Bigdaddy

Members
  • Content Count

    15
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Community Reputation

0 Neutral

About Bigdaddy

  • Rank
    Member
  • Birthday 12/21/1946

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Loon Lake, Washington
  • Interests
    Sand Carving, Computers, Building Things
  1. Bigdaddy

    Help with Small Font cutting Problem

    Howdy, Check for twist (clock/counter-clock) in the carriage assy when changing direction left/right. This will really affect the cut. Maybe more than any internal setting. Check my recent post: http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php?/topic/33433-line-is-not-connected-to-the-point-it-starts/page__pid__263998#entry263998 John
  2. Howdy, You are not alone. I just posted about having to replace my entire carrage assy because of a broken wheel mount. I was able to get the backing plate and moved all of the pieces from broken to new. The blade holder on mine is part of the molded backing plate. USCutter delt with me with no problem. John http://forum.uscutte...998#entry263998
  3. Howdy, When the cut line ends do not line up, check for twist in the carrage assembly. Watch for clock or counter clock movement (twist) when the carrage changes direction. You MUST be cutting when watching as the pen plotter function does not put sufficient stress on the carrage assy to twist it! I have a PCut 24 and about a year after I got it the upper left carriage guide wheel attach point simply broke off. Super glue has been my friend for the past year but tonite I pulled the broken carrage assy off, transfered the parts to a new backing plate and re-installed the carrage. I ran a bunch of test cuts and finally ran a couple of actual stencil cuts. I can immediately tell a big difference in the amount of twist in the carrage. It appears that my cuts are much better. I do not know the specs and maintenance procedures but I would begin by checking carrage twist. With power off manually put the carriage assy in the middle of the cutter. With your fingers gently twist the carrage assy clock and counter-clock. I do not know how much is too much twist but I suppect that there should be very little movement. It appears that the upper guide wheels are the only items that have any adjustment in them. As I said I do not know the factory settings but it appears that the long screw with the spring should be screwed in snug. This keeps that max tention on the upper wheels. Hope that this helps someone. John
  4. Howdy, How do you guys handle multiple colors? Home Depot uses a vertical carousel to store rolls of electrical wire. The unit rolls them up and around and into position for cutting. Has anyone designed and built some devise to hold multiple rolls of vinyl such that the desired color can be accessed for use without physically removing the used color roll and installing the new color. This might be way over kill but I gotta ask! Thanks, John
  5. Howdy, Finally to the point where I am using my cutter more and find that I really need a stand. Has anyone built their own stand? Any suggestions to make one better? Can someone send me drawings and/or a photo of either their stand or USCutter's stand. Thanks John
  6. What is the status of Sign Blazer and its' trial Mode? Can any thing be done to 'fake' a registration, etc? John
  7. MIDWASTE: You asked about my abrasive. Don't laugh but I have been using straight silica sand as of late. I started out buying the good stuff (AO & SC) but at $2+ / lb it got expensive. Then I tried some 70 grit silica sand from a company up the road from me. Price? $4 / 100 pounds = .04 cents/lb. Yes, the stuff does not stand up but I figure that I can go thru a heck of a lot of sand for the same price as SC. I make DAMN sure that ALL of the dust produced is controlled. I have a 3 micron HEPA filter on my shop vac and the dust that goes thru the filter is exhausted directly outside the back of my shop building. Very little goes out but I don't want it in my shop! I have found that the sand cuts just fine. And if I do a job involving rust and crap I do not feel bad about dumping the used sand. If you want to see my blast cab, here it is:http://community.webshots.com/user/mmrxboss I have also posted photos of a really good working shop exhaust fan setup. John
  8. Howdy, I drive for a rural school district and have offered my services - can you say 'NewBe'. Their 1st request is for the standard school district identity that is on the side of every bus. We also need to re-do the STOP info on the rear of every bus. And then there are a ton of other decals that are possible. If anyone is cutting for school buses I would appreciate some input. Thanks, John
  9. Howdy, The cutting speed varies depending upon the material being cut. Example, wood is very hard to cut as the wood fibers absorb the impact from the abrasive and the material dents rather than cut. On the other end is glass which despite its appearance cuts very quickly. Slate stone is soft compared to marble, etc. The slate tiles I pictured in an earlier post in this thread took me about 30 min's to cut. Part of the issue has to due with pressure vs resist adhesion. Too much pressure will blow the resist loose and that is not good. Once loose it is as good as gone as abrasive grit is almost guaranteed to have gotten stuck to the loose piece and it will never stick well again. The issue of siphon vs pressure pot is partially dependant upon what you are attempting to do. It is very difficult to get good and consistent grit flow and consistent pressure from the siphon systems. I do not know of a carver that is still using a siphon system. Pressure pot is - in my opinion - the only way to go EXCEPT for the very low end work such as rust removal, etc. Siphon is easier as the pot never goes empty, but ...... John
  10. READ THIS............... I got it! Came across another thread (subject: HELP). Levi from USCutter referred to CUTTERSETUP within SB. Hot Damn! I played with the comm settings: Was able to reselect the correct comm port and reset the correct cutter. What made things fully operational was changing the control setting from 'Use Cut Manager' to 'Direct'. Don't know why, just what worked! Thanks to all that were intending to post some assistance. John
  11. Howdy, Got a new PCut 630 and hooked up yesterday - it worked! Hooked up today and nothing! Well almost nothing as the self test works fine (draws a box). Had it hooked up serial, tried to reinstall and hook up usb. Nothing. Question: 1) Can the comm setup be accessed directly from within Sign Blazer? Is there another point at which I can access the comm setup so as to reset for serial without doing another install. :- 2) Does anyone have a small cutter program that if nothing else tests the cutter/comm connection. I would hope that the PCut has sufficient smarts to be able to handle hand shaking tests. John
  12. Bigdaddy

