Cutter "stuttering" along cuts

[Raw7 0]

Anyone know what the cause would be when my laserpoint cutter 'stutters' it's cuts?  See attached picture.

The knife cuts fine in one direction but on the return direction, it stutters causing bits of uncut vinyl which looks like little bumps when I weed.  I checked the head of the knife and it's clear of any objects.  I've rotated the knife head with my fingers and it rotates fine.  I also have the Clean Cut Blades (new).

[lwsimon 1]

I have a Refine, but in my experience, this is one of two things:

1)  There is a small piece of vinyl that came lose during cutting a tiny detail, and is now stuck to the inside of your blade holder.  The first thing I'd do is remove the blade from the holder and inspect that it is clear of debris.  I keep a baby bottle brush around for this purpose - the small one that is used to clean the nipples.

2)  Your blade holder isn't tight enough, leaving room for it to "jiggle" against the carriage.  I don't know if this is an issue with the LaserPoint, but on my refine, the blade holder is held to the carriage by a screw.  If that works loose, my cuts start to get jagged.

Let me know

[Raw7 0]

I have a Refine, but in my experience, this is one of two things:

1)  There is a small piece of vinyl that came lose during cutting a tiny detail, and is now stuck to the inside of your blade holder.  The first thing I'd do is remove the blade from the holder and inspect that it is clear of debris.  I keep a baby bottle brush around for this purpose - the small one that is used to clean the nipples.

2)  Your blade holder isn't tight enough, leaving room for it to "jiggle" against the carriage.  I don't know if this is an issue with the LaserPoint, but on my refine, the blade holder is held to the carriage by a screw.  If that works loose, my cuts start to get jagged.

Let me know

1) looks clean

2) Would you happen to have a picture pointing to this screw?  I took a look at my LP and am not sure which screw you're mentioning.  There is a tiny wiggle play when I move the blade holder though.  I followed the instructions from this thread : http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php/topic,16198.0.html -Fix for Sloppiness - but nothing changed.

I though perhaps my knife head was out too far so I decreased the height exposed but still the same thing.  It was fine for a while till recently.

[Raw7 0]

Seem to have fixed it.  Changed the blade and it's working fine again.  Think it was just a bad knife because it didn't roll straight when I placed it on the table...it wobbled a little.

[bamafan2277 50]

That could have been it. If the blade is fairley new call them up a Clean cut because they will stand behind their blades.

One thing I've found with my pcut is I get more accurate clean cuts when I keep my speed at 50 which is the lowest my cutter will go to. The pcut is the same thing as the LP without the laser.

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

Ross stands behind his products - so Jeff is right give him a call.  One thing to remember is to back you initial pressure off 50 percent before you cut with a cleancut for the first time or it might cut thru and snap the tip off in the cutting strip!

glad you got it figured out

[Raw7 0]

I have the pressure at 100 (on the LP) and after a yard of cutting, I had to increase the pressure.  When you cut, is it suppose to be super clean where the vinyl is weeded very easily?  Like when you pull the excess off, do you get clean cuts or there are some areas where you might need to tug/pull to weed away from the design? 

The Clean blades definitely are better than the stock ones.  I'll give them a call.  I have lowered my speed to 40 to avoid the stuttering effect. 

Question on how far the knife head is suppose to protrude out.  I understand it is suppose to be half a credit card thickness but wouldn't you have to increase the pressure to compensate?  Would it be the same as having the knife head out a tad more but lowering the pressure? 

Can someone clarify what the plus/negative is to having the head out further but lower pressure vs shorter head with increase pressure.    Thanks!

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

actually the 1/2 a card depth is a little more than is needed - you only need to cut thru the vinyl and not the backing.  more pressure is not needed with a sharp blade properly set.  On the cheaper cutters one of the godfathers of vinyl said you almost want the blade holder to ride on the vinyl.  With the weeding - you can help this by tweaking your blade offset . . . again this takes much more patience than with the over $1000 cutters but can be dialed in for great results.

[Guest Hugo Valencia]

like Dakota mentioned, the blade should only be sticking out enough to cut the vinyl and not the paper, you can get the blade holder and adjust it, then press it along some vinyl and it should only cut the vinyl and not the paper, that would give you the best cuts, after that just adjust your force enough for the blade holder to drop until it hits the vinyl.

Hope that helps!