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Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/27/2019 in all areas

  1. 3 points
    I sent the control board up to my brother who owns a computer repair shop. He de-soldered the old button and put a new one on. $10
  2. 2 points
    I am sorry if you took that as a smack down - not really how it was intended After reading all the post - the wonky part we have seen before caused by 2 main reasons - first the blade exposure that skeeter has already covered - the other is people backing off the pressure roller tension because they don't understand the tracks left by that are normal and that much tension is needed to feed the vinyl correctly. Another part that is commonly misunderstood is when you line the vinyl up by the decal rulers stuck on in the factory = those decals are not true and even so vinyl will track sideways until you feed it back and forth making necessary adjustments until it tracks straight. for small pieces you can use a cutting mat to help you with that part - so far I have never needed one in over 11 years. you will find signblazer to be simpler to used even though it has not been updated in about 8 years since the owner passed away - it was way ahead of it's time. signblazer is easier for many beginners to understand and those used to crafters software like scalp - - - most of the old timers on here sell decals and signs and after the learning curve find the softwares that crafters find difficult more efficient and capable - it all depends on what you want to do in the end. as far as the article you linked - like others have said that was made by a sales person because the MH is no where hear a commercial machine -nor was the lp2 that is out of production - both can be tweaked to work relatively good and the mh will teach you all the set up as things will change from time to time for no reason - I have owned 2 of them personally and they taught me a lot - and make me appreciate the better cutters more. take your time - take a breath and you can work thru it and once you get used to it will never look back.
  3. 1 point
    I agree with the others. The info you found was seriously inaccurate and sad that someone would even waste your time with that list. The Graphtec cutters and the Roland are about the only ones that I would call a commercial grade cutter. The FC being the best on that list and the most expensive. There are a LOT of other options out there as well. I started out with a Creation P-Cut (no longer offered at US Cutter) I think it was similar to what the new SC2 is putting out. In fact the SC2 may be better than what I had. I ended up getting busy and so I upgraded to a SummaCut which is priced right in between the CE and FC Graphtecs but the specs are higher than both except for down force of the FC. One train of thought that is NOT WRONG is that learning on a budget cutter will teach you more than starting out on a high end machine. You will be forced to learn the true art of tuning your cutter. As mentioned previously the MH (as bargain barn budget as it may be) is still capable of cutting decent mid sized work in the hands of a trained assassin. If you are going to try to cut really small stuff with text very much below 3/4" or anything very much over 3 ft long or anything that needs multi-layers to be aligned or anything that is going to be multiple copies then it's not going to make you happy. My P-Cut did ok on average stuff but I started needing multiple copies of Heat Transfer Vinyl logo's and it would only do about a dozen before it would overload the memory and wig out and ruin several feet if expensive vinyl or just stop in the middle. I had to "hover" over it every minute it was working so I could stop it if it started going wrong. It was susceptible to static charges and they would also cause it to do something awful. Hobbyist, no problem. Business, not happening. On top of ALL OF THE OTHER THINGS ON YOUR MIND you will need to carefully consider what actual design program you want to build files with. Vinyl Master has seemed to be rock solid and has about all the tools you could want (in the upper levels of the program, not in Cut or even in Letter). I have been trying to learn VM Pro but have not gotten very far yet because my days are so full with a day job and then my cutting work which is a side business. In the end if you really want to be a viable business you will need to become proficient in SOME design graphics program of which there is a list. The more popular ones include Adobe Illustrator (my tool of choice so I listed it first. Extreme on the learning curve I might add). Corel Draw is used by many and said to be easier to grasp for many people. Inkscape is a free option and several here on the forum are handy with it. (I am not) It's a bit clunky IMO but with practice you can do about any basic sign graphic. All three of the aforementioned are strictly design programs that you then need a cutting program to send to your cutter. Vinyl Master Cut that you have will do this just fine. VMCut may be missing some of the nesting and tiling tools for cutter interface. Someone who knows for sure may pitch in and clarify this. The other programs that offer design AND cut in one program include Flexi, (pretty much the boss when it comes to professional sign software and expect to mortgage your house if you were to buy the pro levels) Vinyl Master which you already know a bit about. The Pro level is pretty nice with all the bells and whistles for cutting. The Expert level is even higher but is aimed at print level production work. Then there is Sure Cuts A Lot Pro known as SCALP on the forum. There are several levels of this offering and some have had success with it as a design and cut. I tried a beta version when it first rolled onto the scene and absolutely hated it. If you are actually going to be in business you will be receiving customer files in a myriad of formats. Most I get are un-rendered pictures that I have to re-create. Some come in pdf and have the vector lines within, some in eps or svg vector as well. For an actual business it's a big part of the job and being capable will determine your success, that's why I bring this up. You probably better spend some quiet time deciding how far you plan to go with this. Download Inkscape and work through the tutorials and you'll begin on the path. I design almost exclusively on a mac in Adobe Illustrator and then I cut from a cut only program called SignCut Pro 1. It is both mac and pc compatible and probably would let you cut from your MacBook to your MH although the crappy chipset in the cutter will be an issue for you. There is a special adapter that will supposedly fix you up on that too called a Tripp lite Keyspan adapter (name brand, other brands usually do not work) but you would be stepping off into left field with little tech support if trying to make all that work on the mac. Your windows laptop will work just fine as a cutter controller as will your VM Cut program should you start designing in something else and just using it to run the cutter. Still need to figure out why it's not currently working of course but that sounds like a fine tune/mechanical issue rather than software issue.
