We've been using cutting plotters since the very fist small format Roland Sprocket machines (we still have one here), which were really expensive, but immensely accurate. 

Cutting plotter improvements allowed different sized and thickness tapes to be developed, so they kind of went hand-in-hand.

We now have 3 plotters in our cutting room. A venerable Tangential Summa T750, a Graphtec FC8600 and a Summa S One D60.

As most sandblast stencil is maximum 25'' wide, the 60cm plotters will work perfectly fine for most Memorial Masons. If you plan on doing sign vinyl too, then a 75cm machine may open up versatility for you. However, you also find that the best machines in terms of cutting force, build quality, accuracy, along with warranty, start at 75cm cutting bed width.

For our own work, we use the FC8600 and use the Summa S One D60 for special projects, so as not to interrupt the workshop. The T750 hardly gets used now, but comes in handy for demonstrations etc.

We are official distributers for both Graphtec and Summa, and can offer support on most machines. We never really looked at Roland or Mimaki for example, as historically, they never had enough cutting force to cut the really thick tapes.

You do tend to get what you pay for with this type of electronic equipment, so although a Graphtec CE8000 and Summa S One D60 will work, they are not built in the same way as the FC range for example - Plus the warranty period is longer with the mid range machines; beiung 3 years rather than two.