ineedhelp

Vinyl Cuter Cutting Sloppily (Circles look like Ovals)

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Hey all,

 

After spending days trying to look for a solution online and not finding anything, I finally made an account myself seeking help from people that actually know what they're doing. Below I've included a picture of both the template I'm using to cut from, and the finished product cut and weeded (no copyright content just generic shapes). As you can see in the template, what I'm trying to cut is mostly rounded squares and circles. I've checked the dimensions multiple times in the cutting software and they are equal and accurate mathematically. However if you take a look at the cut product (its much easier to see if you zoom in) there are a lot of imperfections. For example a lot of the circle stickers are actually more oval/egg shape than they are circles. I understand a machine cannot make a perfect circle, but surely it can do better than what it's doing now? Also for the rounded squares, it appears that each corner is rounded differently (ie. the bottom left corner is more round than the top right corner on some). I'm not sure what's causing this as I'm very new to vinyl cutting. Any suggestions or help would be seriously appreciated, thanks so much guys. If you need any more information feel free to ask and I'll get it to you if I know how to.

 

IMPORTANT NOTE: Because these stickers were made to block very bright LED lights, these are actually composed of TWO layers of vinyl. So I have a black layer of vinyl, that I then overlay with a white piece of vinyl - then that double layered piece of vinyl is what goes through the cutter. I'm not sure if that'll affect anything besides cutting pressure, but it does mean I'm cutting through practically double the material. I also do put the vinyl onto a Cricut vinyl cutting mat that I run through the vinyl cutter to save space and not waste resources, since I'm only cutting on a 12x6" square of vinyl.

 

MH Mk2

Cut Speed: 300 mm/s

Cut Press: 390g

Up Speed: 200 mm/s

Baud rate: 4800

Blade Offset: 0.30

Blade: 45 Degrees

 

 

 

 

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that double layered piece of vinyl is what goes through the cutter. I'm not sure if that'll affect anything?

I think it certainly might. Have you simply loaded a bit of vinyl (not doubled) and see what happened?

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Yes,  I would say the double vinyl would be causing problems, as you are to set your blade depth and force like this. to 1 scrap piece of vinyl. (1 layer)  Also, make sure you have enough vinyl pulled from the roll and slack behind the 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 and feel the blade tip out of the blade holder. 

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36 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

Yes,  I would say the double vinyl would be causing problems, as you are to set your blade depth and force like this. to 1 scrap piece of vinyl. (1 layer)  Also, make sure you have enough vinyl pulled from the roll and slack behind the 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 and feel the blade tip out of the blade holder. 

So I went ahead and readjusted my blade length as it turns out I was using way too much. But I'm still having an issue with the shapes turning out sloppy. Also on top of that, some pieces of the square now remain uncut. It doesn't make sense - if it's cutting through the stickers in some places but not even cutting through stickers in other places - what's the problem? I think it's because the cuts aren't actually lining up properly. The circles are still turning out bad as well.

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1 hour ago, slice&dice said:

that double layered piece of vinyl is what goes through the cutter. I'm not sure if that'll affect anything?

I think it certainly might. Have you simply loaded a bit of vinyl (not doubled) and see what happened?

Thanks for the reply, so I went ahead and ran a single layer of vinyl through the cutter with the same schematics and actually it is still cutting very sloppily. Wavy lines that are supposed to be straight and, circles the still look like eggs. Another thing I noticed was actually that when cutting the circle stickers, occasionally it wouldn't properly meet the "start" and "end" points of the cut. So as a result I have a circle that's not entirely cut out and still attached to the rest of the vinyl, making it impossible to weed. Any ideas?

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If you had your blade out too far, you may have put gouges in the cutting strip, or deep scratches.  Check your blade tip.  It may have broken the blade tip off. 

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3 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

If you had your blade out too far, you may have put gouges in the cutting strip, or deep scratches.  Check your blade tip.  It may have broken the blade tip off. 

Blade tip and cutting tip look undeformed, also I just put in a brand new blade I bought and am having the same problem. Even when cutting with my blade out further than it was, I was never cutting through card stock. 

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is this a new plotter?  did it ever cut up to standard?    regressing a little to get a grasp on what is happening

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Looking at the ovals/circles, they look to be uniform.  Are they all turning out the same?  If they are consistent, but not accurate, then that rules out a lot of possible issues.  For instance, if some were almost round but others were egg shaped then it might be a problem with the material feeding, but if they are all identically egg shaped then it's not a material feed problem.

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8 minutes ago, ShaneGreen said:

Looking at the ovals/circles, they look to be uniform.  Are they all turning out the same?  If they are consistent, but not accurate, then that rules out a lot of possible issues.  For instance, if some were almost round but others were egg shaped then it might be a problem with the material feeding, but if they are all identically egg shaped then it's not a material feed problem.

That's a good observation, but it's difficult for me to tell. Now that you mention it, it looks as though a lot of the rounded squares and circles have the same deformity, but every once in a while there's one that's just significantly worse than the already deformed ones. But for the most part, I think i'd say it's making identically wrong cuts.

