Steel546

So, I'm wondering. I'm making some banners for a business, just black lettering on some yellow banners. Would using decal vinyl work just fine (Oracal 651) or would I need a heat vinyl, like Thermoflex Plus or what have you. Thoughts?

Pretty cool, hm?

So, I'm trying to find out which is the most cost effective per value and I'm curious who has used them. I currently use Thermoflex Plus and have no problem with it. I used to use Siser Easyweed, which was great for the hot release, but over time the edges started to curl up making the image look a little funky. But I'm wondering if anyone has tried any Spectra Eco-film. I really just don't want to buy a sample pack if I can get enough feedback elsewhere (though I know it's subject to criticism). Opinions?

I hope some of you got the title. Friend loves Tails, so I decided to make some Sonic/Tails stickers.

I have an EcoCut as well and had loads of trouble with SignCut. Try Signblazer instead, it made a huge difference for me and saved a lot of headache.

Okay, so I have a really weird kicker. At first I've been using Signcut, but then it was cutting things poorly and only about 70% of things were coming out properly. I installed SignBlazer and things are going so far, so good... except one file. Guys, I've tried this so many times and it doesn't make any sense why it doesn't work. Last night I literally ran this art through to put on heat transfer material. I have a big roll of thick, glossy black vinyl that I practice on because it's terrible. So I fed it through and started cutting... it cut the whole thing. Cool, now let's put some Easyweed through there.... stops about 10% of the way through, ruining a whole 18 inches of vinyl. Not cool. And it has happened to me soooo many times. This was in SignCut. Ran it through Signblazer, same deal. Just stops. I'm wondering if it's a memory issue, but unsure. Here's the file. I had it broken apart into two files, but combined them for simplicity. Someone, please help. jersey.zip jersey.zip

So when I cut larger projects, my EcoCut would just stop in the middle. My friend who has a MH721 said that his did the same thing, and once he went from USB to a serial cable it worked exponentially better. I've also heard that this could be a memory issue and could get a memory upgrade chip. Ideas? Two sets of questions: 1. Should I invest in going serial or memory upgrade? 2. If I go serial, should I get the USB-to-Serial adapter, or just get a PCI/PCI express Serial card? (It just seems redundant to go from USB to USB/Serial). Thanks!

I was considering getting an off-lease Dell to use for the cutter only with a serial port, but I might try another option first. If I go serial, would it be better to get a PCI card or a USB adapter? I don't know if anyone has tried it or if there's a performence difference between the two.

I have this same exact machine and I still have problems when cutting Easyweed. Try using your Roland, but before hand spray "Static Guard" on the back. It's weird, but it works, haha.

This seems like a very "green" and helpful idea. I like it.

So I've been using Enduramask Application tape, but it's been giving me some problems. I'm using Oracle 651 and some 631 vinyl, and the tape doesn't always stick to the vinyl, or pull the vinyl off the backing. I'm a little new and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a different tape. I'm also looking for a tape that's fairly clear, as Enduramask is kinda hard to see through when I'm double layering. So to sum up: - Not sticking well - Prefer clear application tape Thanks!

Hmm, I'll look into it. It was cutting deep before, but I changed the pressure and the actual amount of blade that was sticking out. I'm really just looking for a good clear tape to use.

I have one and I love it. I've had some issues, but it turns out that most of the time it was never the cutter itself (static, programs, etc). I have a whole Adobe suite of programs, so I either design in Photoshop/Illustrator and copy the vectors/lines into Signblazer. I had so many problems with Signcut, when I went to SignBlazer I was a little disappointed that it was so easy, haha. I know not many people have purchased the EcoCut, so if you do get it and have some issues, I'll be glad to try and help out.

Is it clear or does it look like masking tape?

That is the weirdest fix, but it worked. Haha. Thanks!

I actually ran a wire earlier yesterday and it still hasn't worked. I've cut other things in easyweed that made the carriage go back and forth more than just what this does. It just seems odd to me that the program stops sending data. It has done this is SignCut too.

USB, and my comp has no serial. But I just did it again. I put in a giant blank piece of paper and then used the plotting pen, it did the whole thing... I stick in Siser Easyweed, and it stops on the 3rd pass. So I just noticed it this time, but when SignBlazer tracks the cut, it stops towards the beginning... then the cutter stops. This is weird as it hasn't done it with anything else I've cut. Weird?

Well this is my lengthy process, but it works, lol. I go into Photoshop with a 300 dpi file and use a stroke option of about 20-30px, insert new layer underneath and merge the two, then color the inside black and save as bitmap, then vectorize it in Illustrator. Turns out pretty well, like so. I attached what I think would work. Seattle-Seahawks-Logo.eps Seattle-Seahawks-Logo.eps

I had the same problem, SignCut is pissing me off.

Alright, I got it working. It'd be great if I changed it to the right CH431 USB port, but I still have some kinks.

So I've had my EcoCut for less than a month now, and it's starting to piss me off. It would work great for some things, not so great for others. Sometimes the cutter will go over my image twice, or I'll cut one thing in decal vinyl then throw some easyweed in there and it'll stop halfway through. Not to mention, it cut up a whole yard of vinyl when all I needed was a few 24" bars and it never lifted it's blade. Anyways, I heard that instead of using SignCut, I could try SignBlazer. Well, everytime I try to install, it doesn't work. The closest I've gotten so far is when I hit cut, it'll tell me I have one document waiting to print instead of going to the cutter. I've gone through the Noob-V4.9 pdf over and over and I can't figure it out. Ideas? I've done some cool things with this cutter, but I really want to fix this for good. Thanks! Using XP 32-bit, Illustrator CS2

Not bad, eh? It's a Steel blue on lime.

Haha, well I wanted to show it but felt bad about wasting it! lol.

So I'm somewhat new to using a vinyl cutter and I bought the Refine EcoCut 25". For awhile, it was doing. I think the computer I'm using is being a bit laggy and the SignCut software isn't working completely. But I had a few questions. 1. When I'm cutting out an image, the cutter cuts it twice. I'll watch it redraw lines it had already cut. Is this normal? Sometimes it won't cut the same spot the next time and will be slightly shifted, which then ruins the whole vinyl. It's frustrating at times, especially when I have to throw out vinyl. 2. When I first got it, it cut perfectly. Everything came out just perfect. Now it doesn't finish the cuts all the way, and doesn't even cut the weeding lines/borders all the way. So now I have little a's with a millimeter of vinyl uncut, which makes it look a bit crappy coming out. Any suggestions?

Part 1 - Well what I do is go into Illustrator, trace lines and create my vector image, then using the SignCut plugin I export it to that. Once it's in there, it's good. Is there a part I'm missing? Here's my exact steps. Open Illustrator, drag in my bitmap, perform live trace, live paint, export to Signcut, then cut it. Part 2 - I haven't cut much vinyl at all, so I'm pretty sure it's not the blade. I'll check the offset feature though. I appreciate the response, I'll look into these.