Question about small-scale finishing equipment

[elleg]

I was just wondering if anyone could make a recommendation on a small-scale cutter. Right now, I have to send my designs out to be cut, and I'd like to be able to do it myself, if at all possible. It's highly unlikely that I'd ever need to cut anything larger than 24"x24". This is mainly for short runs of custom packaging for small items. The packaging may be quite detailed, and could be printed on up to 200lb cover. It would be great to have something that can cut and score, and it needs to cut curves smoothly. Also, it would be a plus if it was compatible with Adobe Illustrator. Everything I seem to find is huge (with a price to match)!

 

[Internal_R&D_Analyst]

If you want to cut and score a Duplo 645 would be one consideration. If you need curves then an i-Cut could work for that. It's around $40K for the Duplo and $100 for the i-cut. You could look at a used small cutter from Polar, Challenge, or Baum probably $10K for this.

I'm guessing you are looking for something cheaper then all this.

For real small quantities maybe a Rotatrim, this will only cut though and is a few hundred depending on the size.