New Mh871, small text cutting tips needed and a couple of general questions

[blakesgst 1]

New MH 871

Flexi Pro

Windows 7

Parellel port

Hey Everyone, another new guy here, I picked up an 871 for personal hobby use, paint masks etc, I am using greenstar vinyl. After getting it all set up yesterday, reading some tips on the forums and whatnot i started cutting some larger 2-4 inch letters and numbers to get the hang of it, test my blade depths and pressure. For that size text i was running my blade pressure at 60 because that is what quite a few people seem to recomend and the speed i believe at 24(i think that is the speed that the machine has set when i turn it on). Now when it came time to weed i noticed that there tiny spots here and there that didnt get cut and id have to pull/break away that area and it would leave a little spec of vinyl, is that normal? Later on i tried to cut some smaller text, .5 to 1 inch, and at first it seemed like the cutter was nearly tearing it up so i tried slowing down the speed to 6, it seemed to help but still wasnt to clean, when cutting small things should i run it as slow as possible? Also, when i went to weed the small text it was really tough, there were a few tiny areas here and there where it didnt cut and when weeding the small text it would nearly pull the whole letter off as i tried to breakaway those spots. I dont want to damage anything so i thought id ask first, should i run my blade out a bit further, slow it down more, are there better blades etc?

Any help is appreciated, thanks for your time,

Blake

[bayotle 26]

I have a MH871 and the greenstar vinyl as well and can cut letters down to about .25, I'd go back and check the depth of the blade, it makes a big difference how it's setup, seems the less of the blade you have sticking out the more the problem occurs, this started happening to me after reading the forums and having less of the blade exposed, 60 on the pressure worked for me at the store but had to go up to about 100 when i did some cutting at home. Best guess is the temp seems to have a big impact on the vinyl as well.. The smaller/more detailed the image, the slower i run the cutter, this isn't a production setup, like you, more for hobby so I've yet to be in a rush to get anything done - as far as blades, a lot of people on here say the 'clean cut' blades are best, I've yet to try them, after about 3-4 months i'm still using my 1st of 3 blades

[blakesgst 1]

Thanks for the reply Bay,

when i got  home from work I read quite a bit more and tried a few things. I toyed with blade adjustment by doing the recomended test in the manual, to hold the blade assembly in your hand and slowly adjust the blade out until you can run it over a piece of vinyl by hand and it cuts etc. Then i put it back in the machine and tried different pressures, 60-120, finally settling at 100 and the speed setting at the lowest it will go, 4. It is a bit better but still i cant weed small text, there is usually 1 TINY spot in every 3 letters that is still EXTREMELY connected so it either stretches the vinyl out while i try to weed that letter off or it leaves a pigtail looking piece when it finally breaks loose. One vector i have wont cut right either, the outline layer comes out fine but the top layer, half of the text gets pulled off by the cutter, any other ideas?

Blake

[bayotle 26]

Push the blade out more...

My mothers b-day was last week (the bad son I am) and i'm working on etching a shitzu in a mirror for her, since i wrote the earlier reply to you and had the same issue last time i was cutting, i dropped my blade (just to be on the safe side) and i'll be dayumed, that thing cut lines so thin i couldn't see them under my magnifying lens, only way i knew they were there was when i slide a blade between the slit to make sure i had got it already and it ended up pulling up a thread... to say the least i'm impressed with the cutter!

I was at 50g's and a speed of 12", think the temp in here was about 74 and the blade was in the back slot

ok, I just pulled mine and put it under the magnifying lens, it's right at about the thickness of my bank card, which is one of my thicker cards - (the 4ums say 1/2 of that is the norm). I'd keep dropping it 1/4-1/2 turn until it cuts the backing then back it off, you might also want to try a different blade, could be something wrong with the one you're using... I also had the blade holder jacked up about 1/8-1/4" in the cutter so it wouldn't cut the vinyl when it was traveling (another problem i had awhile ago and didn't want to 'mess us this first attempt'). If you run into the same problem, you may want to try that as well, though speeddog just pointed someone to a 4um posting elsewhere (sorry, didn't bookmark it!)

Just to let you know, i'm a noob myself, about 99% of the others hanging out in here have a lot more experience than I have, if the above doesn't help, yell louder, I'm sure one of them will hear you and be willing to help you out! 

[rrc1962 0]

What version of Flexi do you have?  If 8.1 or better, set the over cut distance to the same as the blade offset.  I believe that feature wasn't offered until V8.1.

