Cutter gets out of alignment

[KahneFan 4]

I have attached pictures for an example. This is a test pattern I've setup so it will make a lot of cuts in a small pattern. You can see it gets out of alignment(?) and cuts over its own registration marks, or way away from its own marks. You can also see where the box it's supposed to cut doesn't even reconnect at the corner. I called USC and they suggested I adjust the pinch rollers, which I did a couple times with the same results. On smaller decals it hasn't been a terrible issue (still an issue though). But, I have someone needing a 6' decal and it's WAY out by the time it finishes.

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

Make sure that the carriage head wheels are firmly down in the track. They sometimes come out during shipping.  Always have enough vinyl slack from the roll while cutting. Never be pulling from the roll.  Have the pinch rollers equal distance on the vinyl edge.  About 1- 1/2 inches from vinyl edge.The track marks do not hurt anything, they come out when you install the vinyl.  Run the cutter slow until you learn how to operate it good. And very important. Set the blade depth correctly. Do not use any instructions that mention a credit card width. That is just false info. Here is the correct way to set the blade depth, You must get that correct before you set the force and blade offset.   I do not understand what your showing in the last picture. You should run the vinyl back and forth and see if it drifts off. 

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.

The MH cutter is a bottom of the barrel cutter. It has many known problems, and tracking is one of them.  As well as memory, static and communication.  

 

[darcshadow 1,626]

That offset in the first photo is going to be about normal for a long 6' run on a MH cutter. It shouldn't do that on smaller cuts like you're making now, but long cuts will almost never line up.

[KahneFan 4]

43 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

I do not understand what your showing in the last picture.

The last picture is what I cut to end up with the results in the actual photos. Just showing that even with a 28 x 6 cut, it got off as much as it did. I have the machine moving very slowly and it still cuts that far off. In regards to slack - If I'm cutting a 6' run, I should pull 6' out of the roll? I've had the machine almost a year now, but I'll check the head wheels. The first head they sent me last year was not picking up at all, so they had to send me a replacement. For most of my cuts over the last year, this difference has not been enough to worry about or even enough to notice on most cuts, but I've had requests for larger decals lately and so it has become an issue. I do have the rollers pretty much even. I have the outside rollers at the edge, so I'll try bringing those in an inch or so. Couldn't agree more on the blade depth. It definitely takes tweaking to make sure it's correct. The CC method is a good (starting) point, but really needs adjustments from there.

 

I'm thinking about stepping up to a better cutter. Any suggestions? I'm probably OK with a $x,xxx machine, but I'm not to the $xx,xxx level yet.

[darcshadow 1,626]

The credit card method is NOT a good starting point. It's about 10X (not exaggerating) too much blade. A good starting point would be where you can't even see the blade.

Yes, if making a 6' long cut you should pull 6' of vinyl off the roll so that the cutter is not pulling the roll.

Have you ever calibrated the cutter? Meaning if you cut a 4" square, does the result measure exactly 4"? Not being calibrated shouldn't effect the cuts not lining up, but it can't hurt to double check.

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

Yes, what ever the size of the design, you should have that amount of vinyl pulled off the roll and free behind your cutter.  Never be pulling from the roll while cutting.   You run your vinyl back and forth with the arrows to make sure it is running straight. 

The credit card measurement is way too much blade exposed, and will cause too much drag on the vinyl and will cause the vinyl to drift. 

So what is your budget? 

[KahneFan 4]

Good to know about having slack. I was letting the machine pull it. But, even in the image above (which was only 6 inches deep), it still got off. I do run the vinyl back and forth before cutting to make sure it's not drifting. If it does drift, it's usually because I don't have it fed in square, so I'll reset and then test run until it feeds straight. I have the blade dialed in. It's doesn't cut deep enough to cut the back, but it cuts deep enough to cut the vinyl. Any lighter and it will not cut the vinyl.

 

Budget - I'm still small time and trying to grow, that's why $x,xxx is possibly doable, but $xx,xxx+ is out of my range just yet. I'm new to cutters, so I'm honestly not even sure what an "entry level (good)" cutter would start at. Yeah, this machine is entry level.... but the good is still questionable - although it could be operator error.

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

If you have the money step up to a servo cutter.  The Titan 2 would be the cheapest.   Much more accurate.  Plus real USB connection. 

On sale right now $899.99

https://www.uscutter.com/TITAN-2-Vinyl-Cutter-28-53-68-inch

[KahneFan 4]

1 minute ago, MZ SKEETER said:

If you have the money step up to a servo cutter.  The Titan 2 would be the cheapest.   Much more accurate. 

