anything in the last few years.

It was made by Summa and I was always happy with it. It did take some time to do the layout and cutting, and then you have to "weed" the unwanted areas and apply the transfer tape, so it might be worth getting a quote from your local sign shop, unless you have the time to do it yourself.