    Viewing new added fonts in SB

    Bad, Tried your DLL, same results as above. My install is as of this date. VSN Info: vsn 6.0.21 dtd 12 DEC 2007 Install SN: UC28172EL0409 John
  13. Bigdaddy

    reboot, cut, reboot, cut... Ahh!

    Howdy, Just received my own PCut 360 yesterday. I got some other stuff and in that box were several lose pages of instructions, etc. There is a specific note concerning the use of the USB interface and possible problems. It says that the a USB port 'emulates' a serial port. USCutter HIGHLY recommends that the USB connection NOT be used. Use of a hub (multi USB port device) is specifically mentioned. Also mentioned is a possible problems with Windows re-assigning the 'com' port assigned to the USB connection if the cable is unplugged. Don't fully understand USB but I am working to stay away from it for this application. Hope that this info helps to direct your efforts. I really hate debugging this type of problem. John
  14. Duke: NOTE: I cut stone and glass at about 20psi. High pressure will change the equipment (hoses, etc) you will need to be using! You asked about nozzles and hose. I use two different nozzles: 3/32 & 1/32. The actual size for you will depend on what type of work you are doing. Check out this link: http://www.sandcarver.org/pinchnozzle.htm. It should show a way of making your own hose/nozzle setup. The hose is possibly the most important item as most types of tubing will not hold up to the abrasive. This is what I use: from US Plastic Corp., Polyurethane - Ester Base tubing, items 56409. I use a 'gun' type setup for my blasting. http://www.pabblaster.com/PAB%20Gun.htm There is a guy offering a wana-be but this is the original and is used by a lot of other carvers. I am not an expert but will attempt to answer as best as I can. John
  15. Howdy, I am a sand carver looking to add vinyl to my tool bag. Trying to locate a plotter at this time. As of right now I hand cut my blast resist right on my stone, etc. If you are not going to get real serious about sand carving the actual grit material is of minor importance. I have used AO (alum Oxide) and am now using a sand product. If you want longer lasting then go with SC (Silicon Carbide) The main thing is to be damn sure you vent your work area and get ALL of the blast dust out of your breathing area! NEVER EVER blast where you are breathing the dust. IT WILL KILL YOU. That is the main reason that a blast cabinet is used. I built my cab (48x24x24 blast area, slide open front for access) and vent using a shop vac type vac equip'ed with a 3 micron HEPA filter. The exhaust air from the vac is exhausted directly out of my shop. Believe me, the dust that is not trapped is some of the worst you can breath! I carve slate stone and man made tiles. Almost all of my blasting is done at 20 pounds of pressure using a pressure pot. Siphon grit systems just are not for our type of work. I use a blast gun from Bob Pickard (www.pabblaster.com). A piece of tubing with a hard nozzle can be used. Glass is very soft. 20 pounds of pressure is sufficient for virtually anything you can think of. Thanks to all of you vinyl types for posting your hard learned lessons. John