Can these plotters cut fine/small details?

[muibubbles 2]

This is my first cutter and im new to cutting vinyl's as well so im not sure what to expect out of the lower end MH cutter.. Attached is the original sticker im trying to replicate. i traced it in inkscape and cut it in SBE (the matte black) but if you look closely the font isnt as sharp and the edges look to round out. is this because the cutter cant cut that fine of detail or are my settings wrong? on the last trial i was cutting at 180mms?(speed) and at 40g? (force)

is this level of detail only expected from high end machines? am i wasting my time/vinyl trying to get the image sharper?

the "CR" and "work emotion" came out great. the "W work" and the "fine performance wheel" came out less desirable. just for reference "work emotion" is about 7.3" long

[mb20music 760]

If you want to cut lettering under 1/2" you will need a cutter with a servo motor, such as a Graphtec, Roland, or Zencut Black. The lower end cutters have

stepper motors and don't do very well with lettering below 1/2".

[BannerJohn 1,324]

The problem is not the cutter. I can tell by looking at it that it's the tracing. I've seen it too many times.

[muibubbles 2]

john, can you elaborate what you mean by its the tracing? so how can i make "my" vinyl as crisp as the one above?

[BannerJohn 1,324]

tracing can round edges. You can adjust edge filters to help in some programs,not sure about inkscape. I would just start from scratch and recreate the file.

Try cutting one a bit larger and see if it still looks the same. If it does,the problem is the file,not the cutter.

[muibubbles 2]

john, youre right, i blew the image out 2x the size. and the font does have a little rounding on it as well. do you have any recommendations for any other free programs to do this in? ironically in inkscape there are now rounded edges unless they are designed in it.... hmm

if anyone has one of the better unit and doesnt mind trying to cut it to see confirm it is my file not my cutter thatd be greatly appreciated! its only ~ .5"x5"

-ben

fine performance wheel test.eps

[mb20music 760]

looking at your eps file the tracing doesn't look too bad, not rounded off at all. I can do a test cut later today, but I am sure someone else will beat me to it.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

I was able to cut it fine in Flexi...however,once I imported it into SignBlazer,not very good. But I think MB20 is right, you might have to invest some serious money in a cutter with a servo motor to go that small...or have them printed.

[Jay2703 704]

Offset settings on the machine will affect that too. It's in the Cutter Setup window in signBlazer. Typically .25 for a 45 degree blade. adjust it up or down in .05 increments to dial in the offset.

[FBRsportmod68 109]

my suggestion would be to see if you can find the font that is used in original... most of the time when i trace text in inkscape, the corners are rounded and not sharp. JMO.... also might consider using a 60 degree blade

[muibubbles 2]

Offset settings on the machine will affect that too. It's in the Cutter Setup window in signBlazer. Typically .25 for a 45 degree blade. adjust it up or down in .05 increments to dial in the offset.

ding ding ding!!! Jay you win! this worked! it looks MUCH better. The initial setup was at 0 and i tried it at 1.0 and 0.5.... 0.5 worked great! thanks for the tip!!!

On a side note, is there some sort of reference chart for recommended cut speed/force? I just looked and im actually at 60 for the speed and 20 for the pressure... is that normal/okay? Also some of the tiny tiny pieces like the middle of the "P" fall out after it get's cut. Is that normal or is it just the vinyl (oracal 651)?

And lastly, are there any "hints" that my cutter will show me that the blade is dull? (is there some specific characteristic that i will see in my vinyl when cutting ex like off cuts lifting?)

Once again thank you all for the help!!!

[BannerJohn 1,324]

You will now when the blade is getting dull.Your cuts will be like crap.