USCutter 14″ MH Vinyl Cutter Review: Long Term Update

September 6, 2022May 2, 2024 ReviewRaft.com 0 Comments USCutter Vinyl Cutter Review

Nearly a decade. . . that’s how long we’ve been using and abusing this cutter. When we say this is a long term MH vinyl cutter review, we mean it! It’s hard to believe we’ve had our trusty 14″ MH vinyl cutter for almost 10 years. During that time we’ve put it through the ringer. We have cut thick premium vinyl, thin cheap vinyl, cardstock and more. We’ve cut fast. We’ve cut slow. This cutter has made thousands of cuts and helped create countless products. After a decade of use we still highly recommend it.

Granted, our journey hasn’t been free of tribulations and disappointment. Yes. There are better cutters out there, but not many that offer this kind of value. We’re still happy with our purchase. Read on for a rundown of what we’re most happy with, what gave us trouble and how we resolved issues.

This is an update to our initial review posted back in 2019. For a detailed look we recommend reading that review as well. It contains tons of valuable information. That post was getting too long. We decided to make separate updates going forward.

QUALITY:

You generally get what you pay for. This is a budget-minded entry level cutter. For the price you shouldn’t expect much. You get mostly plastic construction. The important areas like the main base, main roller and upper cross brace are durable steel. The rest of the cutter is made up of plastic. This includes:

Pinch rollers (Rubber covered plastic)
Carriage assembly wheels
End caps
Power switch
Control panel buttons
Carriage arm

Don’t let that scare you. All the plastic construction has been much more durable than we anticipated. If you handle the cutter with reasonable care it will hold up to hobby and moderate commercial use. We’ve even dropped this cutter off a stand about 3 feet high onto a carpeted floor. There was no damage to the plastic end caps or other areas.

At this point in our long term MH vinyl cutter review we have two main areas were the plastic construction still concerns us: the carriage arm and the control panel buttons.

The plastic carriage arm that secures the blade holder eventually cracks. Due to weight concerns, using a different material for construction probably isn’t feasible. If you overtighten the arm it will crack. We take care to not crank down on the brass knurled knob. It will still fatigue and eventually crack. We consider the carriage arm a disposable part that eventually wears out and needs replaced. In the past, ordering that part was simple and affordable. Due to some minor revisions to the cutter it has become a problem nearly a decade later. The carriage assembly was updated slightly compared to what was used on this cutter. More on that later.

The LCD and control pad button assembly features some pretty cheap construction. The screen overlay is thin and flimsy plastic. The buttons have a very cheap click and the overlay is the type we’ve seen crack and fall apart on other products. Fortunately, we haven’t had any issues over the years. It feels so cheap we suspect you’d have issues with the control pad if you used this product daily in a commercial setting where employees don’t have a gentle touch. That’s just a hunch. Although our control pad looks, feels, and sounds cheap it still functions flawlessly.

SOFTWARE:

Back in 2012 the 14″ MH Series cutter came bundled with SignBlazer elements and Sure Cuts a Lot Pro. We installed and used SCAL Pro and never looked back. Ten years later we’re still using it. SCAL Pro has been with us on Windows Vista, Windows 8, Windows 10 and beyond. We’ve grown accustomed to it and really like the features and ease of use.

Updates are typically free but major version upgrades have required a reasonable fee. Over the years we’ve paid to upgrade from version 3 to the current version 5. This isn’t a Sure Cuts a Lot Pro review so we won’t bore you with details of the software. SCAL does what we need it to do and we’re very happy. We really like the “what you see is what you get” interface and we’ve grown to love the text features and auto tracing function for images.

MH Vinyl Cutter Review - Long Term update after 10 years of use

DURABILITY:

In our initial review I admitted I didn’t expect this cutter to last more than a year to a year and a half. I’m happy to say I was very, very wrong. This little tank has lived 6 to 10 times longer than I thought it would. Better yet, it is still going! We’ve broken a few things but with a spare part order and some ingenuity we’ve kept on cutting.

In our first MH vinyl cutter review I noted two main issues. We’ve experienced broken carriage arms and a solder joint failure due to mechanical stress caused by our own stupidity. Both were easy fixes. We’ve only had one other issue which we’ll discuss shortly.

We also mentioned a few mishaps with vinyl getting bunched under the moving carriage. It’s avoidable and typically occurs when someone isn’t paying attention while cutting close to the edge of vinyl. With the narrow 10″ usable cutting area we often find ourselves pushing the limit a little and attempting to cut close to the outer edge of a roll of vinyl. That’s fine until the perfect storm arises. Sometimes that outer edge of a roll of vinyl will curl up just a bit. If you don’t have the pinch roller assembly set just right, the moving carriage can catch on the lifted edge of the vinyl and cause issues. It usually snags the vinyl and bunches it up as the carriage moves toward the midline. That wad of vinyl now obstructs the carriage assembly and it can’t move.

Unfortunately, these cheap cutters are dumb. Unless you slam into a limit switch, the cutter has no idea things have gone awry. Despite running into an obstruction the cutter continues to attempt to execute the cut program, with the carriage assembly and blade stuck. The result is grinding stepper motors and a problem that continues to get worse if you don’t shut things down with quickness. We’ve done this a few times over the years without causing ourselves much trouble. Caught promptly, this issue usually just ends with a ruined cut, some ruined vinyl and a bruised ego. Left unchecked, this issue will result in mechanical failure and damage to the vinyl cutter itself.

