sisabdulax

Beginner Question

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Hey All,

I mainly got set up to make stencils for electro etching. Issue I have been dealing with is small lettering ( 1/8" tall). it seems the vinyl wants to separate on the smaller parts, like the center of an "O". I am using the 45 deg cutter. I've tried adjusting speeds and pressure. Pressure seemed to help some. Is there anything else I can do? thinner vinyl? 

Appreciate any help.

 

Mike

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Follow Mz Skeeter's instructions for setting blade depth and then cut as slow as possible to start with, gradually increase speed to something you are happy with and still getting good cuts. Over cut and offset may need to be adjusted as well.

What vinyl and cutter? they are not all created equal and if you have a MH or other low level cutter cutting 1/8" letters may simply not be possible.

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Graphtec, 60 degree cleancut blade and slow, vinyl with a lot of tack because that isn't a lot of adhesive left on those letters.   best chance for something that small

if it is a MH or redsail don't think you will be happy
 

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Sorry folks got tied up at work. Sounds like unfortunately I do have the MH series. The program is the vinyl master one that came with it. Viynyl I got cheap stuff from walmart cricut brand. I thought of trying thinner stuff if available. Being new to this what brands are good as far as vinyl goes. Thanks all for the help.

Mike 

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you might be able to do 1/8" with the my if you have a lot of patience and a lot of fiddling but I think you will find it challenging and will find you have to fiddle for each project - get some oracle 651 and try that for vinyl

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teeny-tiny lettering is best done with a 60* blade. Get yourself a Clean Cut Blade, I promise  you won't be sorry - and it will last a really long time (with proper use and maintenance). I know you said that you fiddled with the speed an pressure, but something that small, make sure you slow the cut speed down. I'm not sure how much you slowed it down, but when I had to cut really small and/or intricate stuff on my LaserPoint (which is also a stepper motor), I would slow the machine down to 20 (when I normally cut at 60+). patience is hard to come by, but is required to try and dial your machine in for certain jobs. when you do get it dialed in, make sure you write down the settings as a reference for the next time.

good luck, keep us updated.

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On 10/20/2019 at 2:57 PM, haumana said:

teeny-tiny lettering is best done with a 60* blade. Get yourself a Clean Cut Blade, I promise  you won't be sorry - and it will last a really long time (with proper use and maintenance). I know you said that you fiddled with the speed an pressure, but something that small, make sure you slow the cut speed down. I'm not sure how much you slowed it down, but when I had to cut really small and/or intricate stuff on my LaserPoint (which is also a stepper motor), I would slow the machine down to 20 (when I normally cut at 60+). patience is hard to come by, but is required to try and dial your machine in for certain jobs. when you do get it dialed in, make sure you write down the settings as a reference for the next time.

good luck, keep us updated.

Thanks for the advice, and settings. I have time and patience for sure. plan on really learning the program this winter when some things slow down. I will slow it down more and swap to a 60 deg cutter. That made sense to me having a sharper point. 

 

On 10/20/2019 at 10:11 AM, Dakotagrafx said:

you might be able to do 1/8" with the my if you have a lot of patience and a lot of fiddling but I think you will find it challenging and will find you have to fiddle for each project - get some oracle 651 and try that for vinyl

I will try the Oracle vinyl as well. Thanks for the tip!

 

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If you are ordering some vinyl get a yard of 751 or even 951 and try it. That stuff is super smooth and might be easier to weed. I usually use high end cast vinyl when I do teeny tiny. 1/8" aren't much fun on any cutter let alone a budget model. 

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