  4. 1 point
    Started off on an original LaserPoint, finally upgraded to a Graphtec. I don't trust that ruler either, but gotta admit, I do use the tick marks on it when I'm cutting a sheet - I can see which direction the vinyl is drifting and make my adjustment from that. pinch rollers over the grit roller bar is definitely a must. I've had to put tape on my LaserPoint, above the carriage, so that I know where there is a break between the two grit rollers to make sure I don't accidentally drop the pinch roller there. yup, that took a few times to learn I wish I could say that I would never need forum help in the future, but that's not realistic for me. I will always need this forum for help, but admittedly, I sometimes bring weird questions, so it is what it is If you're still wanting to keep the MH, then sadly, Windows will be the way to go for you. That being said, Sign Blazer is free, and a lot of the other design/cut software have free trials. If the screen on your windows (assuming) laptop is too small, then you might want to consider the bootcamp/vm fusion/parallels route.
  5. 1 point
    Here is the UScutter buyers guide for vinyl cutters, Cutters with servo motors are the best cutters. https://www.uscutter.com/index/page/static/subpage/buying_guides_new
  6. 1 point
    Jeannemritz. I'm trying to sort through the haze of confusion. Your cutter is slipping the vinyl. Often new owners mis-pace the pic rollers so that they are not on the right spots on the drive shaft. I know because I did it myself after successfully cutting for a couple weeks. Accidentally moved a pinch roller over and it was then not over the proper grit surface and it went wonky and it took me a whole evening to figure out what went wrong. Generally speaking we suggest NEVER adjusting the pinch roller tension. Occasionally they come out of wack I suppose but they are problematic to get set correctly and usually the factory gets them set about as good as you can at home but thats not gospel. Your search on google was misleading and possibly a result more to the actual QUANTITY that was most sold. The MH is one of those Door Buster deals that attract attention but as noted previously are the very cheapest model available (for a reason). At Least you aren't in too deep financially if you decide to bail and go a different route. The forum group of regulars, many of which have chimed in to try and help out, are experienced veterans of the cutting process and I can tell you without hesitation no flaming or smack down you felt was aimed at you was what was meant. You know how easy it is to mis-read someones comments in writing and get the wrong message from a post. Give them the benefit of the doubt and they will offer you the same.
  7. 1 point
    haumana is correct on blade depth, too much blade exposed will cause your vinyl to go wonky. This is how to set your blade depth correctly To start with, you should set your blade depth correctly, by taking the blade holder out of the machine, and firmly cut across a piece of scrap vinyl, you will be cutting. You should only be cutting the vinyl and barely a mark on wax paper backing, Adjust blade to get there, Then put the blade holder back in machine, and use the force of the machine to get there, same results, only cutting the vinyl and barely a mark in wax paper backing. You should just barely see and feel the blade tip out of the blade holder.
  8. 1 point
  9. 1 point
    OMG! This thing had a manual? I had to learn via trial-by-fire.
  10. 1 point
    The lesson here is --- keep your eyes open and imagine how a business owner can benefit from signage (wayfinders are very important). One hint, when doing exterior windows & door glass, keep in mind that people routinely use Windex to clean, and ammonia-based sprays leave a residue that resists vinyl application (the adhesive doesn't stick). RapidTac2 is excellent to pre-treat the glass. (I also carry some RapidPrep ESPECIALLY for boat name lettering)
  11. 1 point
    OK, so I walked into a local restaurant (randomly just stopped-in to use their restroom). On the front door was residue from a decal that had been scraped-off with the name of the General Manager removed. I inquired inside about who the new GM was, and could I talk to him/her. He pops out from the back and I explained that I'm a decal maker, would he like his name placed there on the door? Sure, he said, they were actually looking to have that done anyway, but hadn't gotten around to it. How much did I charge? I suggested that the restaurant just 'comp' me a dinner in barter. Very delicious! mini-Meatballs appetizers, stuffed Baked Potato, Salad Bar, Seared Fish.