rebjr 0 Posted April 25, 2008 I was beginning to think that CRS had the best of me and that I had wasted my money. Not that I felt the LP24 wouldn't work .. rather, that I was not capable of making it work. Missing something so simple that my feeble, at best, mind could not grasp or find it. Ken called me, dang those US Cutter folks are great! And together we both got perplexed. The cutter seemed to do the same thing every time we tried something, and the "same thing" wasn't the right thing. So, I decided, what any good computer person would have done right off the bat .. uninstall and reinstall the driver. I am using SignCut, the SignBlazer proggie and I will have to have many long sit downs before I attempt to take a serious ride on it. I'm really basic and simple, so SignCut fits me like a broke in pair of jeans. Any rate, reloading the SignCut proggie did wonders. There were still a thing or three to sort out. I am huge on templates and knowing my parameters. Comes from a couple of decades of having to make my own platens to print odd items that some fella wanted his company name printed on. I've figured out so far that with an 11x17 sheet, I am going to lose the bottom 1 1/2", and the top 1/2". The sides or edges I have not tuned in yet, but 1/2" works on either and probaly a 1/4, mebbe even stretch to an 8th. The parameters are important to me as my purpose for buying this lil' puppy is to do t-shirts and caps, first and foremost. I spent most of my adult life intrigued with designing and printing caps (my specialty) and t-shirts. And, doing things that I weren't supposed to be able to do with the equipment I had. So, now that I'm old and half-way crippled from years of wild livin', I still have the desire but no longer can I pull the squeegee, nor take the heat. This will allow me to continue doing something that I love to do, while at the same time hopefully build a career for a divorced daughter who has no real training, and with 4 kids saddling her down she's not likely to get any time to study for much. Anyway, that's water over the bridge, or under it, or whatever. Being able to print on dark shirts with inkjet and laser transfers has been around for awhile, but with very little success. I've found a paper that does not bleed, and is VERY easy to work with, but wielding scissors is another thing my fingers have little ability to do. Hence the LaserPoint 24. My hat is off to US Cutter, and all you folks who make up this marvelous electronic playground. I've gotten a load of tips, and am ready to run. I will be doing some stuff today and posting it to the forum, hopefully I've experimented enough now that I will be able to cut my contour as I want. After all this ramble, anubody who has stuck with me this far .. my LP24, with the pen in, plots the image 3 times. Is this the norm for this machine, to cut the same image 3 times before it shuts down? End of ramble .... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kenimes 42 Posted April 25, 2008 If the cutter is being told to cut 3 times, it will do it. Make sure there are no outlines in the graphic. The SignCut logo for example has about three passes because of the different colors. If you choose one color, say red for example, by clicking on the red box over on the right hand side of the screen....it will only cut one pass for the red. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rebjr 0 Posted April 25, 2008 Not sure why it was doing that Ken. It did it everytime I set a template to plot using the pen tool. I just tried to contour cut a design and it only made one pass around the design. I doubt it knows whether the pen or blade is in .... I forgot to set the blade offset, and I don't know if this is the reason that it cut off or not. It cut perfect to the "shape" but skewed to the rear and down. I was lined up perfect on my registration marks. I have put the scan of what it should have done and what it did on the following link, any comments will be greatly appreciated. http://www.fivesixdesign.com/hvcontourtest1.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rebjr 0 Posted April 25, 2008 PS .. the choppiness in the 2d image was due to my rushing the rotation of my scan in my proggie ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Popeye 0 Posted April 26, 2008 Two things I can think of... one cutting size correction may need adjusted (not sure if the reg mark alignment software negates that step)... The other is blade offset... best way to see and understand the offset is to plot (draw) a box with 0.00 offset... then change the offset value to 0.50 and plot again right over the other plot.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rebjr 0 Posted April 26, 2008 OK, I will do that plot/replot today to try and grasp how blade offset works. What do you mean by cutting size correction? I don't understand that term at all. And, how, if neccessary do you set it? I laid out some templates that I plotted with the pen. Using 0.0 the lines were exactly as they should have been. One thing that I did not pay any attention to when I cut the contour, was how close the blade cut the template lines, as I left them in the .ai image that I sent to the cutter. I know it cut, but didn't pay attention and cut the finished product down already .. dang it.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Popeye 0 Posted April 27, 2008 Whenever I'm doing anything that needs to be accurate I plot (pen) the drawing, measure the plot and adjust the cutting size correction in SB. Once again, your software might not need that since you align the reg marks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rebjr 0 Posted April 28, 2008 I cut the correct size. That is not the problem, cutting where I want it to cut, even with the registration marks aligned dead on. I am getting a touch upset with this machine. As I am not in the sign bidness, don't intend to be in the sign bidness, the fact that it cuts vinyl does not turn my crank. I bought it speciifically for the contour cutting capability, Years ago I owned a Roland, and was able to do some pretty fair contour work with it. Even without a laser alignment system, It took a lot of work, and I ended up getting rid of it and got the 1st roland color cam, then the 2d model. Then I had some medical problems and sold my business. Sitting around doing little these past few years have not set well with me, so I keep looking at stuff to do and when the LP24 came on the market, or rather when I first ran across it on eBay I couldn't wait to get one. I should have hesitated. It cuts great, is a really good machine for cutting vinyl and does as good a job if not better than the roland I bought many years back for over $2000. I'm n ot giving up on this machine. But I am very agravated. US Cutter support has been great, but even they don't have the experience with this machine, it appears, to get those of us who bought it to contour cut up and running. Oh well, enuff rant. Gotta get some sleep so that I can play with it some more tomorrow. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
