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Foolish Oaf

Design weeds better based on direction of the design.

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As I was changing a new blade, I run a test cut to make sure which pressure is fine and all but for some reason, it doesn't weed as smoothly when I configure and start cutting the actual design.
The test cut design is small and placed horizontally while the actual design I plan to cut are placed vertically. Wanted to know more about what could cause the issue and see what I would need to do to fix it.

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This is the correct way to set your blade depth

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 your blade tip out of the blade holder.

It should not matter which direction you are cutting. It should cut fine all directions.  You have to start with the correct blade depth first. Then your force. 

Check for gouges or scratches in your cutting strip. They can cause problems. 

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There is something to be said about weed direction too though. I know that some designs weed easier one way than another. You definitely need to be sure you are all set with your blade depth then pressure and speed but once that's dialed in the same design will often weed easier one way as apposed to another. Typically if I am having a fight in a certain areas I spin the thing around and come at it from the opposite corner or at a slant and get it to come up better.

You don't mention your machine. The budget models will not produce as clean a cut as the higher end models and are more often touchy about fine tune. 

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It is a good idea to put a drop of sewing- machine oil into the bearing hole while the blade is out.

The blade rotates 360° and must spin freely. I check for debris, gunk, & vinyl shards, every Monday a.m. before a workweek starts. 

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14 hours ago, MZ SKEETER said:

This is the correct way to set your blade depth

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 your blade tip out of the blade holder.

It should not matter which direction you are cutting. It should cut fine all directions.  You have to start with the correct blade depth first. Then your force. 

Check for gouges or scratches in your cutting strip. They can cause problems. 

I'll check to see if the cutting strip needs replacing or not. Thank you!
 

10 hours ago, Wildgoose said:

There is something to be said about weed direction too though. I know that some designs weed easier one way than another. You definitely need to be sure you are all set with your blade depth then pressure and speed but once that's dialed in the same design will often weed easier one way as apposed to another. Typically if I am having a fight in a certain areas I spin the thing around and come at it from the opposite corner or at a slant and get it to come up better.

You don't mention your machine. The budget models will not produce as clean a cut as the higher end models and are more often touchy about fine tune. 

When the design is cut horizontally, the weeding sooooo smooth. Pretty effortless. However when I cut the designs vertically (to use as much space as possible due to the limited 12" cutter I have) it doesn't have the same feel as the horizontal cuts. Even as I increase the pressure, it sounds scratchy when weeding and overall a tough weed process.

I'm using a TITAN 1 cutter and can't wait to get a Graphtec machine one day (Once I have the available space!)
 

4 hours ago, slice&dice said:

It is a good idea to put a drop of sewing- machine oil into the bearing hole while the blade is out.

The blade rotates 360° and must spin freely. I check for debris, gunk, & vinyl shards, every Monday a.m. before a workweek starts. 

I'll definitely try that out! Did not know that the blade rotates 360°! Thank you for the tip!

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definitely check for any debris in the blade holder. I used to get tiny bits of vinyl in them a lot. 

a bad cutting strip can cause perforated looking cuts. that's why it's important to make sure that the blade never goes off the vinyl. i've replaced the cutting strip on my LaserPoint a few times because clearly it takes me a while to learn that lesson :(

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