[blakesgst 1]

Thanks for the info guys,

I havent even tried blade offset or overcut settings yet, i believe i forgot to mention there was no manual in my box and i also didnt see anything on those 2 topics in the manual i downloaded for the cutter. I just found some old posts talking about flexi 8.1 and how to adjust the offset so i'll have to play with that this evening when i get home! I also plan on trying to cut the same graphic from flexi and signcutpro to see if there is any difference just in case.

Blake

[MZ SKEETER 4,709]

those topics would not be in the cutter manual, as they are software options/features in your cutting software

[blakesgst 1]

Thanks Speed, yea i kind of gathered that by some of your other posts. Can you recomend a good starting point for offset, i think you mentioned in another post flexi is in inches and other software is in mm?

Thanks,

Blake

[MZ SKEETER 4,709]

just convert  .025mm to inches.  same difference

[blakesgst 1]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, i had good results testing last night. After setting the overcut and blade offset in flexi to equal amounts, i believe i ended up with .01 on both, flexi is cutting "ok". There is still a bit of a vinyl leash of sorts in an area here and there with Flexi which makes weeding the small stuff frustrating. With signcutpro i didnt even set anything up, not sure if there are options for it, and it cut/weeded perfectly. The only issue i have is signcut doesnt have all the placement and design options flexi has. I like Flexi because i can set up entire decal sheets with multiple logos and designs, place them wherever i want and go. Any other suggestions to get flexi tuned a bit more? I tried going up and down with the offset but it seemed to tear up my smaller stuff which is what im mainly concerned with at the moment.

Thanks,

Blake

[rrc1962 0]

Offset should be whatever the knife manufacturer says it should be.  .01" is right for a 45

[blakesgst 1]

Thanks for the suggestions rrc,

sorry to be a pest about this but i feel like i went backwards last night. I slowly increased the overcut and offsets in different orders, took notes of the results, and didnt get anywhere. I read through the newbie sticky here and did the box test, although i used a large letter H instead and had some strange results. With my offset at .01 the corners were what i would think as bad, using the pen tool. They had what appeared to be pigtails and heavy pressure points on the corners so i started from scratch and wen tback to 0, the corners "looked" normal and square. Cutting didnt see any improvements in any offset situation though, I also noticed on the 1+ inch letters that my pigtails/hangers are in the middle of my letters, not really just the corners. Its like the blade is not ligning up when it comes all the way around a letter. I also tried different blade depths and there was no improvement.

Blake

[MZ SKEETER 4,709]

your pen tool only works with 0 offset. so you really can't check/or adjust your offset with the pen tool.  You need the blade in, cause it drags as it cuts. and has to turn freely in the blade holder.  

[blakesgst 1]

Well that explains that issue then haha. I wonder if im just expecting to much out of the cutter as far as small detail? Should you be able to press the magnetic blade button, the piece that extends out of hte back of the holder, and it move freely at all times? It appears that i cant unless i unscrew the assembly a bit and it looks like my blade is not centered in the holder as well.

Blake

[MZ SKEETER 4,709]

Didn't you state that when using Signcut,  it cut perfect?  If so, then it is in your settings....  What version of Flexi are you using?  What driver?  Have you tried a different driver?  Have you tried a drop of oil in the blade holder?  3-1, sewing machine, graphite, etc.   different blade?  different vinyl?   I can't answer about the blade,  I don't have that machine.  And you might be expecting too much from an inexpensive cutter.  I have no clue what your trying to cut.  But from peoples comments on here, the Pcut on up.. will cut better at small details than the MH series cutters.

[blakesgst 1]

I'll check on that stuff tonight when i get home speed. The version of flexi i snagged is 8.1 pro, yes it is cracked, thought id try out the program before buying the starter and couldnt find a demo etc. I saw you mentioned in another post the cracked version could be the culprit. I totally forgot to try signcut again last night to compare, I will test both again tonight.

Thanks for your time,

Blake

[blakesgst 1]

Just wanted to post an update, problem solved. After looking over the blade holder closely i noticed that the blade was bound up to the side of the holder and unable to turn at all, the blade is not straight in the holder, something with the assembly is crooked. I fiddled with it for a couple of hours and it works great, had to sand the opening in the blade holder to open it up a tad and it moves freely now although you can tell the blade isnt centored in the holder. I contacted uscutter about the issue and hopefully they will send out a replacement. Thanks for all the help guys.

Blake