Keencut System 4000

[Zorro]

Hello
Is it really the end of the line for the Keencut System 4000?
I know that the issue is not a new one but it seems impossible now to find spare glass cutting wheel anymore. I have been using it for 10 years now with no problem at all. I do not have space for a bench in my workshop and I'm not ready to upgrade to the Excalibur 5000.
Does anyone manage to find any recently?

[jaybee173]

I think it might be this one ? https://www.lionpic.co.uk/p/8127/Keencu ... und-Holder

Regards

J

[Zorro]

No, it is the white one unfortunately.
Thank you.

[Not your average framer]

I understood that it was the white one used on the earlier System 4000 cutters that Keencut had stopped supplying. However you can obtain it directly from a supplier in Southampton, so it's not really a problem. I'm a big fan of the Keencut System 4000, had one from about 2001 till about a years ago, when I switched to a Fletcher Terry 3100. The Keencut Sytsem 4000 is built like a tank and virtually indestructable. Usually a nice bit of kit for not a lot of money and a good buy for anyone, who can handle a little bit of routine mechanical maintenace themselves once in a while.

[Zorro]

Thank you Mark. Is the Fletcher Terry a better buy?

[Not your average framer]

The Fletcher Terry does not run on bearings that need regular adjusting and spraying with a silicone lubricant, which is it's principle advantage over ther Keencut System 4000. However it does not have all the cutting heads a on one turret like on the System 4000. The different cutting tools on the Fletcher Terry are on separate tool carriers which have to be removed or inserted as required.

I guess that which one is better is a matter of personal preference, but I do like the Fletcher Terry one myself. I was fortunate to obtain a Fetcher Terry 1100 oval mount cutter, which is quite clearly one of the best and most accurare oval cutters ever made and I upgraded to this from the Keencut Oval 6.

The Fetcher Terry oval cutter is most definitely better than the Keencut oval 6, in fact there is no comparison, but the difference between the Keencut System 4000 and the Fletcher Terry 3100 flat material cutter is much less dramatic, so I would not say that I would make the same distinction,as there is not as much difference to justify saying that.

I am slowly switching over to Fletcher Terry from Keencut as a matter of personal preference, but different people will largely have their own preferences and buying one, or the other is not going to make much difference to you business. They are probably the two most popular companies for this sort of equipment anywhere.

[Zorro]

Thank you Mark. A lot to think about.

[pepper]

Zorro, the link you will need for the white glass cutters is here https://www.glassparts.co.uk/plastic-wh ... arch=white

Interesting conversation regarding the machine comparisons, on the one hand I can understand the parallel between the System 4000 and the FT3100 but the System 4000 was superseded by the Excalibur 5000 more than 20 years ago. I think I am correct in saying there has been no advancement in the FT in all this time so it may be interesting to get a comparison between those two. I am not intimate with the FT3100 so not best placed to provide one.

The Oval cutters are are very different from each other but it depends upon what you want, the price for the FT's accuracy is a whole host of settings and a degree of faffing around, the Oval 6 was straightforward, just set your clamps in place, set for width and the difference between width and length, drop the blade and away you go. They are two different machines one coming from the direction of accuracy and the other from simplicity, its what ever floats your boat and both as good in their own ways.

[Not your average framer]

I was very happy with the Keencut System 4000 for the best part of twenty years and even now recognise the system 4000 as a very fine and extremely reliable and durable machine. I only upgraded to the Fletcher Terry 3100 when the glass cutting wheel became no longer stock by Keencut. While I very much appreciate the superior standard of engineering contained in the Fletcher Terry. I don't feel that there is anything at all inadequate about the System 4000 whatsoever.

I also own both a Keencut Oval 6 and the Fletcher Terry 1100. As far as I am aware the Fletcher Terry 1100 is unmatched by anything else ever made, when it comes to accuracy of all other oval mountcutters, but the Oval 6 is still one of the most respected oval mountcutters as well. In the hands of someone who know how to use it, it is a trule superb machine.