nrosenw

Fed vinyl lifting in middle causing drag marks

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Hey guys, I've been having this issue with my cutter for a very long time and I've finally been driven crazy enough to ask for help. I typically cut with 24" rolls on my MH 871-MK2 and I typically only have the fed vinyl held down by two of the pinch rollers so that only the outer edges of the vinyl are marked by the rollers. Maybe it's because I don't use the third pinch roller, but the middle of the fed vinyl is lifting up mid-cut which is causing the blade to drag across vinyl that isn't supposed to be cut. The first image below shows how the blade holder itself can even touch the vinyl. I'm using the provided blade holder with USCutter blades that are properly adjusted to only cut through vinyl and not backing paper. If it matters at all, I typically cut Oracal 651, 751c, and 951. I also have my vinyl cutter grounded to the stand and I have the anti-static string installed on the back of the cutter where the roll is being fed. Any help?

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If the middle pinch roller helps to keep the vinyl down in the middle, then you should use it.  Grit roller marks come out when you apply the vinyl.  The marks are on the backing.  So the marks should not even hurt anything. 

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16 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

If the middle pinch roller helps to keep the vinyl down in the middle, then you should use it.  Grit roller marks come out when you apply the vinyl.  The marks are on the backing.  So the marks should not even hurt anything. 

Ah I didn't know the roller marks come out. I also didn't think that the first pinch roller was supposed to move, because apparently all this time since I bought my vinyl cutter the pinch roller was stuck over this screw. The screw is in the image below  This put the pinch roller not over top of the metal roller. I just had to basically hammer-fist the pinch roller sideways off of the screw so now I can actually use my first roller lol. I'll try with all three rollers now and makes sure that none of the vinyl is lifted too high. 

 

IMG_20200421_184504.thumb.jpg.ff417f011df2343e3eaa41217c442b89.jpg

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It definitely seems better now. One thing I'm also having issues with is the vinyl getting caught on the ruler which can lift the vinyl into the blade. I'm going to try putting some kind of thin, smooth tape (maybe packing tape?) across the top of the ruler to try an alleviate the issue. If anyone has any other tips that would be great. 

 

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I had a similar problem of the vinyl getting caught in the "trough."

My fix was to run a piece of blue painters tape over the gap. Life was good after that.

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You can also give the edge of the vinyl a slight bend upward before cutting.

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7 hours ago, darcshadow said:

I put clear scotch tape over mine so I could still see the ruler.

same here but never use the ruler for anything 

 

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I'll use it to measure scraps but yeah, never use it to line anything up.

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Thanks for the advice guys. I actually put clear packing tape over it and made sure the edge of the tape went into that little "trough" so it doesn't get caught anymore. So far so good on the several decals I made last night

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