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Try with pen and paper and see if it behaves the same. I'd also slow the cutter way down. I have an MH and run it about 120, 300 is really fast for that machine. Have you check the calibration of the steps? With pen and paper have the cutter draw a 6" square and check to see if it is actually 6" on each side. What program are you using for cutting? Vinyl Master has a calibration routine that works really well. Other programs probably have something, at the very least they should have a way to control the steps per inch.

Your pressure seems high too. Set it as skeeter instructs, I currently have mine set to 90, but I'm not trying to cut two layers at the same time, still, I wouldn't think you'd need much more than 150. It should probably also be noted my machine is about 6 years old and each machine is going to be a little different.

I'd also suggest going to a 60 degree blade for cutting through that thick of material.

Not related to your problem, but are you wanting to block the light completely? If so, you might try vinyl with a metallic backing such as reflective vinyl. It'll dull a blade faster, but it should block the light with a single layer and no need to double layer.

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16 minutes ago, darcshadow said:

Try with pen and paper and see if it behaves the same. I'd also slow the cutter way down. I have an MH and run it about 120, 300 is really fast for that machine. Have you check the calibration of the steps? With pen and paper have the cutter draw a 6" square and check to see if it is actually 6" on each side. What program are you using for cutting? Vinyl Master has a calibration routine that works really well. Other programs probably have something, at the very least they should have a way to control the steps per inch.

I'd also suggest going to a 60 degree blade for cutting through that thick of material.

Not related to your problem, but are you wanting to block the light completely? If so, you might try vinyl with a metallic backing such as reflective vinyl. It'll dull a blade faster, but it should block the light with a single layer and no need to double layer.

 

I'll give that a go, I'm using Easy Cut Studio. 

 

I've heard of that kind of vinyl but haven't been able to find it online anywhere? The issue is while the backing is metallic the top has to be white, and I haven't found anything at all online for white vinyl with a metallic backing. If you know of any or find any please do let me know, that would be a much preferred alternative!

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Try the pen.

In my opinion you are asking a cutter designed to barley do its job to double it.

If one of the motors is weak, and probably is, it will repeat what it is doing.

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Is this a new or used cutter?  The fact you say your using  Easy Cut Studio, sounds like it didn't come from UScutter.    And are you running this cutter on a Windows computer?

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2 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

Is this a new or used cutter?  The fact you say your using  Easy Cut Studio, sounds like it didn't come from UScutter.    And are you running this cutter on a Windows computer?

It is a used cutter I picked up, i'm not the original owner. However I picked it up a while ago, and it used to work great until I moved and set it back up at my new place. It came with a different cutting software but it turned out the Mac version of it was severely outdated and not compatible. So I had to buy another cutting software.

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Depending on how old this MH cutter is.  The MH cutters are NOT Mac compatible.   The MH being sold on UScutter is NOT mac compatible, which is why I am asking.   MH cutters sold on UScutter come with Vinyl Master software, because they are only for Windows OS. 

From UScutter website

USCutter MH Series Vinyl Cutter w/ VinylMaster Cut Software

The MH Series Vinyl Cutter is available in 14", 28", 34", and 50" sizes. Cutter not Compatible with Mac.

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7 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

Depending on how old this MH cutter is.  The MH cutters are NOT Mac compatible.   The MH being sold on UScutter is NOT mac compatible, which is why I am asking. 

From UScutter website

USCutter MH Series Vinyl Cutter w/ VinylMaster Cut Software

The MH Series Vinyl Cutter is available in 14", 28", 34", and 50" sizes. Cutter not Compatible with Mac.

That's really odd because i've run it in the past on my mac, with Easy Cut Studio - and it properly printed and cut everything. I wonder if that really is the issue, maybe they just mean the software included is not compatible with Mac? I'm not sure but, I never noticed or had an issue with that before.

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If it printed, good for you.

First lets get the cut part sorted.

Do you have the pen holder? Try it.

If that works, try it with one layer of vinyl.

If that works, try 2 layers again.

 

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They ONLY include Vinyl Master because the MH cutter is NOT compatible with a MAC.   The older MH cutters were both,  Mac and Windows.  There have been several different variations over the years. 

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Yeah, I've never understood why they say it's not compatible, unless they actually mean the usb to serial chip that is inside the unit. If you're talking to it over the serial bus it shouldn't matter what os you're using so long as the program is using the correct communication protocal.

Since you have it "working" and it's just not cutting well I'd say it's not likely a Mac problem.

If the problem just started after you moved the cutter, go over it and double check that everything is still tight and lined up. Also make sure the cutting head is correctly on the rails.

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Well, If you buy the Vinyl Express Q series or Qe series which is also made by Graphtec,  They are not Mac compatible.   

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For the life of me I can't figure out what the issue is, or why it's cutting like this. The only setting I haven't messed around with is Blade Offset, would using thicker material change this setting? It's just not cutting what it's supposed to, i'm not expecting crazy accurate laser cutting results or anything, but a circle should look more like a circle than an egg. And each corner of a rounded square should be similar. That's reasonable right? 

 

Worried that I might need to go and buy another cutter... if you guys can think of anything else that could be the problem please do not hesitate to let me know. Really appreciate all your guises help and suggestions so far, sorry that nothings worked yet.

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thickness of material affects blade exposure and more or less blade exposure effects offset -- with that said being an older plotter we have seen things like worn blade holders, losse belts, carriage not all the way on track cause problems

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