eriswerks

I've been having the same scaling issues. On a 24" long piece, my vinyl will cut about 24.375". I'm using Flexi also... I've never had to do a calibration like this, but I'm going to try that and see if it helps. Does Flexi have such a function built in, or should I just do it manually and send every job at 98% or whatever? As for the bad cuts, I've had that one too. I've found I can usually stop that from happening by tweaking settings in Flexi before cutting. Turn off "extras" like Advance After Plot, and check that your material length is set to something greater than the length of the piece you're cutting. If I'm cutting tons of text, it seems to help to weld and separate weld before cutting it. All of this is a little voodoo-like for my tastes, but in general I just try to keep the plotter's task as simple as possible.

I don't know about not finishing, but if Flexi is holding a job in the list before starting it's no big deal. In the Cut/Plot dialog there's a dropdown menu where you can choose "Send Now" or "Hold in List." Check that first - I change that by accident from time to time. Also, I think this setting sometimes gets changed automatically... maybe when production manager is started with the plotter turned off, if if you restart the plotter with Flexi already open. In any case, just look at Production Manager and click the Send button to get it going.

I had a similar problem - the cutter flaked out on curves, especially with small type, leaving the cuts incomplete. I figured that the blade must not be swiveling correctly, so I lubricated it with lithium grease on the tail end where it slides into the holder. Voila, greatly improved cutting. You might give that a try and see if it does anything for you.

I found one other thread mentioning this problem, but there was no resolution. Everything I cut (out of Flexi) is scaled up just a tiny bit. The objects are the correct size in the layout, and scale is set to 100% when I cut, but they come out bigger than they should be. I ran a test, cutting two 1" squares set 6" apart. Sure enough, when I measure the actual cut piece the squares are 6 1/16th" apart, about a 1% difference. It doesn't seem like much, but that is really bad news over a long run, or when you're trying to get tight registration. I'm not sure if this is a mechanical issue or a driver issue. I've been using Flexi every day for a couple years now, so I am pretty confident it's not a user issue. Has anyone solved this problem? If not, I'll accept idle speculations... Here's that other thread: http://uscutter.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=2&topic=87.0

I had a similar problem... I noticed that the places where letters weren't cut completely were places where the blade ought to be swiveling as it cuts. To fix this, I got a tube of lithium grease and applied just a tiny bit to the tail end of the blade, where it slides into the holder. The cutting quality is great now. I got the grease for about $1 in Wal-Mart's automotive section.

In reply to your second question, you should be able to cut from a networked computer easily enough if you're running Flexi on both. You can connect to a production manager elsewhere on your network and send files to cut pretty easily. Without Flexi, you'd have to have one computer on your network talking to the parallel or serial port of another computer on your network. I don't believe Windows has any built-in way to do that, but there may be some third-party software out there to let you do it. It would probably be easier to dust off your old computer and let it be your dedicated cutting machine.

It may be PVC that you're looking for. It's available in a lot of colors, and usually comes in 4' x 8' sheets that you can cut down to size with a table slicer or exacto and ruler. It's not great for outdoor use since UV breaks it down, but inside it's fine. You might want to look for sign suppliers in your local area - UPS doesn't like those 4' x 8' pieces too much.

I've used Avery EZ Apply for a partial vehicle wrap before, and my advice is: avoid this stuff like the plague. The main thing you want out of a wrapping vinyl is repositionability, and EZ Apply just doesn't have it. If you try to pull it up to move it, it shreds into confetti. Stick with Control Tac, or go with intermediate and a heat gun.