eprcvinyls

Got my SC2 got my Vinylmater, Test cut great but how to make VM cut?

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9 minutes ago, eprcvinyls said:

Oh, Alright yeah that has to be it cause on top of the vinyl. almost like its to tight.

Can someone tell me the trick to weeding smaller letters cause im having no luck.. they keep just peeling up. should i change the pretty on the cutter ? im at 300 speed and 101 pressure

slow the machine way down - use the least amount of blade exposure possible and take your time - it is a little trickier dialing in the value cutters but very possible - just takes some adjusting and testing

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3 hours ago, Dakotagrafx said:

slow the machine way down - use the least amount of blade exposure possible and take your time - it is a little trickier dialing in the value cutters but very possible - just takes some adjusting and testing

I have the blade where it would cut just the vinyl. i cant even see the blade sticking out of the holder.. So speed like 100? i thought 300 was slow. The pressure the same or more or less? it just feels like its not pulling up well.

Does VM not have layers where you can uncheck what you don't want to cut at the time? SCAL does. I know there all driffrent

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speed and force is kind of subjective and different for each cutter - even if the same make and model - best is to find what works best for you

after you send to cut in vinylmaster - about the third row down under general is separate by color and you can select which color to cut from there - 
if you have any questions about vinylmaster I would start a separate thread under the vinylmaster section of the forum - they are VERY responsive and the only vendor to actually provide support thru our userforum.  They have been spectacular from our point of view as they answer most questions very quickly and thoroughly - in all my years on the forum I haven't seen anyone monitor and ask questions as much since Ken Imes left uscutter years ago (he was on all day and most of the night - not sure when he slept)

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3 hours ago, Dakotagrafx said:

speed and force is kind of subjective and different for each cutter - even if the same make and model - best is to find what works best for you

after you send to cut in vinylmaster - about the third row down under general is separate by color and you can select which color to cut from there - 
if you have any questions about vinylmaster I would start a separate thread under the vinylmaster section of the forum - they are VERY responsive and the only vendor to actually provide support thru our userforum.  They have been spectacular from our point of view as they answer most questions very quickly and thoroughly - in all my years on the forum I haven't seen anyone monitor and ask questions as much since Ken Imes left uscutter years ago (he was on all day and most of the night - not sure when he slept)

Alright thanks, I was just trying to get the most use out of the thread i started as I could lol.

Does anyone happen to know where i can find 24" wide by like 20 foot long puzzle piece vinyl my buddy has a project he wants to put it on his show truck.

were going to have do it in 2 parts I guess since my cutter only does 24 inch.. he wants it the whole side of his bed and the tailgate. this is what he wants. Im not even sure what to charge he will buy the vinyl just needs me to cut it.

 

turner.jpg

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betting one of our printing members can do it if they can find a great graphic big enough - I don't do the wraps much so don't stock that laminate anymore but I am sure there are several others that would be happy to do it and hopefully will jump in soon - 

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3 hours ago, Dakotagrafx said:

betting one of our printing members can do it if they can find a great graphic big enough - I don't do the wraps much so don't stock that laminate anymore but I am sure there are several others that would be happy to do it and hopefully will jump in soon - 

Well he found a shop that said they can print it but they can't cut it, maybe that's normal but i would think a shop that could print it could cut. maybe they said they cant cut it cause of the size.'

 

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12 minutes ago, eprcvinyls said:

Well he found a shop that said they can print it but they can't cut it, maybe that's normal but i would think a shop that could print it could cut. maybe they said they cant cut it cause of the size.'