Carelessness finally caught up with us in late December of 2021. We were cutting close to the edge of vinyl and managed to snag the edge. The carriage tried to force itself through a fistful of vinyl wadded up under the cutting carriage. The operator ran across the room to shut things down but not before the carriage arm assembly suffered a tiny hairline crack. Things were wonky enough it caused the blade holder to sit crooked. We got things up and running but it took a little head scratching to figure out. Support wasn’t much help.

WARRANTY AND SUPPORT:

When we purchased our cutter it came with a 90 day warranty. A one year extended warranty was available for around $50. Today, the MH series includes a 1 year warranty with purchase. An additional one year warranty is available for around $50.00, therefore providing 2 full years of warranty coverage. We never had any issues with the cutter during our warranty period, so I have no insight on the warranty claim process.

We have contacted USCutter support about 3 times over the years. Our first contact was a question prior to purchase. They responded quickly. Pre-sale support is easy. Post purchase we’ve emailed with two questions over the years. We’ve generally gotten a quick response (within 1-3 days) which is good. However, we’ve noticed you are basically on your own once out of the warranty period. They do offer free lifetime support. However, in our limited experience, once you’ve got an aging product that is out of the warranty period, support staff is more interested in selling you a new cutter than helping you fix the old one. We get it. We don’t expect full red carpet support for a product that has been out of warranty for over 9 years.

If you’re afraid to use a screwdriver and don’t have some basic mechanical abilities, things may be a bit more difficult when your value cutter goes down out of warranty. There is good news is if you’re confident enough to attempt repairs yourself. Replacement parts are readily available from USCutter and other sources. The bad news is the website and support staff often aren’t aware of what actually fits what cutter.

The MH series has undergone minor revisions to a couple areas over the past decade. That’s to be expected. The problem is, however, USCutter isn’t too concerned with documenting changes for people ordering parts for older machines. We inadvertently discovered the carriage assembly and arm have been updated at some point. After the aforementioned mishap of December 2021 we noticed a cracked carriage arm holding the blade holder loosely.

The old style arm was discontinued but the site claimed the new arm fits all MH Series cutters. The arm arrived but it did not fit properly. We could force it to clamp but it would do so at an angle. After looking at photos on their site we realized the carriage assembly had been updated along with the new style arm. Other than that, the carriage assembly looked identical to the old one. We were desperate to get our cutter up and running. I 3D printed a new carriage assembly for temporary use to get us up and running. It worked fine but we trusted the OEM part more than a 3D printed substitute.

We emailed support and asked if the new carriage assembly being sold fit the old cutters sold in 2012. Two days later we received a response. USCutter support informed us they do not offer parts for the older model MH series cutters. They stated the parts aren’t interchangeable and as a result, they recommended upgrading to a new machine.

My eyes told me differently. Since we had already disassembled our old carriage assembly for our 3D printed repair, we were pretty confident the updated version was pretty similar. We trusted our gut. We ignored support, took a chance and ordered the newer style carriage assembly with hopes of making it work on our older cutter. Once it arrived we discovered the part fit fine with little to no modifications. The replacement part cost us around $40 shipped. That’s much better than throwing the old cutter away and spending $240+ on a new machine.

I’m not sure whether support lied to us or if they were just misinformed. Either way it left a bad taste in my mouth.

UPDATED 14″ MH VINYL CUTTER REVIEW CONCLUSION:

Overall, our opinion in our long term US Cutter 14″ MH vinyl cutter review hasn’t changed. We still love it. We’re still very pleased with our investment and we’d make this purchase all over again. Here’s what we like most and what frustrates us most about this cutter.

PROS:

Incredible Value
Easy to repair if you’re handy
Affordable consumable part.
Includes cutting software
Plenty of support and tutorials available online
Compact size is perfect for small areas. No need for a large stand
Durable. This cutter has far outlived our expectations.
Can be used as a hobby cutter or in a small business

CONS:

Noisy stepper motors. This cutter has gotten a little louder with age.
The stepper motors aren’t as quiet, smooth or accurate as much more expensive servo motor powered machines.
Once you’ve got an older cutter out of warranty, support tries to sell you a new machine instead of helping you fix the old one.
The stepper motors and belt design limit how intricate and small your designs can be.
The cutter is sold as a 14″ cutter, which is misleading. The actual usable and available cuttable area is closer to 10″ wide.

WHERE TO PURCHASE:

Based on our nearly 10 years of experience and use, we highly recommend an MH series cutter for anyone looking for a reliable budget minded cutter. This cutter, and a variety of clones, are available at multiple ecommerce sites. You can purchase directly via their site or you can also use a retailer for added peace of mind. Please note some of the links on our site are affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you purchase from links here.

Some sources include:

Vevor makes a very similar cutter that may be worth looking into as well. They’re often priced a little cheaper. While we haven’t used a Vevor cutter, construction looks very similar. Many of these products are manufactured by the same one or two companies overseas before they are rebranded and sold under various different names.