darcshadow

If you've only ever used the cutter twice, maybe start with something simple rather than diving into contour cutting. Try just some simple text. Learn how to use the cutter first, then learn how to do more advanced things like contour cut. You're tying to race before learning to drive.

Are you plugging your adapter directly into the plotter? That could be a problem as well. Most plotters that use the DB9 serial connector also require a null modem cable. You may need the same in a DB25 version.

Die cutting is not done with a blade, it is done with a die and a press. Blade life will be shortened when cutting harder material. 60 degree blade is recommended for thicker material and several on here use them for everything.

Is the cutter pulling off the roll? That's a no-no. Un roll the amount of material you'll need so that the cutter doesn't have to pull from the roll.

A quick google search, cause I have no idea how the rhinestone thing works, looks like there is at least one company selling a flock they say is intended to be used with a vinyl cutter although it looks pretty thick. I did find a video of someone using a Cameo and they were doing a double pass. It might be possible to cut it with a MH, but it'll likely be a headache getting the cutter dialed in to work well. As for templates, anything in a vector format should work. Building your own template can probably be done with some patience using Inkscape or any other vector design software but you'd probably be best off looking for software specifically designed to build templates.

I still think by hand would be easier and faster than loading a cutter 10,000 times. And if you're cutting all the way through cardstock you'll need a matt to attach the paper to to hold it while it's being cut. A vinyl cutter can do what you're asking, but it's not what they are designed for and I don't believe it will save you any time or money. Since you are only doing rectangles, you could probably build your own die pretty easily and wouldn't take much to build a simple hinge press.

If all you are doing are simple rectangles, and you want it done fast, get a paper cutter and do it by hand.

What OS are you running? What version of VM?

Well I've done it now. I've upgraded to Windows 10. Still have windows 7 to fall back on but trying to make 10 work for me. I have ran into an odd issue, when doing an area test before sending the design to the cutter will go about half way the length of the material loaded specified then drop the blade and slow down for the second half. Picks the blade up goes back to the origin and does the same thing the width of the material. I rarely ever did the area test before and was only doing it now because the cutter wasn't responding at first. Anyone else ever see this sort of behavior? I'm using a direct serial port connection.

I heard that windows 11 doesn't play nice with AMD processors and that it runs noticeable slower than on a comparable intel chip. So just another reason not to be in a hurry to go to 11.

Did it fail the test for the tpm requirement? Mine did the first time i ran it. There is a setting that n the bios on newer motherboards that you can turn on so you’ll pass that test. Can’t downgrade this computer to 7. I need 10 or better to play Age of Empires 4.

Yeah, tried that. From what I can find there's no way to trigger the update yourself. I was hoping I could and wanted to install 11 from the start and skip over 10 all together but seems like I'm stuck with it for awhile.

Got a new computer, mainly for playing games, and it came with 10. Tried to go to 11 but couldn't find anyplace to download it. Apparently it's a pushed update and I just have to wait for them to push it to me. I do still have the old computer and will keep it around as a back up.

A second oddity, I can do two cuts back to back. I know it's advisable to power cycle the cutter after each cut to clear the memory, but I've never had to do that in the past. Now with Win 10 when I try to do a second cut I just get a random zig zag cut. This seems like a software issue to me, like the first cut didn't terminate it's communications with the cutter correctly so when the second cut starts, it's off in the weeds. Strange. Something else I've noticed, when I send a job to the cutter I get a prompt to confirm that I want to cut now. I never got such a prompt with Windows 7.

When you called did they do some troubleshooting with you to determine you needed a new carriage? The problem you are describing sounds more likely like a bad Z-chip on the mother board. Would hate for you to go through the hassle of changing the carriage if it's not going to solve your problem.

If the software supports it, any cutter can do contour cutting. It's just a question of it can do the alignment automatically or if you have to manually do it.

What version of VinylMaster do you have? VM Pro can export to PDF.

Just a bit of a rant, something that has bothered me for awhile on the forums. People keep using the term Driver incorrectly. A device driver allows the machine to talk to the Operating System of your computer. Drivers have to be installed and are rarely included in software such as VinylMaster, SignBlazer, etc. What you are selecting in those programs is the communication protocol, and any unique commands that the cutters use. So for example. If you are using the serial port of a cutter, you don't need a driver for your cutter. You need a driver for the serial port and the commands to control the cutter are determined by the cutter selection in your software.

The backing paper doesn't break the blade tip, that happens from too much blade being exposed and too much force. Doesn't take much to break a tip, and it's not something you can usually see with the naked eye.

Greatly depends on what/where it's being installed. There's no generic answer. In some cases having a border or some sort of straight edge is very handy, others it draws attention if not lined up perfectly.

Judging from that photo I would disagree. If the blade is set correctly it is impossible to cut into the backing paper as seen in your photo.

Does this plotter have a specific spot for a pin or does it just go where the blade goes and it therefor over the cutting strip? If it is over the cutting strip, you may simply need to replace it. If you only use the cutter as a plotter and never use the blade you my consider replacing the cutting strip with something harder that won't deform over time.

Because it is not a vector image. Just because an image has an SVG, or EPS or another other vector file format does not mean the file is actually a vector.

Read Mz. Skeeter's post on setting blade depth. If you're able to cut through the paper you have too much blade exposed.

Kind of sounds like you need a new motherboard. Does the head move using the onboard control panel?