 

would make me suspicious too - a lot of people buy printers and don't maintain them or they buy a printer that is not really made for this type of work - first I would make sure they have a solvent, latex or thermo resin printer - then ask for a nozzle test before they print - on a show truck you want it done right and not someone trying to get buy until they can get a  good printer IMHO

also ask them what material they are printing and laminating with - big difference when you are working with compound body curves and the reason for wrap material that is a cast vinyl and cast laminate

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7 hours ago, Dakotagrafx said:

would make me suspicious too - a lot of people buy printers and don't maintain them or they buy a printer that is not really made for this type of work - first I would make sure they have a solvent, latex or thermo resin printer - then ask for a nozzle test before they print - on a show truck you want it done right and not someone trying to get buy until they can get a  good printer IMHO

also ask them what material they are printing and laminating with - big difference when you are working with compound body curves and the reason for wrap material that is a cast vinyl and cast laminate

Thank you for the info.. I'm not interested really in doing huge jobs like that but he needed it cut. I wish I knew someone who had a 60" Cutter. He said one Sign shop we both know, wanted a Ton of money to do it. Of course its a big piece of vinyl I understand that.

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5 minutes ago, eprcvinyls said:

Thank you for the info.. I'm not interested really in doing huge jobs like that but he needed it cut. I wish I knew someone who had a 60" Cutter. He said one Sign shop we both know, wanted a Ton of money to do it. Of course its a big piece of vinyl I understand that.

have him look up the price of real wrap vinyl and laminate - he will get it - it is't like buying 751   - that and the investment in equipment - again hopefully someone will come on that does wrap material that can help

this is a 10 yard roll for a 60" printer then add the laminate 

http://www.uscutter.com/Wrap-Materials-Oracal-970RA-and-975#product_listing=%3Fcurrent_page%3D1%26results_per_page%3D16%26order_by%3Dcategory_product_position%26search_params%3DCategory_DELIMITER_id%3A517%3A%3AProductTypeAttribute_DELIMITER_custom_size%3A60%20in%20x%2010%20yd%26search%3Dtrue%26search_params%3DCategory_DELIMITER_id%3A517%3A%3AProductTypeAttribute_DELIMITER_custom_size%3A60%20in%20x%2010%20yd

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5 hours ago, Dakotagrafx said:

speed and force is kind of subjective and different for each cutter - even if the same make and model - best is to find what works best for you

... in all my years on the forum I haven't seen anyone monitor and ask questions as much since Ken Imes left uscutter years ago (he was on all day and most of the night - not sure when he slept)

Case in point about the speed and force - I have an original LP, Ken used always recommend a pressure of at least 120. I tried that ... it cut straight trough the vinyl and backing talk about a nightmare of the vinyl getting all jacked in the machine. I've settled for about 86-92 depending on color and age of the vinyl (the older ones that I'm too cheap to throw out require more pressure), and speed is usually set at 60, 40 if it's tiny or has thin lines, including thin lined fonts (which I totally hate!).

You'll find what works best for you. Another thing to consider if you're getting little "ears" where the cuts begin/end, is to check the blade offset. I believe the 'standard' is 0.25mm, be honestly, my machine cuts/weeds the best with a 0.27mm offset.

As far as Ken Imes goes ... he was a fount of unbelievable amounts of information. There was only one instance where I needed to actually speak to customer server about an issue, and he called me immediately. I miss his knowledge and forum lost a great contributor the day he left USC. He was the bomb! (and probably is, but for someone else :()

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15 minutes ago, eprcvinyls said:

 I wish I knew someone who had a 60" Cutter.

... I used to think that ... then Scott pointed out the difficulty of taping something like that. I ditched that idea pretty dang quick! LOL

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6 minutes ago, haumana said:

... I used to think that ... then Scott pointed out the difficulty of taping something like that. I ditched that idea pretty dang quick! LOL

one year with that 48" cured me - went back to a 24" and never looked back . . . ok other than the 30" print and cut roland :)

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4 minutes ago, haumana said:

Case in point about the speed and force - I have an original LP, Ken used always recommend a pressure of at least 120. I tried that ... it cut straight trough the vinyl and backing talk about a nightmare of the vinyl getting all jacked in the machine. I've settled for about 86-92 depending on color and age of the vinyl (the older ones that I'm too cheap to throw out require more pressure), and speed is usually set at 60, 40 if it's tiny or has thin lines, including thin lined fonts (which I totally hate!).

 

We all know skeeters "set your blade" posts, so I have to ask about this.

If your blade is set right, no matter what the pressure is set at you can not cut the backing sheet.

