GUNNAR F1-XL Hybrid

[barton]

Hi,

Has any one bought a GUNNAR F1 Hybrid yet? Am interested to know what you think to it.

Thanks Liam

[ismalunj]

Hi Liam,

I came across your post and could not help but respond as our business has only recently been through the process ourselves of researching CMC's, we decided to purchase the Gunnar F1 Hybrid which we have now been using since November last year.

The purchase of the Gunnar has been the best business decision we have made since being in the framing industry, we have 45 franchises Australia wide that we cut mats for and our job has never been easier.

We originally purchased our business in 2007 and included in this sale was a Wizard CMC, we pretty much had nothing but problems with this machine, the biggest issue we found was the lack of techinical support, there was only one Wizard technician for all of Australia so I am sure you can imagine what it would have been like when support was needed. The training and ongoing support was pretty much non existent and this placed our business in a very vunerable position.

We relocated our business to a rural area in Australia and knew that we needed to find a more reliable CMC, hence this is where our research started, we spoke with other framers, researched the internet and came up with the Gunnar, a decision that we have never regretted, if anything I regret not doing it earlier.

We do still have the Wizard as we are busy enough that we need to have two CMC's operating, it is just unfortunate at the moment that we cannot afford to buy another Gunnar given we have only made our first purchase a few months back but as soon as we have the funds we will certainly be getting another Gunnar.

I much prefer operating the Gunnar, I have found the software easy to use, the service and support has been amazing, a couple of days ago I did need to ask for some support in changing the blade depths and the technician spent about an hour with me assisting me with the process until I felt confident. The quality of the cuts is amazing compared to the Wizard with clean and precise cut outs. The Gunnar has more capabilities and whilst I think it was a couple of thousand dollars more than some other machines we were looking at that has already paid off as far as I am concerned, I would have paid another couple of thousand dollars again for the machine as I feel it is a more superior machine to any other.

I hope you find this information useful, if there is anything else you would like to know feel free to ask, all the best with your purchase.

Kind regards, Jacquie

[Liquid]

Hello Liam..

Last year I purchased a Gunnar F1 Hybrid..
It was one of the biggest financial decisions I have made for my business to date.. and as such I researched it immensely before making the decision to go with what I personally believe is the BEST on the market.. Now that I have one.. I know my decision was warranted.
I wanted to be able to give the best quality of cut to my customers framing package and not be limited by designing freedom.. and I am confident I can with this CMC. I don't accept flaws in my work.. and I will never be in such a position that just an okay cut is good enough.
I can honestly say I haven't looked back..
As Jacquie mentioned previously.. the support for my 'pride and joy' is the best I have come across in ANYTHING I have invested in to date. Not to mention the initial training and service. 'Over and above' is not even scratching the surface.
If quality, reliability and the peace of mind you have the support you need and when YOU need it in your equipment, then my vote goes to the F1 Hybrid.. !

[mainframers]

Hi Liam,

I have to totally agree with Jacquie.

I have had the Gunnar F1 Hybrid for the past six months and it has been the best investment that I have ever made for my business.
I had been looking at CMC's for the past four years, weighing up the benefits of each machine, also speaking with other Framers at Framing shows, watching demonstrations on each machine.

What I found impressive with the Gunnar is there is no need to change the cutting head to do bevelled, reverse bevel and straight cuts from the front or back of the matboard.

I also checked round openings of the different machines available and found the only machine that left no start, finish point was the Gunnar.
Another great point of the Gunnar is the User Interface as it is bright and so easy to use, compared to other CMC's.
Not to mention the great training, knowledge and support that is made available.
If I knew what I know now I would have purchased the Gunnar 4 years ago.

All the best with your decision.

Regards, Alan

[John]

Liam,

You have probably noticed this already, but talk to any CMC owner and you will find that we all think that ours is the best.

I have owned a Wizard in the past, but my current machine is a TruCut. I have been very happy with both machines and the level of support for each has been superb.

Do your research, look for a machine with the features you require, get demos etc, and I'm sure you will not regret your choice.

[Dermot]

I did the rounds last year and purchased a Valiani, in truth there was very little in the difference of any of the four options I looked at, for a general jobbing framer any CMC will be a major process improvement.

