Sign in to follow this  
Rich Black Ink

SC2 Cut examples with photos

Recommended Posts

Greetings! I am new to the forum, and new to vinyl cutting. I browsed the forums quite a bit before and after ordering my SC2 and have looked around a little since cutting my first few experiments. I really like how this forum appears to be a real community helping each other out.. I hope to learn and share as much as I can in the future.  I am a graphic designs for a semi large screen print and embroidery house in Texas and I am a self proclaimed "vector snob". I have a VERY good understanding of the ins and outs of Adobe illustrator so please let me know if you have any questions.

The examples I have attached were created in Adobe Illustrator and the vector files opened in the "Vinyl Master Cut V4" and cut with no further editing in that software. I work on a windows PC and I have my plotter set up with a serial cable.I read the suggestions on here for setting up the blade depth and did my best to set my machine up that way. 

All of the white graphics were on Oracal 651 material and cut with my machine set to 100 speed, the black graphics were on 651and i think they cut at 500, and the yellow was on 751C also at 500. The yellow graphic actually looks pretty decent but its on the bigger side and there are still some little things i would like to clean up.. and it ran way faster than the white vinyl.

OK now that I feel like I got the particulars out of the way... I am wondering if my passion for clean vector graphics is ruining my expectations of what my plotter is actually cutting. I would have thought that straight lines and rectangles would be bread and butter but that seems to be my major beef. I added the image of the skull because that one cut pretty much perfectly. My biggest gripe is with the quality of the text. The tops and bottoms and vertical lines across the lettering dont stay straight and seem inconsistent across the letters. I have "hangnails" and I have read about bumping the blade offset "a little" will help with that.. my machine is at .35 passes are 1.. what should I bump it to?  People are cutting text way smaller than this and I dont know if my expectations are screwy or if there is maybe something I am missing. I would love to hear any input you have on either clearing up my expectations OR how i may be able to clean up my cuts.. 

 

Thank you and I hope to hear back from someone! 

IMG_9709.JPG

IMG_9710.JPG

IMG_9711.JPG

IMG_9712.JPG

IMG_9713.JPG

IMG_9714.JPG

Untitled-1.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That's pretty bad on the white,  and your blade offset is off.  The corners are not sharp on your text.. Start at 0.25  for blade offset.  then go plus or minus 0.05  and see which is better.  The white looks like it is poorly traced.Not made from scratch.   And you should just barely see and feel the blade tip out of the blade holder. It's less blade, more force. 

Your test cuts should show square corners. Show pictures of your test cuts. 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

a good starting number for the offset is .25, and you can go from there. my LP24 is typically offset to .26 or .27

the blade depth looks good as you're cutting the vinyl and cutting into the backing. You might want to dial down the force on the colored vinyl since it looks like it might be digging into the backing on your yellow. for different colors you might need to change the force. for different materials, definitely do test cuts while adjusting the force as necessary.

try slowing down the cutting speed. for intricate or small text, i will slow the machine down to 40. you'll get a feel for it.

when you get the offset, depth, force and speed all tuned, it will make weeding even easier! if you want to up your game a bit, change to a 60-degree blade, and if you're willing to spend just a little more money, make it a Clean Cut 60-degree blade. I promise it worth it and makes a HUGE difference.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

100 speed is what i leave my SC2 at, and I go from 103-90ish on my force depending on how the cutter is Doing for Sticky vinyl normally 100 and the HTV down to 90.

Ive never had anything look that bad something is going on for sure.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@MZ SKEETER Thanks for your input.. I will double check the blade again.. I was hoping you would chime in.. I saw several good posts from you and I think I used one of your posts when setting up the blade.. I will look again and see.. As I mentioned in the original post the images were cut straight from an eps made in illustrator. I created a new document and imported the vector file in and hit cut. Ill adjust the blade and do some test cuts and post them hopefully tomorrow. 

@haumana I wouldnt have guessed this was super small or intricate.. I thought when i was adjusting the speed of my machine (on the machine itself) i thought 100 was the slowest it would go.. But I will look again. I have some 60 degree blades on hand but was going to see how the 45 did first and save the 60s for when I stepped up to more intense graphics.. or something.. I will see if adjusting the blade and offset helps and go from there.. 

@eprcvinyls Thanks for the verification on my snobby feeling of the cuts. I will take your comment about the pressure setting into consideration when I adjust things. 

 

Thanks Everyone! 

 

Tim 

 



 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
11 minutes ago, Rich Black Ink said:

  As I mentioned in the original post the images were cut straight from an eps made in illustrator. I created a new document and imported the vector file in and hit cut. 