The pressure is for the harder to cut vinyl.

So, the question is. Do some of you actually have your blade out too far and relying on the pressure to not cut to deep?

In my opinion, that is not a very good idea.

Just saying.

 

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Just now, bikemike said:

We all know skeeters "set your blade" posts, so I have to ask about this.

If your blade is set right, no matter what the pressure is set at you can not cut the backing sheet.

The pressure is for the harder to cut vinyl.

So, the question is. Do some of you actually have your blade out too far and relying on the pressure to not cut to deep?

In my opinion, that is not a very good idea.

Just saying.

 

I used to think that my blade stuck out too far too, but after many times of dialing back into the holder at Ken's recommendation of 120 pressure, it got to the point where it wasn't cutting at all because I pulled the blade back so far that it just wasn't happening. Lots and vinyl was sacrificed to find the happy medium, because the "test" boxes could only give me so much feed back ... about how well it cut little boxes. LOL. So it required a small graphic or font to come to the numbers that my cutter is most efficient.

If I over pressure it, it will still cut through, but changing the cutting strip is a pain, so I try not to make that mistake anymore.

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7 minutes ago, haumana said:

I used to think that my blade stuck out too far too, but after many times of dialing back into the holder at Ken's recommendation of 120 pressure, it got to the point where it wasn't cutting at all because I pulled the blade back so far that it just wasn't happening. Lots and vinyl was sacrificed to find the happy medium, because the "test" boxes could only give me so much feed back ... about how well it cut little boxes. LOL. So it required a small graphic or font to come to the numbers that my cutter is most efficient.

If I over pressure it, it will still cut through, but changing the cutting strip is a pain, so I try not to make that mistake anymore.

I found even before skeeters posts that the blade was more important than pressure. If I set it to just put a faint mark on the backing, the pressure could be changed to the point every cut was great. To much pressure and you will know very soon. Noisy and probably bunch up in the middle of a 24 inch roll.

I would have to say set the blade, then play with the pressure. In my opinion.

I have set this way on my grapgtec and my off shore cutter. Both cut small stuff.

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4 hours ago, Dakotagrafx said:

have him look up the price of real wrap vinyl and laminate - he will get it - it is't like buying 751   - that and the investment in equipment - again hopefully someone will come on that does wrap material that can help

this is a 10 yard roll for a 60" printer then add the laminate 

http://www.uscutter.com/Wrap-Materials-Oracal-970RA-and-975#product_listing=%3Fcurrent_page%3D1%26results_per_page%3D16%26order_by%3Dcategory_product_position%26search_params%3DCategory_DELIMITER_id%3A517%3A%3AProductTypeAttribute_DELIMITER_custom_size%3A60%20in%20x%2010%20yd%26search%3Dtrue%26search_params%3DCategory_DELIMITER_id%3A517%3A%3AProductTypeAttribute_DELIMITER_custom_size%3A60%20in%20x%2010%20yd

Oh wow that is high priced, but sure it is really good. maybe that is what the guy was going to use cause he said $800 and he would make it. Not sure if that was him printing it or haveing it printed then him just cutting and install or what.

4 hours ago, haumana said:

Case in point about the speed and force - I have an original LP, Ken used always recommend a pressure of at least 120. I tried that ... it cut straight trough the vinyl and backing talk about a nightmare of the vinyl getting all jacked in the machine. I've settled for about 86-92 depending on color and age of the vinyl (the older ones that I'm too cheap to throw out require more pressure), and speed is usually set at 60, 40 if it's tiny or has thin lines, including thin lined fonts (which I totally hate!).

You'll find what works best for you. Another thing to consider if you're getting little "ears" where the cuts begin/end, is to check the blade offset. I believe the 'standard' is 0.25mm, be honestly, my machine cuts/weeds the best with a 0.27mm offset.

As far as Ken Imes goes ... he was a fount of unbelievable amounts of information. There was only one instance where I needed to actually speak to customer server about an issue, and he called me immediately. I miss his knowledge and forum lost a great contributor the day he left USC. He was the bomb! (and probably is, but for someone else :()

Unless im missing something, My SC2 wont go down lower then 100 on Speed. witch I happen to be at 100 now. it seems its eaiser to weed now being slower. maybe  i will lower the Force some to see.

