MrJoel

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Everything posted by MrJoel

  1. Hey y’all, I’m running a used fc8000 and 90% of what I cut is 3m 5100 Reflective. I just bought some blades off eBay when I bought the machine but I’m not getting a lot of mileage from them. On my Titan I was trying several clean cut blades but the tips seemed to break fairly frequently when I was using reflective...and then I saw the actual graphtec blades and my wallet screamed! Does anyone know the actual material differences and experience with a couple or both in a fc unit? thanks
  2. MrJoel

    More scalp 5 issues

    So I picked up a second cutter today, a Graphtec 8000. I haven’t messed with it other than test cuts while examining it but every design I cut out was 1/2 the design size. I can’t find any variations in the settings for my titan 3. So then I exported it and opened in Inkscape. Size was off again! But by 30%??? What the heck?
  3. Just wanted to maybe help some potential purchasers out and give a little experience on my progression of plotters over the last 2 years. As background, I have gone from a very part time gig earning a $200 a month profit to earning a living at what I do. The Laserpoint 2 was chose with SCAL 3 to use in conjunction with my MacBook Pro. My niche is chrome and reflective and it got the job done for the first 6 months of the business. I actually sold it for the same price I paid for it and it worked great but my workplace was in an unheated/cooled garage so I needed something small enough store away after using on the kitchen table. That’s where the Titan 15” came into play. The Titan 3 tabletop had enough downforce and my material worked in 15” rolls so, I was good to go. It was an improved cut, more accurate, and whisper quiet when you turn the vacuum fans off. That lasted over a year and many thousands of linear feet of reflective 3M 5100. Production was taking off and my space was at a premium, I just couldn’t do it from where I was and thus we moved to a location that had a full 40x60 basement that has now become the shop. with more room, I looked for something in the 1500-2000 range that had the downforce of the Titan but couldn’t pull the trigger on the CE-6000, I just wasn’t sure on how commercial of a cutter this would be. My friend was running some FC-8600’s and I really like those...except for the price. I ended up finding the previous model, a FC 8000-75 that fit the bill and I ended up getting it for only $500 used. $60 into it and it runs amazing! I have also switched from the MacBook over to a dedicated PC doing the design and cutting (the 28” monitor really helps compared to the 13” MacBook) and I’m running both cutters simultaneously. I do high volume, low weeding projects so I can almost keep up by myself. Overall, each cutter filled the need I had at the time at the budget I had to work with and each did good but each move was a marked improvement in accuracy and quality. The one thing lacking on the Titan was a “copy” button, something I used every day with the LP2 and the Graphtec... maybe something to consider. Hit me up with your questions
  4. Ok, business is growing as is the need for a new PC... I’m a Mac guy and have no idea what I need but hope y’all can point me in the right direction. This will be a desktop setup to run the plotters, design software and doing some video editing.
  5. MrJoel

    New computer suggestions

    I kinda went this route with my brothers help (he owns a computer repair store and built one for me). I now have a dell optiplex running an i7 with 16gb ram and as 250 ssd and a 1tb drive along with a nice graphics card. Should be arriving this week. I picked up a couple 28” 1080 monitors as well. Total cost is just under $500.
  6. I even saw this fc8000 used on amazon for $900 with free shipping! https://amzn.to/2NZYb88
  7. I’ve seen a few threads on here over the past few days as I have been trying to figure out the new to me, $500 Graphtec FC8000. The offset triangles looked horrible! After fiddling with the offset in Graphtec Studio and then switching to the control panel adjustments with no success I reached down to readjust the blade and noticed a bit of front to back wobble in the carriage unit...and a bit of up and down wobble! so the screw removal process started for the top cover and the control panel. The previous owner said it was great for large jobs but not small ones and this was why. The top roller assembly was loose on the left side because the factory screw had been put in cross threaded and wasn’t seated. It broke as I took it out so the 20 minute job took about 2 hours as I tried to find where my taps were, then where my little screws were (we are in the process of moving so it’s a mess). anyway, the vide explains what I did and it works amazing now! I’ll get some post repair offset test pics later tonight! Here is the quick video on what I’m talking about
  8. Well, ran the test again at 0 offset and...perfect!!! what are you running under tool settings? I have 1 for step pass, offset force of 7, and offset angle of 30???
  9. Going to get this thing up and cutting Monday. Just wondering what speed and pressure settings you are at MZ SKEETER for like 631? I want to start in the right ballpark!
  10. MrJoel

    More scalp 5 issues

    Ok, seems that the step size doesn’t match on the cutter and SCALP.. cutter runs at a standard of 1016 and in cut settings on scalp you can click the settings menus beside the model and see step size at the bottom of the pop up... mine was set to 508!!! Boom baby! (Ok, I’m just going off what I read somewhere else and will try it tomorrow!)
  11. MrJoel

    More scalp 5 issues

    The FC series is listed as compatible in the drop down menus for cutters in scalp, and yes I could adjust the scaling but it doesn’t seem right. Moving a design from scalp to Graphtec Studio (Pro isn’t available on Mac) is a pain. I have to take it from an svg in Inkscape and then change it to an eps then open it. I may go nuts if I have to do that for all my files while trying to remember to scale them correctly... as for the cutter, it’s butter! So smooth and quiet and fast. I have a blade and holder on order from amazon (hope it’s right). Part of the reason for the cost was the guy had no idea how to use it and didn’t have the time to learn. He got it from a sign shop that got auctioned. The blade is toast, ran it across the vinyl I brought and the vinyl laughed as it refused to be cut. The pen holder worked fine though. it didn’t have the fabric part of the basket but have the skeleton.
  12. MrJoel

    SCALP 4.074 just screwed me

    did you get this solved? I just added a used graphtec to my lineup and it is doing the same thing on scalp 5
  13. Just picked one up...$500!!!
  14. Hey everyone, just wanting to get some input. I’m currently running a titan 3 and the majority of the product I’m cutting is quite unique. Almost sandblast material that’s 22 mils and it needs (according to the titan) a downforce of 360. The other half of my use is with reflective 3m 5100 and 680cr. My titan has run a lot of miles and done very well but I’m curious about the CE until I read that 300 on the downforce and was wondering if those numbers for the titan and CE are apples to apples as I really have no way of measuring downforce. The FC is a beast but I don’t know that I could justify the price when most of the features are not going to ever be used. let me know your opinion, Thanks!!!
  15. Well, by “we” I meant the peeps in the shop. I just do installation there. And, of course, they are out of town this weekend...
  16. So, I found a used fc8000-75. It’s a couple hours away but the owner says it works great. What should I be looking for in regards to problems or concerns?
  17. I did find one for $800 same as yours, fc8000-75... debating if I should take the 3 hour drive to go check it out
  18. Ok, even on the laser point 2 I was able to send a job to the plotter then make copies with a push of the button on the machine... I can’t figure it out on the titan... am I missing it or is an option that isn’t there?
  19. Other applications with scalp open. If it ain’t on The screen, the machine ain’t movin
  20. Thanks but I know how to duplicate, copies is a completely different idea. The material I am cutting requires a mat, after each pattern is cut I have to go into scalp, click ok, then cut, then ok after putting the second mat in and positioning it correctly. My laser point 2 had a copy button... I miss it...it may just push me towards the Graphtec for plotter #2... im actually reconsidering all my equipment, computer (from MacBook Pro to desktop with Mac or pc) , plotter, etc. we use the fc-8600 at my day job but I really want a 30” as I transition from that day job to doing my side gig full time in the next couple of months...
  21. Unfortunately it’s quite a few button clicks to do so and I have to have my Mac open to scalp the entire time... hard to multi task when stuck doing one thing!
  22. I’m thinking I would like the included software better than the scalp I’m using too
  23. Rectangles with radiused corners in Inkscape, made exactly how i need them. I save them as plain svg, import them into scalp and get squared off corners ... what’s going on here?
  24. MrJoel

    Inkscape design import to scalp 5 pro

    That’s what it was...eps works fine! Thanks