StephenCutter 0 Posted December 28, 2018 Hello there! I have two Graphtec CE6000-60 cutters and the weirdest thing is happening. I am trying to mirror an object but the cut is coming out thinner than the original. This happens both in Cutting Master 4 and VinylMaster. I even tried mirroring using Illustrator and the cut still came out thinner than the original. I'm honestly so confused why this is occurring. The objects are identical in every way. I have attached the object file for reference and a picture of the cut that I am getting. The left is the original and the right is mirrored. object.ai Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,708 Posted December 28, 2018 If that is how your cutting it. right to left, Try it front to back. Rotate it and see if it changes. What does it do when you don't cut them at the same time? Cut 1 decal. flip it, cut the other with the same design. Not 2 designs Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StephenCutter 0 Posted December 28, 2018 25 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said: If that is how your cutting it. right to left, Try it front to back. Rotate it and see if it changes. What does it do when you don't cut them at the same time? Cut 1 decal. flip it, cut the other with the same design. Not 2 designs Thanks for the reply MZ SKEETER. In between the time that I posted this and your reply I have been debugging the issue. It appears that neither of my cutters are actually cutting good lines at all. In the photo I attached to this reply you can see that the hexagon has uneven widths on every side. I have been using these graphtec cutters for bigger designs so I didn't realize the problem until now. Any ideas? object_2.ai Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,708 Posted December 28, 2018 I can see it. How fast are you cutting? What is the blade offset at? It is probably a setting, if both cutters are doing it.. Are those cutters CE6000-60 Plus? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StephenCutter 0 Posted December 28, 2018 6 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said: I can see it. How fast are you cutting? What is the blade offset at? Cutting at 5 cm/s with a force of 10 for Oracal 651. Blade is at a depth where it only slightly nicks the backing paper. Blade offset is at 0. I have tried slowing down to the lowest (1 cm/s) but same results. Both cutters are CE6000-60 Plus Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,708 Posted December 28, 2018 Trying to help you with better software... Are those cutters regular CE6000-60 or CE6000-60 Plus? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StephenCutter 0 Posted December 28, 2018 Just now, MZ SKEETER said: Trying to help you with better software... Are those cutters regular CE6000-60 or CE6000-60 Plus? CE6000-60 Plus both of them Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,708 Posted December 28, 2018 1 minute ago, StephenCutter said: CE6000-60 Plus both of them too bad. You could have gotten the GraphtecProStudio free but it is not for the Plus models. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,708 Posted December 28, 2018 Where are your pinch rollers located, it looks like something slipping. Show some pics of the whole front of your cutter, with the pinch rollers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StephenCutter 0 Posted December 28, 2018 3 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said: Where are your pinch rollers located, it looks like something slipping. Show some pics of the whole front of your cutter, with the pinch rollers. Here's an image of the whole front Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,708 Posted December 28, 2018 the right pinch roller doesn't even look like it is on the grit roller, why not move the vinyl further to the right, and use the 2nd and the big grit roller? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StephenCutter 0 Posted December 28, 2018 7 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said: Where are your pinch rollers located, it looks like something slipping. Show some pics of the whole front of your cutter, with the pinch rollers. Fixed it! My offset angle was at 60. Changed that to 0 and everything is straight. I'm going to test out the mirrored image problem now Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StephenCutter 0 Posted December 28, 2018 Just now, MZ SKEETER said: the right pinch roller doesn't even look like it is on the grit roller, why not move the vinyl further to the right, and use the 2nd and the big grit roller? Good point. I'll move that over as well Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,708 Posted December 28, 2018 My offset angle has never been changed and it is 30 since 2008 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,708 Posted December 28, 2018 It is 3am here. I am going to sleep. Good luck Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StephenCutter 0 Posted December 28, 2018 6 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said: It is 3am here. I am going to sleep. Good luck Ok thank you! I will continue to debug this here Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StephenCutter 0 Posted December 28, 2018 13 hours ago, MZ SKEETER said: It is 3am here. I am going to sleep. Good luck If I set the offset angle to 0 I get perfect, clean cuts and straight lines but the cutter is VERY slow and makes lots of micromovements. If I leave it at an angle of 30 it goes quickly but doesnt cut straight lines. Any ideas? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,708 Posted December 28, 2018 You have never shown all of your settings, so I don't know what you are doing. Obviously 0 is wrong. I never change any settings other than speed and force and I do it right from my Graphtec Cutting Controller. Been like that for 10 years. 30 degree Angle offset is factory default setting. I never make changes directly on my vinyl cutter. If your making changes in your cutting software, is it the same on your vinyl cutter menu? Have you tried to set your cutter back to factory default settings? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StephenCutter 0 Posted January 2, 2019 On 12/28/2018 at 3:38 PM, MZ SKEETER said: You have never shown all of your settings, so I don't know what you are doing. Obviously 0 is wrong. I never change any settings other than speed and force and I do it right from my Graphtec Cutting Controller. Been like that for 10 years. 30 degree Angle offset is factory default setting. I never make changes directly on my vinyl cutter. If your making changes in your cutting software, is it the same on your vinyl cutter menu? Have you tried to set your cutter back to factory default settings? I will try the factory reset. What program do you use to set the conditions on your cutter? I have cutting master 4 and the illustrator plugin. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,708 Posted January 2, 2019 Graphtec Cutting Controller. It is on the Graphtec site for your model. It is controlled right from your computer. The cutter has to be set ready to cut, before you can open it up on your computer. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StephenCutter 0 Posted January 2, 2019 1 hour ago, MZ SKEETER said: Graphtec Cutting Controller. It is on the Graphtec site for your model. It is controlled right from your computer. The cutter has to be set ready to cut, before you can open it up on your computer. Ok I reset my cuter to default settings and installed the Graphtec Cutting Controller. I set condition 1 as shown in the picture, all other settings are default. The other image is a cut that I did where the bottom 4 objects are a reflection of the top 4. You can see that the bottom is cutting thinner than the top. So far still having the same issue Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,708 Posted January 2, 2019 The cuts look horrible like the blade tip is not even there. Have you looked at the blade tip? Have you tried a new blade and what degree blade are you using? The cuts should be smooth, you only cut with the very tip of the blade. You should just barely see and feel the blade tip out of the blade holder. Have you looked inside the blade holder to make sure there are no tiny vinyl scraps and that the blade turns freely? A drop or 2 of light oil in the blade holder. Have you tried switching the blade holders? My Cutting controller is set for Tangential Mode is set at Mode 1. You have that one on Mode 2. Change the overcut start and end to 0.01 What does the TEST cut look like when you press TEST CUT on the Graphtec Cutting Controller? I hope you changed that Offset angle back to 30 degrees. Show the test cuts of the square with a triangle in it. What has Graphtec tech support told you? Seeing as how you are using Cutting Master. do you have the Command on GP-GL as it must be. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haumana 1,220 Posted January 2, 2019 I cannot speak to the settings on your machine, since mine pretty much worked right out of the box (knock on wood). As to your 'micro movements' - check the nodes of the graphic. you might have tons. For every node, that's another (pseudo stopping) point, and set of instructions for the cutter. There are a lot of graphics that I end up cleaning up so that I can get it to cut more efficiently and cut down on instruction points. It makes for a smoother cut and less movements on the cutter carriage. There are times where I can delete about 60%-70% of the nodes and still maintain the design. It's a pain, but if I have to cut a bunch of the same design, it makes it worth my time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StephenCutter 0 Posted January 2, 2019 14 hours ago, MZ SKEETER said: The cuts look horrible like the blade tip is not even there. Have you looked at the blade tip? Have you tried a new blade and what degree blade are you using? The cuts should be smooth, you only cut with the very tip of the blade. You should just barely see and feel the blade tip out of the blade holder. Have you looked inside the blade holder to make sure there are no tiny vinyl scraps and that the blade turns freely? A drop or 2 of light oil in the blade holder. Have you tried switching the blade holders? My Cutting controller is set for Tangential Mode is set at Mode 1. You have that one on Mode 2. Change the overcut start and end to 0.01 What does the TEST cut look like when you press TEST CUT on the Graphtec Cutting Controller? I hope you changed that Offset angle back to 30 degrees. Show the test cuts of the square with a triangle in it. What has Graphtec tech support told you? Seeing as how you are using Cutting Master. do you have the Command on GP-GL as it must be. These are relatively small cuts (about 0.5 inches per object). I have checked out the blade and blade holder and even switched with my other graphtec cutter to make sure that wasn't it. Only the very tip of the blade is out and barely marks the paper backing of the 651 vinyl. No vinyl scraps in the holder and the blade rotates freely. Tangential Mode 1 lifts up and touches down a lot, so I've always had it on Mode 2. I change the overcut to 0.01 and have attached an image of the TEST cut (left is Mode 1 right is Mode 2). Offset angle has been back to 30 degrees for awhile. Graphtec Support is currently closed so no luck on that. Will try again in a few hours. Command has been at GP-GL since factory reset. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StephenCutter 0 Posted January 2, 2019 1 hour ago, haumana said: I cannot speak to the settings on your machine, since mine pretty much worked right out of the box (knock on wood). As to your 'micro movements' - check the nodes of the graphic. you might have tons. For every node, that's another (pseudo stopping) point, and set of instructions for the cutter. There are a lot of graphics that I end up cleaning up so that I can get it to cut more efficiently and cut down on instruction points. It makes for a smoother cut and less movements on the cutter carriage. There are times where I can delete about 60%-70% of the nodes and still maintain the design. It's a pain, but if I have to cut a bunch of the same design, it makes it worth my time. Good point on the nodes, but these graphics have very few. The rectangles only have 4 nodes (1 per corner). For the other objects I use the Illustrator node smoothing tool a lot which brings the number way down. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites