opinions on DUPLO Docucutter DC-545 ?

[Alex@Challenge]

Adding a backgauge controller to an old cutter will automate things a bit, but does not bring your machine up to current safety standards - not to mention the spate of problems you may already have with our machine (adding a controller to a 20 year old cutter doesnt make it similar to a new cutter's performance).

 

[ondemandbindery]

What a great time to upgrade your cutter. I would really evaluate what your ultimate goal is. If you are constantly slicing and dicing business cards all day then I could see an arguement to having a business card slitter. But if this type of work is not the stronghold in your cutting throughout the day, I would be hard pressed to not upgrade your cutter. I know for myself I keep a couple of programs in my Polar for cards. Before you can get the card boxes out and ready for packaging the cards are cut and waiting. And why not get a good heavy duty programmable cutter? I love bringing a gun to a knife fight if you have the space. Look at your scenario a different way and a stronger and faster cutter may do you more good in other areas and you come up with a great solution for business cards. And it truly is a buyers market for a clean late model machine.

Good luck
John Weaver

 

[postnetnc133]

I have a chance to pick up a used 545 from a broker for $3300. I am still on the fence. I cant afford a better cutter, right now we have a manual triumph 4700. My next cutter will definitely be a digital gauge, automatic cutting, electric if not hydraulic. We do alot of short run full bleed and doing postcards creates so much work and time on the cutter setting the guide double checking etc etc. This is why I considered getting an all in one but I was looking at the 615 or 645 but right now cant afford either of these. I dont like that the 545 doesnt do perforating but I can deal with outsourcing larger perf jobs. The biggest issue I have with the 545 is per the manual I thought it said it can only do 80-90# cover. It can take 100# but its a little spotty where as the 615 can handle I think up to 110#. We have a xerox 252 so we do 80-100-110# cover to 10-12pt stocks. I would be looking for an all in one to do cardstock (business cards tired of doing these on the cutter too much time, postcards, brochures, flyers, invitations, announcements) Obviously something real simple like printing 2 or 4 up on 8.5x11 or 11x17 and just need to quickly cut in half or so can be done on the cutter but for the more precise stuff not worried about speed of the all in one just looking for consistency and accuracy from the first to the last. We can always work on another project while this is cutting this job. I am also looking to do full bleed covers for booklets so trimming and creasing again.

So is the 545 at $3300 a good deal and worth getting or will I be dissapointed and should hold out until I can afford the 615.

 

[jotterpinky]

I would not recommend either the 615 or the 545. We have a Duplo 645 which is rated for 350 gsm and is rated for 26 sheets per minute. We've found it to be terribly slow for any sort of production work. We've also had quite a bit of trouble with it's "state of the art" air feeder that seems to be extremely finicky. About half the time the operator needs to stand by the machine and push sheets of 12pt stock into the machine as it will not take them without help. Now we've had several different technicians in to fix the machine and it always work fine for them...as soon as they leave it's back to it's old tricks. No amount of swearing will get it to work correctly.

However the real kicker is the speed. If you're concerned about registration issues you should really look into upgrading your digital printing equipment to something that holds a tighter registration pattern. Despite having the "registration-mark sensor" I've found this machine to be lacking in it's registration capabilities claimed by the manufacturer. Don't get me wrong it's very good but your production speed will be cut in half and it won't always be within 0.5mm. You can tell when you cut/crease cover weight trifolds then run them on the folder and look at the edge where the crease was...not creased in the same spot.

There's no magic bullet and this thing works great for short run business cards and such but don't even think about running more than a thousand sheets a day on this thing...it's just too slow.

If I had it to do over again I would purchase a good guillotine paper cutter with digital backguage and programming (much more versatile) and a Morgana Digifold which will allow you to crease and fold pieces at about 26 per minute which is still slow but at least you don't have to babysit the machine and the crease is always right on the fold.

We always crease our digitally printed tri-fold brochues etc. but the Duplo doesn't work well with lighter weight stocks ( 100 lb text and under ) and when running them through the folder after creasing they don't hold the crease well enough to prevent all cracking although it's certainly better than without. The problem with lighter stocks is the feeder either skews them or wrinkles them (the sheet is not completely flat from our digital press).

While this product might have a nice niche market for people running greeting cards and things of that nature it is not cut out for anything more than light use.

 

[RafalWM]

thanks for your long description jotterpinky. The thing is, I was looking at the dc-545 before, but now I can afford to get the 615, however from what you've written it seems like it's not worth the trouble. I have quite a lot of curling on prints from my digital press (it's a Toshiba 5520C, so not a production unit) but the print quality is good enough for most clients so I'm not really keen on replacing it yet until I can afford something like a Xerox 5000. Tougher jobs are done at a friendly printer's workshop where they have a true production system. Anyway, I could either get the guillotine with a programmer and the creaser you mentioned or an all in one type of unit.

 

[sherwinzadeh]

I'm thinking of getting a used DUPLO Docucutter DC-545. Is it worth considering or are there better units in its price range?

Hi RafalWM,

I have a Duplo DocuCutter 545 for sale. Overall I've been really happy with it. I've used it primarily for a one application: On-Demand Greeting Cards that customers design and order through our website. I use 80lb glossy stock and it works great. I have also used it for Business Cards but much less frequently.

Anyways, I'm going out of the printing business and am looking to sell it. If you're interested or want more info in general, let me know.

Best,

Sherwin Zadeh

 

[Hank Chew]

sherwinzadeh,

How much are you selling it for?

Hank

 

[countmachinery]

Creasing Solutions

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