Im working with my Orcal 751 now and im very surprised at how Thin it is.... How is it the best to use but yet seems so thin? now i did notice on the back it says Oracal 751C does the C mean anything? Everyone and there brother local keeps saying 651 is fine, some lady showed me pics of a jeep the done a huge logo on the hood of it a yr ago it still looked good from her pic. Oh well I will find out cause im using 651 on my decals for my truck.

is there a way with the SC2 to make the vinyl feed forward? every time after i make my cut i undo the pinch rollers and pull it forward to cut it then move it back and push the rollers back down.

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in the vinylmaster - vinyl spooler my pro version has a radio box for advance after cut - betting the cut version has that also.  not sure on the speed numbers that have always been a subjective number that really didn't mean anything - hopefully someone with a sc or sc2 will chime in on that

751 is a Cast material and that could be what the C designation is - yes it is thinner and it will contour much better on compound curves (curves goes 2 directions at once not just a bow)   cast doesn't shrink over time like a calendared does sometimes because of the way it is made :  https://www.tekra.com/resources/tek-tip-white-paper/tek-tip-cast-vs-calendered-vinyl

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3 hours ago, Dakotagrafx said:

in the vinylmaster - vinyl spooler my pro version has a radio box for advance after cut - betting the cut version has that also.  not sure on the speed numbers that have always been a subjective number that really didn't mean anything - hopefully someone with a sc or sc2 will chime in on that

751 is a Cast material and that could be what the C designation is - yes it is thinner and it will contour much better on compound curves (curves goes 2 directions at once not just a bow)   cast doesn't shrink over time like a calendared does sometimes because of the way it is made :  https://www.tekra.com/resources/tek-tip-white-paper/tek-tip-cast-vs-calendered-vinyl

Oh alright again thanks for the input.. Now Im having a weird thing happening, Im trying to cut a USA flag and it gets all the first like 7 lines cut then the vinyl is like turning in the machine on like a 45 degree. im just using a smaller piece of scrap. but plenty big enough. the pinch rollers were all 3 down.the speed is on 100 and the force is on 98 now. it cut the other stuff just fine.

I have noticed the longer i cut it does get off a little bit but not bad like it was this time

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Rollers over the gritty part? Are you rolling the vinyl back and forth before cutting to ensure tracking?

 

 

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3 hours ago, bikemike said:

Rollers over the gritty part? Are you rolling the vinyl back and forth before cutting to ensure tracking?

 

 

Yes, I already found out what happens when the rollers aren't over the gritty rollers.. made that mistake yesterday.

i don't know how to make the machine move the vinyl back and forth, asked in this thread guess no one has a SC2 to know the manual kinda stinks

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A simple way that I use to advance the vinyl after a cut is to use the origin buttons.  Advance far enough to cut your project off, advance out to cover the next cut and then back it up to re-locate the origin in the lower right corner.

Two other items I will mention.  When I use a wide roll of vinyl, I still only use two pressure rollers, about 2" from the edges.  I used to use a third on sorta in the middle, I think it tracks better with just using the two.  Second, do not rely upon the machines rulers to set your vinyl.  They may or may not be accurate (and probably are not).

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Looking at the control panel of the SC2, it appears that you need to go "Offline" (Local/Pause) and then using the arrow keys, you'll be able to advance the vinyl or shift the carriage head across.  (x and Y) and then hit Origin at the point you want to start the cut.

 

 

 

 

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on the feeding straight = many newbies have to learn how to put the vinyl in, pre feed it a little, then see which way it is drifting.  make an adjustment and try again.  don't even try to use the stick on ruler decals put on by a chinese worker late on friday night - they are seldom straight

 

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ive not used the ruler on it just been lining it up with the blade and making sure its straight according to the lines in the machine i know the vinyl has to be straight for that to be 100% correct but it seemed to work pretty good so far just that one thing having issues with

Thanks about the controls i will try that

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