KahneFan

Cutter gets out of alignment

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Blade offset is not factored into the test cut. The offset is set in the software not on the MH machine. However, there is something seriously wrong with that test cut. the points of the star should be touching the edges of the square.

Is that square actually square? In the photo is doesn't look it, but that could just be the angle of the photo.

Do you have the pen insert for the cutter? How does the test pattern look with pen and paper?

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Would different models/boards make the TEST "different" than what your cutter TEST pattern is Darcshadow?   I don't know what the TEST pattern really looks like for the MH cutter.   It does not look square to me either. 

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9 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

Would different models/boards make the TEST "different" than what your cutter TEST pattern is Darcshadow?   I don't know what the TEST pattern really looks like for the MH cutter.   It does not look square to me either. 

Offset would be this test?

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Have you looked at the carriage arm that holds the blade holder and made sure that it is not cracked? I have read that it can crack from too much stress on it. . 

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11 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

Have you looked at the carriage arm that holds the blade holder and made sure that it is not cracked? I have read that it can crack from too much stress on it. . 

I do not see any cracks on the arm. I feel like I'm a lot closer now after doing the calibrations. The default registration marks are all within the box now (this was my crazy test pattern page). The machine's test star still has a slight opening on the bottom left though.

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 Did you ever check your teflon cutting strip for scratches and gouges?   Have you cleaned out your blade holder real good and made sure no vinyl pieces in it? Maybe add a drop or 2 of light oil to spin freely.   The correct combo for blade depth is less blade, more force. It only takes the very tip of the blade to cut sign vinyl. It is only 2.5-3 mil thick.  You should just barely see and feel the blade tip out of the blade holder.  Also, if your not doing it, you should be pushing the ORIGIN button, on the cutter, before sending your design, to make sure X Y is  0 0.

I zoomed up the picture, the star point right side is not meeting either.

Your welcome. 

 

star point.JPG

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1 hour ago, MZ SKEETER said:

Would different models/boards make the TEST "different" than what your cutter TEST pattern is Darcshadow?   I don't know what the TEST pattern really looks like for the MH cutter.   It does not look square to me either. 

Possibly, but I'd be surprised if it did.

IKahneFan, if you're getting things close enough and it's just that the cuts are not joining back up you can compensate for that by adding a bit of overcut to your software settings. I still think there is some other underlining problem though.

Get down and watch the blade and the blade holder closely next time you cut. I had a problem with mine where the blade was not firmly seated in the holder and would wobble a bit when the cutter changed directions.

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1 hour ago, MZ SKEETER said:

 Did you ever check your teflon cutting strip for scratches and gouges?   Have you cleaned out your blade holder real good and made sure no vinyl pieces in it? Maybe add a drop or 2 of light oil to spin freely.   The correct combo for blade depth is less blade, more force. It only takes the very tip of the blade to cut sign vinyl. It is only 2.5-3 mil thick.  You should just barely see and feel the blade tip out of the blade holder.  

I zoomed up the picture, the star point right side is not meeting either.

Your welcome. 

Not to disagree, more of a discussion; wouldn't a problem with the Teflon strip be something that would be uniform down the design? These look like it's simply stopping short - or out of alignment. For example, I forgot to lock my middle roller on a larger design once and there was a very uniform line down that area of the entire design where the blade didn't cut through the vinyl. I'm guessing a divot in the Teflon would show as an issue every time it went across that spot. Again, not saying it's not the issue, just checking.

Blade holder is clean. I'll check out adding oil! Side note on pressure, I have tested it on a stack of post-its where it doesn't cut when gliding, but when I give pressure it cuts only the top post-it, but not the post-it below.

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1 hour ago, darcshadow said:

Possibly, but I'd be surprised if it did.

IKahneFan, if you're getting things close enough and it's just that the cuts are not joining back up you can compensate for that by adding a bit of overcut to your software settings. I still think there is some other underlining problem though.

Get down and watch the blade and the blade holder closely next time you cut. I had a problem with mine where the blade was not firmly seated in the holder and would wobble a bit when the cutter changed directions.

If I add overcut, would it then overcut the areas which are currently not having issues?

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1 hour ago, KahneFan said:

 

Blade holder is clean. I'll check out adding oil! Side note on pressure, I have tested it on a stack of post-its where it doesn't cut when gliding, but when I give pressure it cuts only the top post-it, but not the post-it below.

