CMC

[Dermot]

General interest……..and research…..

Who has one!!!

What make and model!!!

Pros and Cons!!!!

Thanks guys may be in the market for one soon……..so I’m doing some research…

Dermot

[WelshFramer]

The problem about answering hat is that most of us only have one CMC so it's difficult to make comparisons. However...

I have a Wizard 8000. Why did I choose a Wizard? Well I do have to admit that one factor was a charming young lady called Sam who promised to come round and set it up if I bought one. Other factors included:

• what I'd read about it here and, particularly on the Grumble,
• it was available for rent (in addition to lease or purchase). There's no minimum rental period which meant I could send it back if I later discovered I'd made the wrong choice.
• it fitted the space I had available,

What's good about it?
• it does everything I want it to do (I think)
• after sales service it terrific. Problems get answered very quickly - if the UK is asleep or on holiday then here's a resident Wizard rep on the Grumble; and when new (free upgrade) software was released a couple of months ago Framers Corner ran a free training course.
• it's easy to maintain and adjust

What's bad about it?
• it doesn't make very good coffee.

Seriously, he cons bit is probably the hardest bit to answer. I did think that the fact it would only do bevelled cuts would be a deficiency but, to be honest, in practice that's never been something I've missed. The 8500 does 90-degree cuts but I doubt it would be worth the hassle of swapping the blades over most of the time.

And most deficiencies are probably like that: you either get used to them or you find workarounds and forget they are deficiencies.

It would be nice if it would do simple cuts to tidy up boards and cut off the scrap - boards with holes in are difficult to store. The 8500 has a guillotine but I have to carry my boards over to the Keencut to tidy them up.

It would be nice if it would cut right to the edge of a board to minimise waste. The clamps mean that it will only cut to within 30mm of the 2 clamped edges of the board. I don't know whether any CMCs are much better than this without paying a fortune for a vacuum bed.

It would be nice if the software were more automated: if it refused to cut beyond the edge of a board without warning and if it would automatically optimise board use when cutting a variety of mounts from a single sheet.

Any more questions, please ask.

[JFeig]

I think the best information about comparing the different CMC's is from an engineer who has made a business of repairing and refurbishing most of the brands.


http://www.thecmcdoctor.com/thecmcdoctor_home.htm

[absolute framing]

Hi Dermot,

Just some info about distributors in Ireland

Valliani - Scopas Mouldings Kilkenny
Tru Cut - AMD Mouldings - Rathcoole
Wizard - Glenwood Mouldings (not too sure) - NewtownMount Kennedy
I think sisslings in Dublin do either wizard or Valliani
Gun-Air - i think are via the UK, bur last time i was talking to them, the Down School of Picture framing had a demo model.

I dont have one yet, but a lot of our friends from the UK on this forum seem to have Valliani, and love them ...... i can be corrected on this point

Best bet is to contact distributors and go and see one in action.

Good Luck

[birdman]

Hi Dermot,

We were in the same position as you last year (2007/2008) and made the decision to visit the Spring Fair in February 2008 and compare each make. We chose Valiani, as have quite a few. The Down School mentioned earlier have also now got a Valiani having previously had a Gunnar. For us all the things mentioned by WelshFramer are covered. We have support from Simons, Scopas (if required) and direct from Valiani. The changeable heads mean you can have bevel cut, 90 degree cut, reverse cut, embossing and can also cut multimounts. The ease of software use was what made my wife decide to go for the Valiani over the Gunnar but the Gunnar is also a good machine that I found easy to use.

Probably price, special offers, after sales support and does the CMC do what you want it to do (or what can it do for you that you can't currently do) will be your deciding factors. Possibly the ability to rent, lease, lease to buy or just interest free easy payments may swing it for you.

Research is vital, the cmcdoctor is a good place to start and you'll find other similar advice on the forum and the grumble, where others including myself have asked similar questions in the past.

Whatever people recommend, will almost be certainly based on their knowledge of the CMC they decided to choose themselves so will be tinged with some bias. What other framers use locally to you may also influence your decision because you then have a readymade source of help and information if you choose a similar CMC. Forum members can of course also be very helpful, particularly if you have Skype.

I bought my Valiani over six months interest free in a deal made at the Spring Fair. I wouldn't be without it and the chance to see each machine operating, providing test pieces that you want to see cut, is invaluable. Good luck with your decision, I wouldn't be without mine.

Rolf

[Bill Henry]

A fairly good, independent comparison of various CMCs which was compiled by a guy named Mike Labbe can be found here.

[birdman]

You might like to look at these two threads:

http://theframersforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... ani#p14899

http://theframersforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... it=valiani