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Hey man, thanks for answering, but, no, not the case. In fact, I have no trouble with heat transfer vinyl, because it´s softer than vinyl. I've been working with that cutter for over 5 years. It's in perfect condition. Just started to lose strength when it comes to harder materials. That's It. It would go over the design and hit the vinyl with the blade, but does not go deeper, and just leaves the trail where the blade passes. I have tried with different speeds and force, but nothing. When I'm sketching, the pen marks the way of the carriage. If I put it a bit up, it doesn't touch the paper, if I put it a little bit down, it cuts/writes all along the way of the carriage. Today, I have to let 2 or 3mm of blade to cut htv, and all of the strength, which as you know, 600g is a lot for a well functional cutting machine. In the picture you can see that I have more than enough blade out, but it barely cuts. By the way, the blade is brand new.

You have something else going on also. Probably a white colored object in there messing with things. In some cases your cutter will make additional passes. The chunk taken out of the smaller line shown in this screenshot should not be happening. Check your file or cut by color (or perhaps you have not divided the two parts of the red) something not right because it's not the same as the other one.

third tab in production manager of your graphtec pro studio has a radio button for "passes" - make it 2 passes and let your software do it for you. if a thick hard to cut item like a sandblast mask you should be using a red blade holder and blade and not the blue holder that comes with the plotter

After adjusting the screws by backing them out of the top of the solenoid the "gritty" feeling was still there but my cuts improved dramatically and I thought all was good but no... after making two good passes the third, fourth and fifth time it is now failing to cut some of the objects in the design and also dragging the cutter head. I tried to tweak the screws but there is no further improvement. The adjustment you suggested helped a lot but the cutter still does not work properly and it is totally unreliable. This is a faulty unit and I will need to resolve this with US Cutter on Monday. I'm hoping that they will send me a completely new cutter/carriage unit (if it is something that I can replace on my own). I expect that they will make this right after all of the effort I've put into this so far on my own (and with your help here in this forum). Thanks again for everyone's input and assistance!

make 2 passes instead of 1 pass. Even 3 passes if you have to.

4mil = 0.1016mm If you could try a couple of passes to cut all the way through it.

Also this could be an issue "set to 600" I cut through 6mil laminated decals with 34 however I make 3 passes. 1 pass at that pressure could be your problem, I was never a fan of hogging though the material if I could make a few passes. Think of it like this if you were working with metal would you remove 1/4" at at time or would you make a few passes ?

So far, the machine is working flawlessly. I've been using my Titan 2 28" for a few days, and I'm spitting out designs with so many different decals, at an alarming rate. I've got a great grasp for cutting speed and pressure, and etc. Now I'm wondering, if it's something I've overlooked with regard to removal of the vinyl from the roll after a job is finished? I was thinking about maybe doing multiple passes with a horizontal line across the vinyl that ends up scoring the backing? Is this just something that isn't done? Best to leave well enough alone and manually cut after project completion? Thanks in advance. I did do some re(search)ing but didn't really find a whole lot on the topic. I'm looking to make it a somewhat more automated process, for instance a batch of jobs to cut, separate vinyl, and move to the next job without interaction once I have some queued up.

More likely you have multiple exact copies stacked on top of one another. Or you have some setting selected to make multiple passes. If you file is not something copyright protected you can post it and we can take a look. You may be able to find it by selecting your work and ungrouping it (perhaps more than one time) and then unselect by clicking off in a blank spot or on another object and then select it again and drag the object to a new location. The lower elements (if they exist) should remain there. You can sometimes spot these in your cut dialog box if they happen to be a different color or have no assigned color.

