Vinyl Marred when blade touches

[rallymatt 0]

I posted this in General Discussion under "Vinyl Tags" as well, but thought I may be able to get some more help here.

I a using a pcut630 and am having a hell of a time getting it to cut "clean". I have adjusted my blade and played with pressure through two entire 15 yard rolls of Avery A7 with no luck. Basically, I either have the pressure so low it does not complete cuts. OR when the pressure is high enough to complete a cut, the blade "mars" the vinyl design when it first touches down each time. I have attached a picture of the imperfections it causes in my cut designs.

These little tears in the vinyl may be small, but they make the finished product look unprofessional and junky.

Any body have any ideas? Currently I am using pressure of about 95, speed 40 and the blade is a half credit card exposed.

[kenimes 42]

I asked Marcus, and he seems to think it may be the blade and blade holder as the culprit. If the blade is not spinning freely on its axis in the blade holder, it may not be turing to the correct angle when entering the vinyl. We could try replacing the blade holder for you, or maybe try some lube in the holder after spraying inside with some compressed air in case some dirt or grime is hampering its ability to spin as it should.

[rallymatt 0]

Ok, well I just tried putting a little oil in the holder. The blade seems to spin fine as I watch it.

Here is a movie of it cutting 1/4 letters. Speed 20, pressure 98, blade offset 0.25. (sorry about the bad lighting and focus):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y5fC40XugQ

I have tried pressure all the way down to 40 and it either shreds and mars the design (90-100), or does not complete cuts (and chatters giving dotted line cuts when moving right). (Anything less)

Any other ideas?

[BannerJohn 1,324]

having seen the movie,all I can say is,on the rare occasions when I get that type of behaviour,it's because the blade is out too far.

On lettering that small,the combination of blade adjustment,pressure,and speed has to be just right. I just play with it til I get it right.

Does it make a text cut alright,or does it do that on the test cut too?

[rallymatt 0]

It seems to cut the text box ok.

I will try adjusting my blade some more, but I have tried so many different depths, without success.

Sometimes I can get it adjusted so it ALMOST cuts small letters perfectly, but then in the same graphic, when it travels from left to right on long lines, it skips and cuts dotted lines. So to fix that, I have to increase pressure, which then causes it to not cut small text properly.

[GoldStarGraphics 0]

I asked Marcus, and he seems to think it may be the blade and blade holder as the culprit. If the blade is not spinning freely on its axis in the blade holder, it may not be turing to the correct angle when entering the vinyl. We could try replacing the blade holder for you, or maybe try some lube in the holder after spraying inside with some compressed air in case some dirt or grime is hampering its ability to spin as it should.

I am having the exact same problem, every time the blade makes contact with the vinyl it gouges a piece, I have messed with cutting pressure, speed, blade height and even switched out a blade and still have this problem. Any help would be appreciated. Oh, and I just got my PCut yesterday. Thanks!

[SandEsigns 0]

there seems to be confusion as to the way the cutter actually works. the depth of the cut should be determined by the exposure of the blade. not pressure. the pressure should be adequate enough for the blade holder to push the vinyl down on the cutting strip and hold it there as cuts are made. no more. it should glide across the vinyl. imagine the vinyl as two layers (which it is). the blade depth should only go through the vinyl and partially into the backing. having the blade extended too far and trying to compensate by adjusting the pressure lower just doesn't work. also having the blade extended not far enough and trying to compensate by increasing the pressure is a cause of dragging. it takes very little pressure to hold the vinyl down and cut it. setting the cutter correctly can solve many problems with cut quality.