On sale right now $899.99

https://www.uscutter.com/TITAN-2-Vinyl-Cutter-28-53-68-inch

I'll check it out, thanks! I've been thinking I need to go wider, so now might be the time to do that as well!

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

Well everything that we have already stated above, applies to that cutter also,  It applies to any vinyl cutter.  You must first set the blade depth like I explained, then the force and offset are adjusted. The same with having enough vinyl loose and free for the size of the design. Never be pulling from the roll while cutting. 

Your welcome

[KahneFan 4]

22 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

Well everything that we have already stated above, applies to that cutter also,  It applies to any vinyl cutter.  You must first set the blade depth like I explained, then the force and offset are adjusted. The same with having enough vinyl loose and free for the size of the design. Never be pulling from the roll while cutting. 

Your welcome

Understood!

Back to my current model though, USC originally sent me a new board along with the head when it wasn't lifting the blade at first. Replacing the head fixed the lifting issue, but do you think it would be worth it to try replacing the board in case that might be causing this current issue somehow?

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

What is the design that you are cutting?  Can you show a file?, if it is not copyright protected.   That cutter model has always had tracking problems.

[darcshadow 1,626]

No, the problem you're seeing is not likely to be the board. What to the results look like from the built in test function?

Also, have you calibrated the cutter in your software?

[KahneFan 4]

1 minute ago, darcshadow said:

No, the problem you're seeing is not likely to be the board. What to the results look like from the built in test function?

Also, have you calibrated the cutter in your software?

I have not. I googled calibration, but most of the results I found were about contour cutting, which I'm not doing.

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

It's in your cutting software, If using Vinyl Master go into your vinyl spooler, Calibration is there.  Cutter scale. 

[KahneFan 4]

17 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

What is the design that you are cutting?  Can you show a file?, if it is not copyright protected. 

 

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

Your trying to put a weed box all around that?  I never use weed boxes on any large designs. Only on small text.   No need to.  Plus that MH cutter may not even have enough memory to do that design. 

[KahneFan 4]

1 minute ago, MZ SKEETER said:

Your trying to put a weed box all around that?  I never use weed boxes on any large designs. Only on small text.   No need to. 

Honestly, I don't care much about the weed box since I cut the vinyl close around the design before weeding anyway. I could turn the box off. But, the registration marks show how far off the design gets. This is one of the registration marks I made in the design above (the arrows). It shows how far off it got before it got back to cut the middle of the arrow. This is going on the tailgate of a truck and if the image curves this much, it'll be noticeable.

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

Have you cut this again, after we have given you the directions above. Is this 1 color?  If so, what are the registration marks for?   What does it look like if you use the pen tool on paper or the back of the vinyl.  If you did any adjusting on those pinch roller tension. That could also be a problem. 

You still have not shown what the TEST looks like right from the vinyl cutter. 

[KahneFan 4]

1 minute ago, MZ SKEETER said:

Have you cut this again, after we have given you the directions above. Is this 1 color?  If so, what are the registration marks for?   What does it look like if you use the pen tool on paper or the back of the vinyl.  If you did any adjusting on those pinch roller tension. That could also be a problem. 

I have not cut the larger design again yet. I'll be cutting it in reflective and don't want to waste the cost of that vinyl until I can get the alignment fixed. That's why I'm using this simple test pattern first before I attempt something larger. If I can't get this smaller design to cut straight, no reason to go to the bigger design yet. This was the test design I used in my first pictures. The flag will have multiple colors, which is why I have the registration marks. The axe will be a different color. Yeah, I could probably lay it by hand without the marks, but the marks definitely highlighted the alignment issue. I am working on the fixes above.

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

Have you ever cut reflective with this cutter before?   And still waiting for a picture of the TEST feature from your vinyl cutter cutting the vinyl.

[KahneFan 4]

12 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

Have you ever cut reflective with this cutter before?   And still waiting for a picture of the TEST feature from your vinyl cutter.

Many many times on the reflective. As mentioned, this has been an issue for a while, but on smaller designs, it wasn't enough for me to "worry" over. Now that I'm trying to cut this larger pattern, it exaggerates the issue enough to be a problem. I did the "Cutter Scale" option you showed and that was eye opening, thank you. My machine was slightly out of scale, which is now corrected. But, it still doesn't connect in the corner of this 10" x 4" test box (from the Cutter Scale pattern).

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

So what does the TEST cut look like right from the cutter?    Push the TEST button on your vinyl cutter. Have you tried adding overcut in the cutting software?  Nothing more that I can add. 

[KahneFan 4]

2 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

So what does the TEST cut look like right from the cutter?  

Thank you for all your help so far by the way.

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

See, it is not even right.   Until that is correct, your wasting your time.   This is what your TEST is supposed to look like