I know you said they were original, but to us who see this type of thing.  that is what they look like , poorly traced vectors. There is not anything sharp and precise  on them.  Most things are rounded on them. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@MZ SKEETER I dont even know how to do that in the cut software. Do you think it is more the adjustments you mentioned earlier.. or could it be the way I am opening the vector file within the cut software? maybe the file type im saving out of illustrator? 

The red image was a jpg of what I sent to the cutter. I could post the vector file also. these were mostly just test cuts to test out the machine. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You need to use a test cut on your machine. Where it says TEST.  That has to be right first.  Square corners. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I used a piece of the same vinyl I had made trackmarks on. Hang nail and goofy corners. Mine seems more on the “too low” side of your image but not by a whole lot. Is that the offset?

88606F39-4F25-40D2-80B8-E81F0CA8ECD0.jpeg

08F91964-CA33-4D6A-8CA8-0C0ECC0AF054.jpeg

Edited by Rich Black Ink
Clarity

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You have to get that fixed first, before you start cutting designs.  The corners have to be square. Work on the blade offset. Or  contact tech support.   Make sure there is nothing in the blade holder, make sure the blade is spinning freely.  A drop of sewing machine oil or other light oil..  Make sure the white wheels of the carriage head are firmly down in the track. Make sure blade tip is not broken.

Also those track marks don't hurt a thing. they will come out when you apply the vinyl.  I hope you didn't loosen up the pinch rollers to try and get rid of the track marks.  That will cause you more problems messing with the pinch rollers. The vinyl won't track right and start slipping. 

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Once you have the "test" pattern showing nice square corners, open up VinylMaster and create a new file.  Add a circle, square, and triangle from the pre-designed shapes.  Then put some text in different fonts and sizes around it.  Try cutting that.  If you're using one of the fonts supplied with Vinylmaster then you can be assured that it's not the file.  I fought with really rough cut text and found that the files I was using were just poor tracing like  Mz Skeeter said.  To make matters worse, when I created a testing file I picked a "hand drawn" font the first time around....stick with something straight and universal, like Arial.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Did adjustment to the blade, adjusted the offset by .05 and did a test. Looked good. Created my own test. Looked pretty good. Ran several of the designs from my previous file and the cut was a LOT better. I may adjust the offset a little further to see if I can clean up the text/corners even more. Thanks to everyone for all the help.. especially mz skeeter 

 

7155F151-9C31-4CBF-907F-395D02EE40DC.jpeg

D58209D4-4657-445C-B802-FDE5DC90B8AC.jpeg

BC0CF8F4-0B83-4537-8D08-672EF5963F81.jpeg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 4/22/2018 at 7:34 PM, eprcvinyls said:

100 speed is what i leave my SC2 at, and I go from 103-90ish on my force depending on how the cutter is Doing for Sticky vinyl normally 100 and the HTV down to 90.

Ive never had anything look that bad something is going on for sure.

I have a SC2 as well. I'm new to the cutting world. What do you set your HTV glidder & HTVs vinyls for the pressure and speed? Should I keep my blade settings for regular sign vinyl? I couldn't ask for better cuttings on my signs vinyls, but I'm having a lot of trouble on HTVS. Also, when cutting do I flip much HTV vinyal and mirror my cutting?

Thanks for anyone's help here. I'm trying to finish Christmas gifts. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, Plwallin said:

I have a SC2 as well. I'm new to the cutting world. What do you set your HTV glidder & HTVs vinyls for the pressure and speed? Should I keep my blade settings for regular sign vinyl? I couldn't ask for better cuttings on my signs vinyls, but I'm having a lot of trouble on HTVS. Also, when cutting do I flip much HTV vinyal and mirror my cutting?

Thanks for anyone's help here. I'm trying to finish Christmas gifts. 

I use the same setting for htv I do regular vinyl - glitter might take a bit more pressure and will be very hard on blades.  mirror you htv projects unless you are using a special front printed htv like people make with solvent printers (which is not common for most people and require a special carrier sheet).  

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I do lots of HTV work and also use the same basic setting as for regular sign vinyl. You need a sharp blade for it though so if you have a damaged tip it could cause issues. Sometimes the tip will get broken or I have even sanded it off so to speak when cutting glitter so that when viewed up close with a microscope it is rounded. Still cuts regular vinyl but won't get through the HTV.  If you haven't already you might try some premium blades. They really do make a difference. We tend to steer people toward Clean Cut blades. I haven't looked for a while and Dakota can chime in but I thought USCutter was selling a premium blade now, possibly made by CC? 

Glitter is more of a PIA and will ruin a blade in a hurry IMO. I avoid it. Less longevity on the garment as well. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this