USCutter MH 34in Review

With a maximum cutting width of around 31 inches and a length of around 8 foot, you can certainly do a lot with this vinyl cutter. If you’re looking for a machine that can deliver simple signage, it would be hard to go wrong with the USCutter MH Series.

For more intricate cuts, or particularly large and complex jobs, you may find it a little unreliable, however — don’t worry, we’ll come back to that!

The cuts themselves are also high quality, with the adjustable pinch rollers of the plotter allowing for precision cutting that you can customize at your will. The machine works best when put to task on small runs at a time.

You’ll usually find the MH 34in priced cheap or included in generous bundle deals with various vinyl supplies and tools.

It comes with 3 blades so you won’t need to run out for replacements too soon either.

At that price, it’s comparable to the desktop entry-level craft cutters from companies like Cricut, Silhouette and Sizzix. But, it’s able to work on much larger jobs and is more suitable for the serious signage hobbyist and even small business.

Sure, in some ways it falls below the standards of commercial grade vinyl plotters. But it’s the perfect compromise between functionality and price. Don’t expect miracles from it, but you should feel like you got a good deal if it meets your needs as a small-scale vinyl cutter.

Check out the Amazon reviews if you want to see a wider balance of positive and negative views on the USCutter MH Series. You’ll see that most buyers feel happy with their purchase, while even the more negative reviews acknowledge that “you get what you pay for”!

Another major advantage of the MH Series vinyl cutter is the fact that it’s easy to use and intuitive — a huge bonus for crafters just getting to grips with vinyl signage.

There have been some moans that it’s hard to set up and that the manual isn’t that helpful, but that wasn’t our experience at all. The manual has a number of quick fixes to common problems and — as always with craft cutting — YouTube is your friend when it comes to video tutorials.

If you choose to go with the included software, VinylMaster Cut, you should find that easy to use too. We personally prefer our old friend Sure Cuts Alot, but found it perfectly serviceable and well suited to beginners.

The one major con for this USCutter is the fact that it can’t really sustain its good cutting performance on larger jobs.

We found — and other buyers have too — that it could be a little hit and miss on longer or more complex jobs, starting off well but occasionally running out of steam halfway through. Not only is this annoying in the time wasting sense, but it can also prove costly, wasting precious material.

We quickly learned that it worked fine if you kept to smaller runs and simple projects. If you want a reliable, quality cutter for anything more than that, you’re going to have to invest a little more and opt for a more professional product, we’re afraid.

This problem is reportedly because the plotter has very little memory so a complex job can confuse it, sending it into overdrive and eventually freezing the system. Not so good.

While the customer service for USCutter is great, there’s little they can really do about this problem other than recommend you work in smaller batches.

Another potential dealbreaker is that the machine is only compatible with PCs and not with Mac.

A few users have managed to find an Apple workaround, but you definitely won’t be able to use the included VinylMaster Cut software on an iOS system.

While for PC users, this obviously won’t be a problem, for us it simply cemented the view that USCutter are a little behind the times. What with the CD software, old school videos and build it yourself frame, it’s clear where the company have managed to cut the costs on the USCutter MH Series.

It’s primarily intended for vinyl cutting and signage purposes, so the number of materials the USCutter plotter can work with is pretty minimal. This was quite a shock after testing the entry-level (that can cut 100+ materials) Cricut Explore Air last week.

Here’s the official list of what it can cut:

And the materials it cannot cut:

USCutter have made this pretty old school, low-resolution video on exactly what you can expect in your box and how to set up your brand new vinyl cutter:

Setup and Installation of the MH Series Vinyl Cutter from USCutter on Vimeo.

If you prefer to read written instructions for set-up and installation, you can check out the craft cutter’s manual here.

Some buyers have complained that the setup was a little fiddly and difficult but we actually didn’t find it much of a problem when we followed the instructions closely. Yes, it’s a little more work than a more expensive model but, you know, you get what you pay for!

The 34in can cut a maximum width of 30.63 inches and a maximum length of 8 feet. That’s a lot of craft cutting for a machine at such a low price point!

It works at 39 in/s speed at a force of 350 grams.

The USCutter MH Series comes equipped with the VinylMaster Cut (Basic Edition) software. It’s only compatible with PC (argh!) and comes on a blast-from-the-past CD disk.

Did someone say old-school?

After fishing out an old laptop PC from the dark recesses of our basement, we found that VinylMaster Cut is actually pretty good and certainly adequate for basic vinyl cutting design.

It allows you to produce lettering, logos and pinstriping, and comes with a variety of tools for text, curves and objects. It’s basic but, in fairness, this is the basic edition.

It also has built-in vectorization tools that work with all major image formats, while the image trace feature works well to convert any image into a ready-to-cut file.

One of the best things about the software for the MH Series vinyl cutter is the fact that it’s licensed for unlimited users, which is great for collaboration and remote teams working on a single project.

If you want to get into the weeds about what exactly the included software offers, check out this PDF comparison chart that compares it against the more advanced version of VinylMaster Cut. The one we’ve got is abbreviated to VMC in the chart.

Thankfully, you’ve got the option to use a host of other software with this USCutter plotter instead if you so desire, through standard vinyl cutter PNC1000 drivers.

We used it with Sure Cuts Alot, which worked great, while Flexi, SignBlaser and SignCut Productivity Pro can be used too.

We know we’re not the only ones to enjoy a good old craft cutting tutorial, so here’s a few for your delectation.

A typically old-school one from USCutter…

This should give you a sense of how the vinyl cutter works (and how loud it is!)

You can watch a mesmerizing video of the pen-plotter at work here:

This is a pretty big cutter. It’s able to cut to around 31 inches wide and a huge 8 feet long — this is not your desktop entry level craft cutter! Make sure that you have the space to properly house it before you buy.

The likely audience for the USCutter MH 34in will be a mix of serious vinyl cutting hobbyists up to small signage businesses.

One of the best things about this vinyl cutter is the fact that it’s so cheap in comparison to other semi-commercial cutters, so definitely consider this machine if you’re looking for a bargain.

If you’re a light hobbyist or more interested in small scale paper designs, we think you’d be much better suited to a desktop craft cutter like the Cricut Explore Air or the Silhouette Cameo 3. They might be similar in price to the MH Series, but there’s little point in getting a large-scale cutter if it doesn’t suit your needs.