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awicky85

Tips needed on cutting small letters

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I have an sc series I just got and have been playing with. Setup was done according to the instructional videos and the machine works great until it comes to small lettering. I have tried adjusting the blade depth up and down hoping to find the sweet spot. So far ive gotten my letter down to 1.10 inch and it has to be "normal" text. if I do any kind of cursives then I have to raise the font to 1.25 and even some letters still pull up during the cutting. Is this normal or is there something i should be doing differently. First timer here and just dont know the rules of the cutter yet haha, thanks in advance

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first forget what you saw in videos about how to set the blade depth and follow Mz Skeeters helpful instructions

"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 just barely and feel the blade tip out of the blade holder. "

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you want the least amount of blade possible, sharp blade (I use a 60 degree cleancut blade)  and slow the plotter way down when doing fine detail.

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after posting this i found a article where he wrote that lol so I will be adjusting and trying again. Preciate it...curiously whats the smallest youve been able to get cut? I am using the disney style font and the "o" and "i" always pull up on me

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5 minutes ago, awicky85 said:

after posting this i found a article where he wrote that lol so I will be adjusting and trying again. Preciate it...curiously whats the smallest youve been able to get cut? I am using the disney style font and the "o" and "i" always pull up on me

kinda comparing apples to oranges as I use a graphtec servo cutter -the sc has stepper motors but with enough fiddling you should get under 1/2 "

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Picking up edges is often a result of poor setup. Some vinyl is more prone to it than others as well. If I have fine cutting to do I tend to use a higher grade cast vinyl like 751 or even 951. You would be surprised at how smooth it cuts and weeds. As mentioned set your blade properly is the number one starting place. Many people also benefit from switch to a 60deg blade. This ends up with a sharper pointed angle out at the tip and may be helpful. A good quality blade makes a difference too. Clean-cut blades are highly prized on the forum. There may be a re-branded clean cut option offered on the main website, I'll go look. 

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Here are some higher quality blades from the website:

http://www.uscutter.com/Clean-Cut-Roland-Compatible-60-Degree-Vinyl-Cutter-Blade

Seems like I heard these are special built for USC by a special guy but I can't remember if that's true so don't want to spread false info. 

Bear in mind that the 60deg is actually ground specifically to cut THICKEr material as show in that link but also seems to help with FINER cutting as well. IF you switch to a higher quality blade be careful and decrease your cutting force a LOT and work back into the proper pressure because a nice blade cuts with less force. 

Also as an FYI the 60deg theory is sometimes disputed. My personal cutter runs a 36deg blade and it will cut as fine as anything out there so.......:unsure:   I have tested out several blade combos including a 60deg Clean-cut and not found a noticeable difference with MY cutter. That being said it's a high end servo motor cutter and that may negate some of the benefits. 

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12 minutes ago, Wildgoose said:

Here are some higher quality blades from the website:

http://www.uscutter.com/Clean-Cut-Roland-Compatible-60-Degree-Vinyl-Cutter-Blade

Seems like I heard these are special built for USC by a special guy but I can't remember if that's true so don't want to spread false info. 

Bear in mind that the 60deg is actually ground specifically to cut THICKEr material as show in that link but also seems to help with FINER cutting as well. IF you switch to a higher quality blade be careful and decrease your cutting force a LOT and work back into the proper pressure because a nice blade cuts with less force. 

Also as an FYI the 60deg theory is sometimes disputed. My personal cutter runs a 36deg blade and it will cut as fine as anything out there so.......:unsure:   I have tested out several blade combos including a 60deg Clean-cut and not found a noticeable difference with MY cutter. That being said it's a high end servo motor cutter and that may negate some of the benefits. 

There was a period of time uscutter offered cleancut blades in as a greenstar premium blade but I believe it caused too much confusion - greenstar is uscutters private brand and usually for house branded stuff - usually not associated with a premium product like cleancut blades - if they wanted to private brand I think another name would have worked out better - I saw the same thing goose found a couple of weeks ago that they was selling actual cleancut blades now

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