Hi All,
I am looking to cut paint mask stencils with the smallest detail to cut being lettering.
Q: If you have a Stingray Vinyl Cutter what is the smallest block letters, height wise, it will cut? Lets say using .005" [0.127mm] thick vinyl material.
Is it worth purchasing or getting a dedicated vinyl cutter/scanner?
Thanks for your time … KAP
The tool should be able to cut quite small details — if the toolpath geometry allows doing that — if you have a specialized vinyl cutting program that will add the cornering moves necessary, but without that, larger rounded forms work best.
I would suggest setting up a test file and determining where a lower limit which you find acceptable is.
I have a stingray, an SST dragknife, and a dedicated vinyl cutter. (a scan&cut). The scan and cut is by far the most accurate cutter of the three, but is limited in size to 12x24 inches. So I guess it depends up the sizes you need. The sting ray is pretty accurate, too…but setup is more difficult on my Pro XXL… so I would recommend the stand alone cutter. That said…the stingray is certainly less expensive. You are still going to need a cutting mat.
Hi William,
Any suggestions on a vinyl cutting program?
BTW … I should add I have a Shapeoko 5-Pro 4x4.
You don’t mention how large the lettering you want to do is.
FWIW, it kinda depends on what you are intending to cut, how much you need to do it and how much you are willing to mess around with it before you say screw it and buy a dedicated machine. Of my machines that can make stencils, some larger format vinyl cutters, a S5Pro, a few lasers and a scanncut, I’d suggest getting a dedicated cutter of some sort unless it’s just a one off task and the letters are decently sized.
Just my 2 cents, maybe someone else on here has a bunch of experience cutting vinyl on their shapeoko, loves it and can give some advice for how to do it well. For me though it’s worth the cost to get a dedicated machine, your mileage may vary. You can pick up a low cost vinyl cutter for a couple hundred bucks.