Sign in to follow this  
ericmschwanke

Cutting Question- Did I cut deep enough?

Recommended Posts

I did a first big cut last night using the US Cutter Laser II. I cut on the Greenstar IPV GS045 24" wide vinyl.

 

I was using the 45 degree blade at 112 pressure and was having some issues removing the excess vinyl from around my design.

 

It took me probably  2 1/2 hours to remove the vinyl from around the design I cut out. Should I have cut twice with the machine and it would have been smooth as butter removing?

 

Noob question and trying to figure out what is the right way to do these.

 

Thanks everyone. Pics attached of the design.

post-91324-0-72392700-1424885513_thumb.j

post-91324-0-68760200-1424885574_thumb.j

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

What was the problem? The entire cut pieces coming up with the vinyl as you weed, or just a little corner piece staying attached? Also curious how big are those pineapples? But like Skeeter said, no reason to cut 2 times, it should weed pretty easy but with little stuff like that sometimes you have to use something small to help keep the little pieces down, I use my finger, toothpick, back edge of a razor blade whatever works.  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
What was the problem? The entire cut pieces coming up with the vinyl as you weed, or just a little corner piece staying attached? Also curious how big are those pineapples? But like Skeeter said, no reason to cut 2 times, it should weed pretty easy but with little stuff like that sometimes you have to use something small to help keep the little pieces down, I use my finger, toothpick, back edge of a razor blade whatever works.  

I see pieces missing.  But he needs to take an exacto knife and cut between the pineapples and peel away smaller sections at a time..I use the eraser end of a pencil to hold down pieces.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

and add slightly tot he overcut so it goes a little beyond the end of the cut.  especially with stepper motor cutters this is important - seams they always leave a little piece uncut

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It was all cut pretty smooth but when peeling I had to use this little wooden tool and hold every single piece down. Nothing just peeled off.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I actually have pretty good luck cutting and weeding the GS stuff so if you can get set up correctly you should be able to work with it too. I cut a lot of stencils for my niece to stain disc golf frisbies with and the GS is our vinyl of choice due to extremely cheap and actually fairly tough stuff and the fact that I bought a whole bunch of rolls when I started up and didn't have any experience at things. So anyway there is anther little trick that I sometimes do with if I am going to do many copies of graphics like your pineapples that have tons of really acute angles (which are more prone to lifting or damage). I go in and spend a few minutes and round the corners off on the worst ones, or make one and see which ones give me trouble and round those specific corners. It doesn't need to be much of a rounded corner to help the knife go around it rather than hit the end and then spin to go the next direction. Leave the shape alone and make just a little tiny corner and sometimes that helps a lot. You won't even be able to tell the difference without a magnifying glass if you do it right.  If I am drawing things I always do this if it's a tight corner. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this