The above is good advise. You did not tell us what pressure you were using, or how long you are letting the gun stay in one place. I use 50-60# on glass, using Oracal 651- but I keep the gun moving. Less detail is better IMO, or at least less small detail. When I do glass work, I go over the design 4 times, but I am moving quickly. I move the gun from left to right. Pass 1, holding the glass upright and turning the glass as needed. Pass 2, holding the glass upside down and turning it as needed. Pass 3, holding the glass horizontally by the bottom and rolling the glass around & Pass 4, holding the glass horizontally by the top and rolling the glass around. This is four quick passes to be sure that the design is done evenly, especially at the edges. Here is a set of flight glasses with a very simple design. Total time in the blast cabinet for each glass was probably in the 30-40 second range for all four passes. Cal

I agree that it would be cleaner to type rather than vectorise ,but I wonted it to be the exact format that we have been using in our local group and I was only supplied a jpeg. I've had this issue with .svg files that have only been composed using text and the real issue comes when Ive tried cutting reverse graffiti stencils out of window film as the wide movement ranges cause some of the cuts to lift, which then fouls the blade holder as it makes its numerous passes. I used to use sign blazer,this had a option to limit the carriage movement and materiel movement. Maybe I'll have to dig it out and use this for difficult to cut materials. Thanks everyone for all your time and help,its very much appreciated. Onwards and upwards,fellow beings!

I've definitely got the right blade depth. I swear I've read you post this same thing a hundred times throughout this forum, I've tripple checked that I'm at the right depth, I'm not scoring the wax paper just barely marking. Its definitely working correctly. I appreciate the input though. Certain small text like I'm cutting just doesn't want to separate as easily from the weeded out parts if they're small pieces and running 2 passes has fixed it substantially. Its night and day difference. That being said, I'm open for suggestions to getting it to work with one pass. I'm running 25 speed and 22 Force. Would you suggest going higher in force?

Your welcome. But you should not need 2 passes to cut 2 mil vinyl. Add a little force. First make sure you set your blade depth correctly. And only cut what you can weed at 1 time. Because you are correct, vinyl will self heal. This is correct way to set your blade depth. To start with, you should set your blade depth correctly, by taking the blade holder out of the machine, and firmly cut across a piece of scrap vinyl, you will be cutting. You should only be cutting the vinyl and barely a mark on wax paper backing, Adjust blade to get there, Then put the blade holder back in machine, and use the force of the machine to get there, same results, only cutting the vinyl and barely a mark in wax paper backing. You should just barely see and feel your blade tip out of the blade holder.

Are you sure that all of the wheels of the carriage head are firmly down in the rail? They may come out during shipping. Try adding more force, not passes.

I managed to fix the lettering problem by adjusting the speed and the blade depth. thanks for that! however for some reason, about 3in of the left side of my decal doesn’t get cut deep enough. The whole vinyl gets cut and the design looks straight, just that left side hasn’t gotten cut right. Tried doing two passes and still same result. What could that be? I appreciate all the responses, hope I can help out one day as well!

So I cut a lot of 6mil stencils. Up until yesterday, it only took one pass to cut. Now I have to do 2 passes and it still isn't completely clean. I tried a new blade. The material is from the same pack. No settings were changed. Is there something I need to adjust or look to see if there is interference? It's not cutting clean on vinyl either. It's almost like something is keeping it from applying the correct pressure.

sounds like you have 2 issues than - too much blade exposure (the reason it is cutting thru) and multiple copies of the image on top of each other (guessing you are tracing them) other option on multiple passes is in version 12 in production manager on the third tab you can select how many passes it will cut on the same image for ultra thick material