Your not cutting post it notes. Your cutting vinyl. The blade depth is very important. And to set your blade depth to the vinyl that you are currently cutting. When you change vinyl, thickness .like for the reflective, you need to change your blade depth and force again to the reflective vinyl. And this is also why you do TEST cuts.  New users come in here and think the blade depth is not that important. It is VERY important and all others settings are related to setting the blade depth correct from the git go. We can only give you advice of what has worked for years, it is up to you whether you want to take the advice of what does work consistently, or keep fighting with what you are doing, your way. Correct  blade depth setting instructions are posted hundreds of times on this forum for a reason. It works.  It does not matter to me whether you get your cutter cutting correctly or not. I am just a volunteer here. :D  All of us here are volunteers. With many years of being on this forum and helping others.   We do our best to steer new buyers away from that MH cutter to any vinyl cutter above it. Too many problems with it.  Nothing more to add. 

 

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38 minutes ago, KahneFan said:

If I add overcut, would it then overcut the areas which are currently not having issues?

yes, but if things are correct over cut would just slightly cut the same area twice. Unless making very small cuts, overcut should not cause any issues.

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20 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

Your not cutting post it notes. Your cutting vinyl. The blade depth is very important. And to set your blade depth to the vinyl that you are currently cutting. When you change vinyl, thickness .like for the reflective, you need to change your blade depth and force again to the reflective vinyl. And this is also why you do TEST cuts.  New users come in here and think the blade depth is not that important. It is VERY important and all others settings are related to setting the blade depth correct from the git go. We can only give you advice of what has worked for years, it is up to you whether you want to take the advice of what does work, or keep fighting with what you are doing, your way. Correct  blade depth setting instructions are posted hundreds of times on this forum for a reason. It works.  

 

I used the post-its many months ago as a way to test before going to vinyl initially. Once I went to vinyl, I still adjusted from there. I have 2 blades. 1 blade I use for 651 (standard vinyl) and 1 blade I use for 5600 (reflective), and I change the blades depending upon what I'm cutting. I understand blade depth is important. Honestly asking, have I done or said something that leads you to believe I don't care about my blade depth or have my blade depth set incorrectly? My blades cut through the vinyl, but not the backing. Most of the time they cut shallow enough I don't even get a shadow line/indention on the backing below. With all that said, I completely agree that I (still) might not have the blade set correctly, but if I set the blades any lower than they are they simply will not cut through the vinyl - I've tried. I absolutely know I'm novice still, I've never had formal training, I 100% appreciate all your advice, and am taking your advice and am doing everything you all are asking of me. I posed the question of the Teflon strip as to understand the effects of a bad Teflon strip, I even mentioned I wasn't trying to be argumentative, but honestly trying to learn and understand. MZ SKEETER, I could understand your frustrations if I hadn't been doing (everything) you've suggest... but I have, which is why my machine is now dialed in better than when we began. Honestly, if there was someone near the Austin, TX area I could pay to come dial this thing in and give me a lesson, I'd do it in a heartbeat, because I know I'm a rookie.

 

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typically if you set the blade lower, it would cut more into the vinyl backing, not less, as there would be more blade exposure.

a cutting strip can cause different issues, but not one that is related to not using a middle pinch roller and getting slices in the middle of the vinyl - that's happening because the vinyl is tenting up high enough to catch the tip of the blade when it's jogging back and forth. a bad cutting strip can possible cause the tips and corners not to close properly, but it really depends on the condition of the cutting strip. I will typically get perforated cuts when the cutting strip is badly cut, so yah, it won't close anything since it can't even make a consistent slice.

Some texts cuts you sent look pretty good. You have a budget cutter, and running something that long, you can expect some drift, which will cause some things to not close the cuts, or overlap cuts. running your machine 'slow' is all relative, you slow might be different than mine, so unless you actually post what speed you're cutting the design, it's hard for us to tell if that's part of the issue or not.

with an mh cutter, I don't know if you'll ever get anything that large in design to be 'on the money' accurate.

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26 minutes ago, haumana said:

typically if you set the blade lower, it would cut more into the vinyl backing, not less, as there would be more blade exposure.

You are correct. Sorry, I was referring to looking at the blade held up in front of me and dropping it lower in the holder. So, if it's mounted, I cannot go higher or it will not cut at all. 

Speed 040 mm/s
Press 140g
Up_Speed 100 mm/s
Baud rate 19200

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the blade holder should be firmly seated all the way down in the carriage. the blade holder itself is what determines the blade exposure. If you're not seating the blade holder firmly, that could be part of the issue you're running into.

 

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Thank you all so much for your help! After the adjustments you all suggested, the cutter works much better. I adjusted the pinch rollers much tighter and I think that helped A LOT! I cut that 6' run again and it came out very well. All my registration marks lined up perfectly over the 6' of cutting. Y'all are life savers!

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