Sharp learning curve got rounded tonight

[jeff g 0]

OK, normally, I'm not a moron.  I have a fairly high tech job, I restore/ride old 2 stroke motorcycles for a hobby, and I repair them as a part time business.

Last night, my Pcut worked like a champ straight out of the box.  Tonight it stumped me for about an hour.  I just couldn't get it to plot.  I sent the plot to the cutter and it just sat there looking like a large piece of furniture.  This was repeated a few times.  Changed the USB cable, reinstalled the driver, "fixed" the COM settings, made all sorts of setting changes on the front panel...nothing.  By the way, don't set it on "test" and then hit the online button...it'll cut out a full test page in about 5 minutes and waste 2 feet of vinyl. 

Then I saw a small button in the Setup Tab of the Cut screen.  Direct or Cut Manager.  Somehow it got set to Cut Manager.  Big mistake as that seems to cause the plotter to sit there like a large piece of furniture.  I set it to Direct and all of a sudden it worked like a champ.  I have no idea of what happened as all I did was turn my PC off last night and turn it back on tonight.

I also learned that I have to purchase an Xacto knife or something similar.  A Leatherman just doesn't work well as a weeding tool. 

Also, the Pcut has 2 holes in the clamp to hold the cutter.  I was getting a notchy cut and decided to take a GOOD look at the cutter holder.  Boy, I felt like a moron.  The forward position of the cutter holder positions the blade over the engraved ruler.  The rear position puts the blade over the smooth part of the frame.  I moved the holder to the rear position and started getting much smoother cuts.  This is not mentioned in the user manual. 

I finally got it all figured out after wasting several feet of vinyl and made a set of patterns for some exhaust pipes.  Tomorrow, hopefully, they are getting transferred to metal and in a few days I hope to have a set of prototype performance expansion chambers for a Suzuki T500 welded up and ready for dyno testing. 

Whether this particular prototype set of pipes works well or not, the Pcut is making the patterns much faster than I could by doing the math to enlarge the patterns that Plate and Sheet prints using my HP6P laser printer.  The Pcut is doing everything that I purchased it for.

[kenimes 42]

It can be trying when getting everything fine tuned, but once you get used the the machine and the software, you will be cutting like a pro.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

I use a dental pick for weeding,works great! You can get a pack of 6 at Harbor freight for around $6.

The direct cut/cut manager thing happened to my brother too. No idea why it reverted.

[stormy 5]

I use one of the included blades for weeding. As funny as it sounds, it works just fine for me and I can make my own weeding lines.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

you must have better eyes than I do! And nimble fingers as well... I can't hold onto anything that small.

[Daniel T 0]

i too use a dental pick to weed the fine stuff. i also cut off the curved piece from one end, ground it to a point and use it to pop bubbles.

[martymoe 0]

hi jeff, what are you using to unfold your expansion chambers? i've been making truck bumpers using a similar technique as you are talking about except instead of cutting  a pattern in vinyl i'm cutting plate on a plasma table. for my stuff i do the design in rhino and i bought a progam called lamina to unfold, i'm curious to know how you are unfolding.

[Rodger 527]

Jeff , what do you do with the old 2 smokers ? i had a H-2 that i drag raced . have a 86 & a 87  CR500 along with some 125's & a CR250 . Also a 340cc Rokon . i hate to see the end coming for the smokers as the 4 strokes are easy to ride , but not near as much fun .

regards , Rodger

[jeff g 0]

hi jeff, what are you using to unfold your expansion chambers? i've been making truck bumpers using a similar technique as you are talking about except instead of cutting  a pattern in vinyl i'm cutting plate on a plasma table. for my stuff i do the design in rhino and i bought a progam called lamina to unfold, i'm curious to know how you are unfolding.

I'm using a program called Plate and Sheet.  I just punch in the dimensions of the cones and Plate and Sheet spits out the flat pattern.  I then save the pattern as a dxf file and Signblazer imports that so I can cut the pattern in vinyl.  I transfer that to sheet metal and make my permanent pattern.  Then, I use the permanent pattern to mark out the sheet metal, cut it, roll it, and weld the cones.  I bought the Pcut because it was cheaper than buying a wide format HP printer. 

[jeff g 0]

Jeff , what do you do with the old 2 smokers ? i had a H-2 that i drag raced . have a 86 & a 87  CR500 along with some 125's & a CR250 . Also a 340cc Rokon . i hate to see the end coming for the smokers as the 4 strokes are easy to ride , but not near as much fun .

regards , Rodger

I do mechanical restorations and either ride them or sell/trade them, depending on the bike.  My main daily rider is a 1972 H2...ported, chambers, oversized carbs, better suspension, etc.  It'll do low-mid 11's without a wheelie bar AND I can ride it on the street easily.  My other daily rider is a 1973 Suzuki GT550.  I'm not big into offroad, but I do have a TS185 and a TS90 that I bop around the neighborhood with.  I have 6 strokers registered and insured and another 6 project bikes (at least).  I do own a 4 stroke, but it's on eBay right now.  Valves are for toilets. 

You have to show up for Mid-Ohio Vintage days.  There are always Rokons there.