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Laurisa

Roland GX-24 Cutting Issues

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Hi All,

 

A little new to the world of cutters and vinyls still. 

I bought my Roland cutter second hand from a family member.  Eventually, it came time to change the blade.  Some of my dinosaur clip-art was showing need of dental work.  Small things didn't cut well, and the dots on 'i's began to peel up.  

 

I watched some tutorials, then braved up to changing my blade with one of the Roland Cemented Carbide blades that came with the machine.  It is a 45 degree I am fairly sure.  

I moved the blade force down to the recommended 60gf for the Premium vinyl from Stahls and moved the pen force down to zero.  Performed a few test cuts and the new blade performed beautifully.  Ah, the wonders of a fresh blade, I thought, excited to fill new orders.  

 

A couple of days later I came back to cut vinyl.  Everything was peeling up.  The cuts were dash cut.  Letters were coming up.  I adjusted the gf and pen force and did more test cuts until it appeared it all had improved.  Next vinyl run, just as awful.  

 

Then I realized my cutting strip had a few gouges in it from a couple of times my vinyl had come off the tracks.  I turned it around after placing an order for another one.  Check my blade's edge, exposure, rotation, etc. etc. upped the pen force to +2 and after a few more test cuts, found ABSOLUTELY NO improvement.

 

I am pulling my hair out now.  I am getting uncut corners in the insides of Ns, Ms, Ws, etc.  Letters are still peeling up to the point I wonder if my vinyl is just a bad batch with no stick....

 

For help, my cutter's specs are:

 

20cm/s

70gr  0.25mm

 

Thank you for your help,

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You need to correctly set your blade depth like this. 

 

To start with, you should set your blade depth correctly, by taking the blade holder out of the machine, and firmly cut across a piece of scrap vinyl, you will be cutting. You should only be cutting the vinyl and barely a mark on wax paper backing, Adjust blade to get there, Then put the blade holder back in machine, and use the force of the machine to get there, same results, only cutting the vinyl and barely a mark in wax paper backing.  You should barely see or feel the blade tip out of the blade holder.

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What she said ^^^ most likely too much blade exposed and/or too much pressure.

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I don't run a Graphtec but would ask of the regulars: Is the pen force relevant? On my Summa I have a pen setting for switching tools and a pressure setting for using a pen but it only matters when switched to an actual pen. Just noticed the reference in her post to gf as well as pen force and wondered if Laurisa could be getting mixed up as to what she is adjusting. Not being a Graphtec owner I may be completely off base. 

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I don't run a Graphtec but would ask of the regulars: Is the pen force relevant? On my Summa I have a pen setting for switching tools and a pressure setting for using a pen but it only matters when switched to an actual pen. Just noticed the reference in her post to gf as well as pen force and wondered if Laurisa could be getting mixed up as to what she is adjusting. Not being a Graphtec owner I may be completely off base. 

LOL goose - read the title - you are sounding like me now

besides the tips above on blade depth that is the first stop, then look at 2 more things how is the cutting strip - after use you will get cuts and grooves in it that will contribute to that symptom too,  last put a drop of lightweight oil like sewing machine, reel or 3-1 in the holder and dab it dry/   the dots could be from the blade not rotating freely if it still does this after you follow skeeters instructions on blade depth (the most common cause)

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Wow yeah I guess I don't do well in the comprehend what you read department sometimes! Ha ha! Somehow my mind cross referenced this thread with one the OP was using cutting master. Oh well. Same concept. Also might be helpful to note that it should no be necessary to go at the slowest pace the machine is capable of. I doubt it is contributing to the issue but that's really slow. I cut around 200mm/sec most of the time assuming ROLAND is similar. ROLAND ROLAND ROLAND

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