Slitter, Cutter, Creaser reviews

[NormC]

looking at a Graphic Whizard PT 8336SCC Slitter, Cutter, Creaser for digital post print bindery
Was wondering if anyone has a GW or a slitter/cut/creaser and is it worthwhile - we have a programmable cutter but this looks more efficient
just asking

 

[jwheeler]

Was wondering if anyone has a GW or a slitter/cut/creaser and is it worthwhile - we have a programmable cutter but this looks more efficient

We have the MBM AeroCut Prime slitter/cutter/creaser. I've also worked with the Duplo line. Both work great. Haven't had a chance to use the GW line. Either way, a slitter/cutter/creaser (SCC) is definitely a worthwhile investment, especially if you do a lot of business cards. You can just load the sheets, press start, and it does all the work. Also, having a job creased and cut in the same pass is a huge time saver. We'll setup a job and walk away to do other stuff and just check back every so often...that's where the real productivity comes in to play. Keep in mind that any SCC on the market is not ideal for lighter weight stock. It will just wrap up in the rollers. Anything less than 100# gloss text can be problematic.

 

[Shawnd]

All our Full bleed postcard work goes on the GW 335SCC, we load and walk away and get other jobs done. With the machine now over 5 years old it is starting to need new parts, that is getting expensive compared to a cutter, but this saves you time in labor.

 

[NormC]

We have the MBM AeroCut Prime slitter/cutter/creaser. I've also worked with the Duplo line. Both work great. Haven't had a chance to use the GW line. Either way, a slitter/cutter/creaser (SCC) is definitely a worthwhile investment, especially if you do a lot of business cards. You can just load the sheets, press start, and it does all the work. Also, having a job creased and cut in the same pass is a huge time saver. We'll setup a job and walk away to do other stuff and just check back every so often...that's where the real productivity comes in to play. Keep in mind that any SCC on the market is not ideal for lighter weight stock. It will just wrap up in the rollers. Anything less than 100# gloss text can be problematic.

Thanks for your feedback - we really need it for creasing and perfing small jobs, slitting is a bonus

 

[NormC]

All our Full bleed postcard work goes on the GW 335SCC, we load and walk away and get other jobs done. With the machine now over 5 years old it is starting to need new parts, that is getting expensive compared to a cutter, but this saves you time in labor.

thanks - do u use it a lot for scoring and perfing

 

[Shawnd]

thanks - do u use it a lot for scoring and perfing

We do use it for scoring when its the right job for it. We got the microperf kits for it but found them to be more of a pain then it was worth to get text paper to feed through. We use it 99% for cover stocks.

 

[Neko2]

I've had better luck with Duplo than GW, but they were different caliber machines.
The Duplo 6xx machines have been great business card and table tent workhorses.

 

[printox]

In comparison, what brand costs less to maintain? We have a duplo 645 and it was at least 4,000 just to buy the slitters.

 

[Shawnd]

I got a Graphic Whizard PT 8336SCC on the floor since my last post, I had looked into rebuilding the 335 after 3 million clicks on it but it just wasn't worth it, it will be used as a backup. Slitters for GW are in the $275/pc range, expensive lil things. I think most parts for these machines are one off so you have to go to GW/Duplo so they both are going to have a premium for replacement parts until 3rd party vendors start making parts.

 

[printox]

That is pretty ridiculous. Sounds like it is still quite a bit less then Duplo parts. The rollers were going to cost around 5,000 to replace. Im not sure if it was age related.

 

[Shawnd]

If memory serves me right, it was going to be around $4k to replace all the rollers in the 335. We were looking at around $15k for a rebuild of everything that touches paper so we just went new instead.

 

[printox]

Wow, that would be up there with Duplo then. That is good to know. Someone in sales for Graphic Whizard was not that forthcoming. Thanks for the info.

 

[Shawnd]

One other thing, Depending on your dealer if they stock parts, mine doesn't, GW ships parts from Canada.

 

[printox]

It's good information overall. It's not the rosey picture I had in the past about these lasting 10+ years.

 

[Shawnd]

I am sure they will last 10 years depending on your volume you run though it, but will need to be rebuilt to keep functioning correctly. You are talking about something that is cutting tight tolerances and has paper running through it which is always putting wear and tear on everything that touches it.