iamclaus

Knife drags a cut from origin to the starting point of the artwork?

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New user here, day 3 since getting a Graphtec CE5000-60.

I'm sending cutlines through Illustrator CC and Cutting Master 4. With ever job I've sent to be cut, the knife drops right away as the head and vinyl move and advance to the starting point in the artwork. This creates a diagonal cut that runs from the corner of the media into and through the artwork. That line is not part of the vector artwork.

What is the term for this, and how do I get it to stop?

Screen Shot 2020-08-10 at 10.30.53 PM.png

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Just looking at the cuts on your vinyl. you have too much blade exposed out of the blade holder.  Vinyl should not be lifting while cutting.  Fix that first. 

This is 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 in your hand, 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.

Using Cutting Master, your Command should be on GP-GL.  Make sure it is. 

Sign vinyl is only 2-3 mil thick. you only cut with the very tip of the blade. 

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Progess... adjusted the blade depth, force, and offset and now the corners look nicer, and more consistent. 

But the knife is still dragging a long cut from the resting position and into the intended cut path.

IMG_3811.thumb.jpg.c618ccca35ef5f871524c38e8acff483.jpg

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Just want to rule out the obvious - the blade is moving up and down, right?

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Have you registered the software? Unregistered software will usually put a slash across the design, although I think that is done after the cut is done, not the start.

If the rest of the cut is cutting correctly, I would guess it's a software problem. Verify you have the correct cutter model selected in your program and have the correct drivers installed.

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10 hours ago, darcshadow said:

Have you registered the software? Unregistered software will usually put a slash across the design, although I think that is done after the cut is done, not the start.

If the rest of the cut is cutting correctly, I would guess it's a software problem. Verify you have the correct cutter model selected in your program and have the correct drivers installed.

I'm not sure? I know I haven't paid any money to use Cutting Master 4. I downloaded it from the Graphtec website, installed it, signed up for a SAI Cloud account when prompted to, and then it opened and I could change settings and send jobs to the cutter.

As far as I can tell, I do have my model selected, and using the current drivers that were found on the Graphtec website.

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9 hours ago, Dakotagrafx said:

mac or windows?

Mid-2010 iMac, OSX 10.13.6, using Cutting Master 4 with the current version of Illustrator CC. 

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17 hours ago, haumana said:

Just want to rule out the obvious - the blade is moving up and down, right?

Please do ask the obvious questions. What may seem obvious to you, might not be for me.

And, yes, the blade does move up and down. When cutting, the blade does move up and down as needed to make cuts. 

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2 hours ago, iamclaus said:

Please do ask the obvious questions. What may seem obvious to you, might not be for me.

And, yes, the blade does move up and down. When cutting, the blade does move up and down as needed to make cuts. 

Meant no offense, just wanted to double check. There are incidences that the chip/board that control the z-axis (up and down), go bad, and then the it will not move and will drag the blade for the entire run. Good that we can rule that out for you.

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I'd suggest downloading a trial of some different software and see if it has the same problem. Most trial software will allow you to cut however it will cut a slash through the design so that it can't be used. But it will at least tell you if you have a software problem or hardware. My gut says it's software but till we try different software we can't know for sure.

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13 hours ago, darcshadow said:

I'd suggest downloading a trial of some different software and see if it has the same problem. Most trial software will allow you to cut however it will cut a slash through the design so that it can't be used. But it will at least tell you if you have a software problem or hardware. My gut says it's software but till we try different software we can't know for sure.

Do you have any recommendations? I'm on a Mac. The only Windows machine I have available is an old netbook that runs WinXP.

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21 hours ago, haumana said:

Meant no offense, just wanted to double check. There are incidences that the chip/board that control the z-axis (up and down), go bad, and then the it will not move and will drag the blade for the entire run. Good that we can rule that out for you.

No offence taken, I'm just grateful for the responses so far.

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WinXP will run Sign Blazer just fine.

Unfortunately, for us Mac users, the selection of cutting software is a lot more limited than for windows.

For Mac, you might look into download and test driving Sure Cuts a Lot or Easy Cut. Both should allow you to go from start to finish, but the end cut on the vinyl will have slashes through it until the software is activated.

If I'm in a pinch, I fire up Parallels on my Mac and use Win7 with Sign Blazer to get the job out quickly. Bootcamp is also an option.

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And... I've solved my own issue, which was my own fault all along. 

When setting up Cutting Master 4, I had selected the CE6000-60 instead of the CE5000-60. After that, the knife doesn't drag from the start and into the artwork. 

Problem solved! Now to continue fine tuning the cut settings!

Thank you to all who answered!!

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Great, glad you got it and remember that blade offset on a Graphtec is ZERO. Your cuts look much better after you adjusted the blade depth. :D

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If the Cutting Master program works good for you stick with it because it's free. If you find yourself in need of something else I run Adobe with SignCut Pro on my mac. I don't run the Graphtec so can't utilize the Cutting Master plug in. I don't see any reason you should need the other option but wanted to include it as an option. USCutter used to provide a years subscription to SignCut Pro with new cutters but something changed and they stopped. In my opinion it is by far the best cutting utility for Mac for multi brand cutters but costs money. If you are comfy with AI and already paying that subscription then that's the best design tool for mac as well. That parts not just my opinion but pretty a well established fact. AI is a royal PIA to learn but once mastered capable of anything a cutter would do. 

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On 8/15/2020 at 9:50 AM, Wildgoose said:

If the Cutting Master program works good for you stick with it because it's free.

So far I haven't found myself wanting for anything more than what Cutting Master offers. AI and me go back a very long time... my day job is in offset and digital prepress. Having the cutter is just for a distraction and perhaps some side income, so I'll be sticking with the free software option.

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