Pcut CT0630, wiggly lines, plugins and USB!

[integerspin 0]

I bought a Pcut to cut some masks from painting bicycle frames, I have that many push bikes;-)

The bloke had it from new and said he had always had troubel getting it to work, I am guessing he

only used USB and it won't work with the Hardware handshake setting, Xon Xoff works?

 

I got some discs of various software.

 

I was going to use the plugin for illustrator. If you select the wrong port says it fails to contact the cutter, if you

select the right port it sends the data; but nothing happens. I did run a port anylser but I think I need to run it

with a programe that cut's so I can see if theres any difference. I couldn't see anywhere to check the port settings

in the pluggin, just a port to select.

 

I tried signblazer, I didn't like the look of it but did get it to send and cut but it cut several versions of the same 

thing slightly overlapping, which I have since figured out are probably things on other layers in the Ai.

 

I tried flexisign, worked fine, well I think fine.

 

I will attach a pic. to give soem idea of size, the capital B of the logo is .28 inch high.

I have what is probably the original blade holder with the machine, with a blunt blade.

I was given a roland blade holder and pack of blades some time ago. So I stuck the roland holder, with a new

blade in, in the cutter. The blade seems to have a lot of wobble in the blade holder; is that what caused the wiggly lines?

The machine also has some deep cuts on the plastic strip, how does that effect the cutting?

 

[Wildgoose 4,200]

Hmmm. Several things going on here. First, you need to realize that the size of letters you are looking at cutting are right near the limit of the machine. It should be able to do it but you may find that you will cut several at a time so if one doesn't weed well then hopefully one of the bunch will. Sometimes you can swap in a letter from another cut or in your case doing masks it will be the center of a letter. 

 

Second, Paramount importance to decide whether the blades and second holder are EXACTLY correct for your machine. Post some pics and maybe we can tell by looking but if it were me I would order a complete new holder or at least a new blade for the factory holder. If there is any slop or even a minuscule miss alignment with the blade then you won't be doing 1/4" letters. 

 

Third, If you have illustrator and know how to use it then stick with that for building your cut files and yes you will want to connect and cut from a dedicated cutting program (at first at least until you get going and know that everything is correct) My advice would be to download SignCut Pro, they have a week free trial and with that you are going to get free tech support. Since you are new and have a used machine the free tech support is what you are looking for. SignCut is a great program that used to be shipped with the USCutter machines and will have the correct drivers for you without any worry. 

 

Cutting strips are replaceable but I would just take a smooth object like the handle on a kitchen butter knife and try to knurl any upturned plastic back down flat. When you get your new blade or decide that the ones you have will work you want to set the blade depth. Basically you don't want to be able to see the blade with your naked eye. The amount that should be out is going to be about 3 mil which is about .003 inches (3/1000ths) The tip is so sharp that you really can't see it at that depth. I hold mine up to the light and look for a glint. Do a search on the forum and Mz Skeeter has the best description for setting the depth. 

[integerspin 0]

Second, Paramount importance to decide whether the blades and second holder are EXACTLY correct for your machine. Post some pics and maybe we can tell by looking but if it were me I would order a complete new holder or at least a new blade for the factory holder. If there is any slop or even a minuscule miss alignment with the blade then you won't be doing 1/4" letters. 

Cutting strips are replaceable but I would just take a smooth object like the handle on a kitchen butter knife and try to knurl any upturned plastic back down flat. When you get your new blade or decide that the ones you have will work you want to set the blade depth. Basically you don't want to be able to see the blade with your naked eye. The amount that should be out is going to be about 3 mil which is about .003 inches (3/1000ths) The tip is so sharp that you really can't see it at that depth. I hold mine up to the light and look for a glint. Do a search on the forum and Mz Skeeter has the best description for setting the depth. 

I will get a new blade holder to rule that out. I tried cutting a cross to see what the corners were like, some look like to much offset and some look like not enough!

I set the offset to zero in the software[the machine has an offset setting] and I got a fairly clean cut, still not perfect, but much better.

[Wildgoose 4,200]

You will need a little offset but it only needs to be in one place, either the machine or the software. I haven't had my P-Cut for over a year now so I am working off memory but I am pretty sure I set the offset in the cutter and not in the software. Seems like the standard blade offset was 0.25mm.  If you push the pause button twice it should do a quick rectangle that will show you if you are getting the right pressure and you should be able to see from that if it's cutting good square corners. 

 

Also seem to remember using a decent amount of overcut. Like 0.5mm but you may have to play with that a little. This setting will make sure the blade finishes the cut from where it starts. 

 

For your blade depth, take the holder out of the carriage and adjust it so it is barely visible and drag it by hand with some pressure across a scrap piece of vinyl. It should cut through the vinyl and just scratch the paper behind. If you think you have it right then put it in the cutter and cut something while watching (with a flashlight if necessary) while down at eye level with the vinyl. You should just barely see clearance between the holder and the vinyl and the pressure then should be just high enough to scratch the backing paper (carrier) but not hard enough that you can feel it from the back side. If memory serves me correctly I ran my P-Cut around 110 for calendared vinyl. Every machine and every vinyl is different but those settings should get you in the ball park to dial in with.