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hi, just got my titan2 today, and I was SO excited, and now im just frustrated. How do you get the vinyl to load STRAIGHT? i think its straight, I line it up with the front ruler, and the back ruler, but as it cuts, it starts to slide on over! 

 

the vinyl also keeps getting winked by the wheel/feet things.. whats that about? 

 

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First never pull vinyl from the roll while cutting.  Prefeed the vinyl the length of your order,  back and forth and you can see if the vinyl is straight..The vinyl should be slack behind your cutter. .  I never use a ruler, they may not even match.    Make sure the pinch rollers are the same distance from the edge of the vinyl. 

Make sure the pinch rollers are directly over the grit rollers below. 

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One trick of the trade is to place the roll on the back rollers feed some through and hold the roll down so it sits well nestled in between them with any excess rolled up tight. Pull lightly on the end you have coming out the front while you keep the pressure on the roll in back and this will create a square position with the cutter. You may have to slide both eh roll and the end you hold around a bit until you get it where you want it but this will help you get square and should help with the feed. Once you clamp it then do the pre-feed as Skeeter says for the length of the proposed job and you will know before you cut that it will stay straight. If your material rollers on the back have any kind of plates that will hold your roll from walking sideways that is a plus. This all assumes you have a stand and rollers on the back. If not then you just have to play with it until you fine the sweet spot and maybe mark a line with a piece of tape just outside the edge or a sharpie (this is if your rulers are not aligned). 

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The "wheel/feet things" are the pinch rollers.  They hold the vinyl down against the grit rollers . . . these are the wheels that actually move the vinyl front-to-back.  As Mz Skeeter pointed out, be sure  the pinch rollers are on top of the grit rollers. I believe the Titan2 has white boxes just above the pinch rollers that indicate where the pinch rollers are.  

Imagine what happens when one of the pinch rollers is out of place and holding the vinyl against the cutter bed instead of the grit roller....the vinyl won't want to move in that area.  And the grit roller that should be moving the vinyl now has no pressure against it, so it can't move the vinyl where it should. You'll have a cattywampus mess in a hurry.

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You just need some practice.    

Try a few different techniques and see what works.   I personally do what's Wildgoose described. 

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4 hours ago, Go-C Graphics said:

I personally do what's Wildgoose described

Yep, me too.

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thanks! another issue I am having is when it starts to cut, its like the blade somehow gets caught on the edge of the vinyl and gets it all wrinkled up??

I am trying to use up my 10 inch vinyl (coming from a silhouette cameo) is it just because the vinyl is too small? should I just order 20 inch vinyl?

This cutter has been such a massive disappointment (and frustration!) luckily im not that strong, or I would have thrown it across the room a time or two by now lol :P 

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Forget about your Cameo..  This is a professional machine, and you need to take the time to learn it first.  Your disappointed ,because you have not learned how to operate it correctly.   This is a skilled job after all.  Take some time and learn your machine.    Sounds like you don't have your blade set correctly.   This is how. to set the blade correctly  And the vinyl has to be past the blade when you start cutting.  not right at the edge or the vinyl will get caught on the machine or cutting strip. . Run your speed the slowest you can until you learn how to run the vinyl cutter. 

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 see or feel the blade tip out of the blade holder.   

Also if the blade is sticking too far out of the blade holder it will make the vinyl shift and not track right. You only cut with the very tip of the blade.

If you have had big jams because you didn't have the pinch rollers over the grit rollers, or the vinyl past the cutting strip,and or blade out way too far, you may have already broken the blade tip off.  Look at it very closely.  Also look at your cutting strip, and make sure there are not any big scratches now, or gouges, which will cause you problems when cutting. 

 

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Be sure that you have the pinch rollers over the drive shaft. Not sure the layout of your Titan 2 machine but hopefully there is a spacing along there that allows you to use 10" Material. A few of the Titan models had a strange spacing. You have to place the pinch rollers over the open spots where the drive shaft is showing through. 

Pay particular attention to the info given by MZ SKEETER : (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 see or feel the blade tip out of the blade holder.)

Biggest single mistake is to have too much blade out. Causes all sorts of bad feelings. 

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On 10/9/2017 at 6:00 PM, Wildgoose said:

One trick of the trade is to place the roll on the back rollers feed some through and hold the roll down so it sits well nestled in between them with any excess rolled up tight. Pull lightly on the end you have coming out the front while you keep the pressure on the roll in back and this will create a square position with the cutter. You may have to slide both eh roll and the end you hold around a bit until you get it where you want it but this will help you get square and should help with the feed. Once you clamp it then do the pre-feed as Skeeter says for the length of the proposed job and you will know before you cut that it will stay straight. If your material rollers on the back have any kind of plates that will hold your roll from walking sideways that is a plus. This all assumes you have a stand and rollers on the back. If not then you just have to play with it until you fine the sweet spot and maybe mark a line with a piece of tape just outside the edge or a sharpie (this is if your rulers are not aligned). 

@mckenna.mengelkoch...Very true what Wildgoose says,  I actually ended up taking one side of the rulers that are adhered and flipping it around, ( Because the numbers are switched on one side from the other and made a big difference when i started, Now i just align by site and forget about using the back side of the ruler.  Also add some light to your cutter front like i did ,cheap to do and simple as well without messing with warranty.