The real question you need to ask yourself is what you will expect from the machine and more importantly what type of work you expect to do on the machine…..ie: what sort of mounts/products do you expect to produce for the market you service……..for example asides from mounts do you expect to produce boxes.

[barton]

Just to say thank you for the replies.
Liam

[Nigel Nobody]

If you could see a physical comparison of the cut openings of the different brands and that is important to you, your choice would be easy. I've seen them myself and the the F1 Hybrid cuts are definitely better.

I have a 10 year old Gunnar Rapido and will buy an F1 Hybrid as soon as I can afford one! Not because I own the same brand!

[Dermot]

I've seen them myself and the the F1 Hybrid cuts are definitely better

Hi Ormond

Can you please clarify what you mean by this, you have referred to this a few times without any real explanation as to what you mean …………other than it is you opinion.

Thanks

[Merlin]

I also checked round openings of the different machines available and found the only machine that left no start, finish point was the Gunnar.

How closely did you check the Valiani Range of CMC's. They leave no entry/exit marks either.
They are also 'future proofed' in that if a new head is designed in the future, they will be made to fit the existing travelling head. You will not need to purchase a new machine.

You have probably noticed this already, but talk to any CMC owner and you will find that we all think that ours is the best.

From my recent experiences demonstrating at Spring Fair 2010 and SACA 2010 that is such a true statement. End users are very protective of their chosen CMC.

[pinkybanks]

Am I right in thinking that the F1 can be upgraded with the new head, or are the two models completely different beasts.

[David]

Yes, you can fit a hybrid head to the F1.

[Gesso&Bole]

I have recently purchased a second hand Gunnar F1. Before I got it I thought that I would upgrade it to a hybrid head (about £3000) but now that I have used it for a few weeks, I am glad I didnt jump in with the upgrade. I have found the machine and software very easy to use, and the quality of cut is fantastic, it has made a huge difference to my business.

I may well upgrade it later, but probably not unless i get into supplying mounts on their own. For the moment there are more pressing needs for the £3000!

In general, I agree with Dermot - any of these machines will do a fantastic job for a jobbing framer, so do your research, and choose the one that has the features that appeal - also look carefully at the support package, and who you would prefer to deal with when you need help

[collie]

hi how many mounts would you need to be cutting for it to be possible to invest in a cmc . At the minite things are very quiet because of the hoildays but things are getting back to normal today but i would like to know the amount of mounts need to be cut for me to buy this machine

[Dermot]

That is a hard question to try and answer.

In my case I opted for a CMC when I re-started my business picture framing because I hated cutting mounts/mats on a manual machine.

So in my case it was about process improvement rather than how many mount/mats I could cut, in fact the CMC was the first piece of equipment I bought when I started looking as what I needed.

My verdict on a CMC in my book it is one of the most innovative pieces of equipment that has been introduced to the framing industry since the underpinner which came into use about 30 odd years ago.

To fully appreciate the benefits of a CMC, you would get a better feel if you could see one in operation, if you are down the Dublin/Wicklow you are more than welcome to drop by and have a look at my machine in action, I have a Valiani CMC.

Any make of CMC will offer a huge process improvement for a framer, all the makes for day to day work offer framers a great way of improving the process of mount/mat cutting.

[Nigel Nobody]

Dermot is right.....number of mats is not the main issue. Being able to offer your customers a better product and a wider range of products is more important.
Most CMC users don't necessarily use all the corner shapes and fancy openings, but they are there when needed. Multi opening, multi layer mats are so easy with a CMC, but difficult and time consuming without one.

[LeFrisp]

Will the Gunnar F1 Hybrid operating software work on a Mac? Does anyone know?

[Jared Davis CPF, GCF]

Unfortunately, no. Only PC.

To my knowledge, this holds the same for all CMC's across the industry too.

Keep smiling,

Jared

[Gesso&Bole]

You can run your Mac as a pc through bootcamp. Or you can get software called parallels that let's you run a fully working windows pc inside your Mac. The advantage of the software, is that you can use pc and Mac at once. I'm sure this would work with the cmc.

[Jared Davis CPF, GCF]

Software alone, possibly yes, but there is still the problem about hardware connection to communicate with the CMC? eg: serial/com connection to CMC controller,etc. No solution I've found to date there unfortunately.

I stand by my previous response.

Still smiling,

Jared