MH-721 up and running on my Macbook Pro - here's how.

[whitecastle]

When considering this cutter, I was confused about all the various pieces of info when it came to Mac setup. So I thought I'd post the easy and few steps it took to get it running on my Mac. I use illustrator partnered with Signcut via USB. (no adaptor)

• 1. Buy your cutter.
• 2. Get your cutter.
• 3. Get your activation codes and download links for Signcut. One year is included with your purchase, and it's a great way to get up and running fast. It *may be in the box with your cutter, but if not, the support team will get you the info you need. Only took 1 hour for me to get sorted as there wasn't any paper work with my cutter.You need to go to http://www.signcutpro.com/Register-Bundle.html and register your bundle. You will then be shown the download links. You are also sent an email with download instructions.
• 4. Download and install Signcut. I also installed the Illustrator plugin which allows me to send straight to Signcut from Illustrator.
• 5. IMPORTANT: Install the USB/Serial extensions. This will allow your mac to send commands to the cutter through USB. Select the right one for your OS. These are available here: http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm
• 6. Connect your Mac to Cutter via included USB cable.
• 7. Fire up Signcut and open an EPS file. Send to cutter.
• 8. Enjoy.

Hopes this sheds some light on how simple it is to get this cutter working on the mac. Cheers.

[gr203]

Thanks a ton on this. I'll be ordering this exact cutter and have a macbook as well so this helps a ton! Thanks!

[gr203]

also, quick question if you happen to come back and check this post.. are you running a serial converter? I'm not too familiar with this, but I hear the USB is slow and can be choppy, and i hear a $30 keyscan usb to serial converter is really recommend to be faster and stuff, are you doing this? or does the step number #5 make it work faster with USB? I'm just in a debate to buy one or not thanks!

[whitecastle]

I am not running the USB/Serial converter. I decided to give it a whirl before I bought the adapter that is recommended.  It worked perfectly after I installed the drivers. It is NOT slow for me with this setup. In fact it's pretty damn quick in my opinion, and I have it set to Normal speed. I can't imagine how fast the Fast setting is.

Once you get it working, you'll need to fiddle with the blade setting. grab a credit card and put place it on top of the cutter head. Then dial the blade to it sits about half the thickness of the credit card. YES, half the thickness. Just peeping out the tiniest amount. Then dial the force down to like 50. I'm getting amazingly intricate cuts out of this set up.

I would also LOOSEN up the springs for the pinch feeders. Otherwise they will leave an impression on the vinyl. I have mine set to half way through the gold nuts. You'll know what I mean when you look at the nuts.

[VendettaVinyl]

Hey man, I just tried this and it looks like it is sending to the cutter but nothing is being up. Any Ideas?

[whitecastle]

Make sure the cable is connected - Obvious I know, but I was sending jobs last night and couldn't figure out why it wasn't' cutting. Then I saw the cable wasn't hooked up - Doh.

If not that, I'd make sure you installed the right set of drivers. I had no success until I did that.

Lastly, make sure Baud is the same in Signcut as on your cutter, and that output device is set correctly. Here are my settings:

[Trauma11]

Will this work on LP24?

[JV]

Will this work on LP24?

Just set up my LP24 the same way (but before I read this thread)
Yes it works fine, and the contour cutting feature works too!

[convictedthruChrist]

THANK YOU! I haven't tried it yet, but makes sense. I also have a mac and illustrator cs4 and hope that I can figure out how to correctly move the file to a sign cut program and actually be able to get the outlines. How do you like the sign cut program you're using? Oh, I do have parallels for the mac and corel draw graphic suite x4. You think that might work out and respond with a us cutter mh871?

[convictedthruChrist]

ALL MY PROBLEMS ANSWERED!!! THIS WORKED PERFECT, THANK YOU THANK YOU!! I do recommend to download the usb driver first and if not you can find it under the cutter options once downloaded. Otherwise you only have tcp and bluetooth options when installing sign cut. Also, if you didn't get your registration # for signcut, it will be at the bottom of the email from when you purchased the cutter. I have a mh871 which was not listed as an option on sign cut, however i choose the next model up. Everything seems to work great, except my sloppy designs with tooo many outlines and other junk. AI sends it right to sign cut!!