20348114_10210567801213451_798993331_o.jpg

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since its so frustrating for u changing over to the titan, I will sacrifice and let u sell it to me cheap so u can start over. don't want u hurting your self throwing it around. lol. Just kidding. I definitely understand the frustration switching and learning new equipment. I hate just switching cell phones. the factory measuring tape on mine is off also. of course found that out the hard way, looks like everyone posting did too. I have a metal yard stick laying on top of my cutter for several uses, #1 starting the vinyl straight. then I cycle it thru a few inches back and forth, especially if its a long cut. something 2 or 3" I don't worry about so much. I think after u get used to the titan u will love it, @primal decals does... U will def like the led light upgrade. several of us on here have followed primal on this. I have an sc model, hoping to upgrade soon to a titan 2 , but also looking at the Graphtec. but for the $$ seems the titan is hard to beat.

and welcome to the forum!!  I'm also a newbie, around a  yr and half old now. lot of knowledge and great peeps that will help a newbie out on here

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You are right! I totally just need to take the time to learn it! My "part time hobby" (I'm a stay at home mom of 2 under two, so it was suppose to be a "fun gig") quickly turned into a booming business, which is GREAT,  but trying to keep up with 30+ new orders a day has me a bit short tempered, and I probably had too much in mind when I ordered this! 

Just in the last day or sk, me and this Titan have gotten along a lot better!  I think we will figure each other out...eventually. 

 

One last question, how do I fix inconsistent cuts? Or more like consistently wrong cuts? (Ps this was a refurbished titan, I'm thinking there is something wrong with it more than user error. But I'm hoping I'm just missing something) i have been practicing with the pen and paper, because I've blown through probably $50 worth of vinyl! 

 

You can can see where the top right consistently doesn't cut correctly. Any ideas? 

image.jpg

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And for refernce, this is how I have my 10 inch HTV set up. Just in case I'm doing something completely wrong lol 

rollers are pretty evenly spaced. With just over an inch of vinyl in each side. 

 

I keep my speed around 96 and force around 105

image.jpg

image.jpg

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Can you please show a picture of the blade sticking out of the blade holder?  I can actually see a shadow of it.. How far is it sticking out of the blade holder?   Too much vinyl space on the sides of the pinch rollers..  How much distance is between the 2nd grit roller to the right  and the  4th grit roller to the left?   How long are your designs?   If the designs are longer than 10"  and will work on the grit rollers,  turn the vinyl 90 degrees. You really need the pinch rollers closer to the edge of the vinyl.  That vinyl on the far right is probably slipping, because the pinch roller is too far in. 

Also,  we do not work for UScutter.   we all just help.  And we all have something going on,  other jobs, raising kids,  vinyl businesses, and the list goes on. 

Your force is only determined AFTER you set your blade correctly by my above instructions.   There is no set in stone  settings. 

Edited by MZ SKEETER

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@Primal Decals       Will the Titan2 work with the far right pinch roller on the 2nd grit roller?  Does it operate that way, or is it required to have the far right pinch roller on the far right grit roller only? 

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Must have been strange lighting lol! It doesn't stick out at all, perfectly cuts one layer of paper without cutting the second (and is cutting the vinyl perfectly as well!) . A 10 inch vinyl  (it's from US cutter so it's actually just shy of 10inches) is way too big to use the 2nd and 3rd roller, and I tried using the 3rd and 4th roller, but it touches the edges on both sides, so that doesn't work as well. I'll definitely be ordering 20inch and hopefully that helps! I also lowered my speed down to 48 and my pressure down to 69 which seems to be helping! 

 

Thanks  so much for your help!! I'm starting to get the hang of it! They should really ship these things with more directions :P 

image.jpg

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I said 2nd and 4th  grit rollers.. How far are they away  from each other?   You can move the grit rollers, and the others out of the way.   Will that cutter, work if the pinch roller is not on the far right  grit roller.?  I have a Graphtec, so my 1st grit roller is about 6.5 inches wide.  I don't know how that one works. 

You do not determine blade depth by cutting paper,  you determine it by cutting the vinyl you are going to use. This is why my instructions are posted on this forum  too many times to count, and in the forum instructions.   We can only offer you advice on what works, It's up to you whether you want to use it. Your welcome. 

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If you figure out a way to prevent the HTV from bunching up between the pinch roller and blade tip, please let me know. This is a major flaw I've noticed with mine. And I've had two of them. .The space between from the contact point of the wheel and the blade is dern near a full inch. That allows the HTV  to wrinkle when vinyl advances forward. It cause major headaches when cutting small detail. My SC doesn't bunch, but the stepper won't handle small stuff.

 

I'm about one more bunch of wasted vinyl from demanding a refund/credit toward a Graphtec.

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On 10/12/2017 at 3:13 PM, MZ SKEETER said:

@Primal Decals       Will the Titan2 work with the far right pinch roller on the 2nd grit roller?  Does it operate that way, or is it required to have the far right pinch roller on the far right grit roller only? 

It will work on either ..

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If they have the 28" model you will get best results with all 3 pinch rollers to the right. Plus i never run my material that far over to the right either, I leave about 1-2 inches max past the far right roller. Any more will cause the material bunch up and cause that issue in the photo..

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I have a Laserpoint 2 but it works for any machine.  I just cut a 1” strip of vinyl and put it all the way to the right of the cutting area by the measuring strips on both the front and the back. I put the roll on, pull it through, line up the right side in front and back (with some slack off the roll), put the rollers down, manually tighten the slack and slide the roll over slightly to make it straight (no slack on the vinyl left or right). After that, you can take a sharpie and just mark your rollers.  I had to do the same thing on the left side but because of its design the cutter can’t use the last 3” of the left side...so I have a piece of vinyl marking the 3.5” mark on the left, front back and a sharpie mark for the rollers.

on long cuts I always run a foot or two through just to make sure I’m tracking straight.

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