So let me start off with the fact I'm new to the world of these cutting machines. I've worked with CNC systems and graphics however, so I'm hoping the knowledge gap won't be too significant. I'm looking at doing projects ranging from fabric cutting, chipboard/balsa, and possibly some plastics and papercraft as well as some basic plotting From the specs and very limited reviews I've seen, the Prismcut p28 seems like it fits my needs nicely. I was hoping that those with experience with this, and other comparable equipment in the price range could chip in and review it now it's been on the market for a bit. I do have a few specific questions as well. 1: The manual states that the machine shouldn't have an issue with materials 2mm and under in thickness. Is this due to clearance, strength of the motors, blade mounting or something else? For instance the carrier sheets seem to mostly be listed as .5mm thickness on UScutter.com, would that limit me to using materials that are only up to 1.5mm thick when using a carrier? Or could I use something like a 1.5mm material as a carrier and still safely cut 2mm thick material on top of it? What would be the upper limit in total material thickness including the carrier that could be fed through? Would I be able to use a 3 or 4mm material if my intent was only to score it? 2: Are there any planned attachments, mods, upgrades or accessories in the works? For instance a roller/disc style drag knife blade replacement (specifically a cutting head for fabrics), a tangential cutting path upgrade, etc. 3: How well does its functional accuracy hold up on long jobs with repeated cutting paths. For example if I was cutting a material that had length dimensions in the 36 to 72 inch range (specifically thinking of fabric or leather panels for jackets and trenchcoats) that required multiple passes, how much variance should I expect, how much could be attributed to slippage of the carrier vs the limitations of the motors. I'm curious because a job with a relatively long length on a carrier (think trenchcoat panels made of denim or leather) could get weighty, potential increasing tracking issues. 4: Are there carrier or material guides to ensure materials are fed in at the correct angle? If not, are attachments planned for this, or are compatible ones available? To use the last question as an example, if I'm cutting a job that is pretty long and the cuts are near the edges of the material, while at the start all the cuts are within the boundries of the material by the end they may creep over the edge if not guided. 5: For the pen plotting tool, what ink cartridges can you use? Is it limited to some random size only available from the manufacturer, or could I use something I could acquire at a local store. 6: When reading through the manual I don't remember seeing what brand or compatible blades these use. When I need to replace a blade what should I get? (A page at the end of the manual listing user replaceable components and whats compatible might be a good idea) 7: The manual mentioned a laser etching tool and required training to unlock its functionality. It does not state how one could acquire either though, neither does the product page or website unless I missed something. Could we get clarification on how one obtains either? 8: For large jobs where a standard carrier size sold on UScutter won't work, say a 24x48, 24x60 or longer, what's a recommended material and or supplier I could use that fits the answer to #1? Finally 9: For the price range, the specs, the accessories, the features and real world results, how would you rate the Prismcut against competitors? Details or examples would be appreciated. I realize not everyone will be able to answer everything I've asked, but any feedback would be greatly appreciated

same as regular sign vinyl. Oracal 651 is 2.5 and most calendered vinyl is 3 mil. You don't need 2 passes. You should be able to see how well it is cutting when you do a test cut.

for the most part, i think i’ve gotten this down. Only 2 issues i’m having now is that the cutter is cutting this random line right through the design when it begins to start cutting. Also, when i tell the machine to do 2 passes itll go through the first cut perfectly fine then on the second it just comes out sloppy.

yes i did try multiple passes and the blade holder starts to get clogged with dust like particles from the sheet . It struggles especially when cutting words.

The Graphtec FC9000 just came out. I have not seen anyone purchase it yet. They should be getting rid of inventory on the FC8600. I don't see any major changes. I own a FC8000. and FC7000. I don't see that much changed, other than 2 users can set conditions. They still have the same force. All of the FC cutters are built like a tank. And are heavy duty. My FC8000 was bought used and was set up for reflective, They added 2 extra pinch rollers and were using the red top blade holder. It is a 30" wide cutter. The FC9000 has the same force as my FC7000 that is over 10 years old. According to specs the Titan 3 has 750 gram force, which is more than the Graphtec FC vinyl cutters at 600 gram force. Have you tried making multiple passes with the Titan 3?

any cutter would probably need multiple passes. better to do multiple than stress the motor and carriage. Any cutter with a servo motor will get you better accuracy over a stepper. if the Graphtec is within budget, definitely go that route! Get yourself some CleanCut Blades too.

Thanks for the replies! We are looking to do about 1/8" to 1/4" deep with about 100PSI sand blaster. The reason for the 500 series material is the statement claiming for "porous substrates". There are many times we encounter "rough granite" and it would be nice to be able to work on that type of media. So the current census is a Graphtec CE6000, Sandmask 400 series with multiple passes? Thanks again

ditto on the multiple passes.