CMJ

SC cutter placement

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I attempted to cut tonight, which my machine did way to deep but I am playing with the pressure.  It seems to go about 12 inches into the roll before it starts to cut.  How can I get it to cut at the start of the roll instead of going so far down?

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Are you resetting your origin when you have the carriage head in the starting point?

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Yes, I move the blade to where I want it to start, when I send the design to the cutter it rolls about 12 inches of vinyl out then starts cutting.

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You can move the blade, but do you actually reset the 0,0 point of origin prior to taking the machine back online to cut?

There should also be some kind of preview option in whatever software you are using to see how you item will be sent to the cutter. What software and version are you using? Have you tried using Sign Blazer Elements?

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(Re)setting the point of origin 0,0 is a function on the cutter. Reference the owner's manual for that.

If you are correctly resetting the 0,0 on the cutter, but when you send the job to the cutter, it's still jogging the vinyl forward 12", then you should be able to see that in a preview function in the cutting software.

Try Sign Blazer Elements. It's free and it will only cost you a little time and effort to test it out.

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You also mentioned way too deep and you're playing with pressure. If you mean too deep as in it's cutting into the backing material then you have too much blade exposed and need to set the correct blade depth. Search for Mz. Skeeter's instructions on here. They have been posted hundreds of times.

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23 hours ago, CMJ said:

I am using Sure Cuts 4 and no I don't set the blade in the software.  

Also use ORIGIN in the software and NOT WYSIWYG.    You are stating that the cutter goes in about 12" into the vinyl, before it starts cutting.  but does the cutter come back to the front and finish the design?     I make very long decals,  8 ft, and my cutter may travel 3 ft before it starts cutting, but it comes back to the front of the vinyl and finishes the design. A cutter will travel to the start of where the design was created at first. 

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 barely see and feel the blade tip out of the blade holder
 
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I set the blade like that before I put it in but I am going to try it again.  Thank you.

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I took the blade out and did the cut with my hand again.  I think its the wrong blade.  I am using Oracle 631 and on the 651 it does not cut through.  The 631 it does cut all the way through the back.

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3 minutes ago, CMJ said:

I took the blade out and did the cut with my hand again.  I think its the wrong blade.  I am using Oracle 631 and on the 651 it does not cut through.  The 631 it does cut all the way through the back.

Those 2 vinyls are the same thickness. And you use the same blade. If it's cutting through you have too much blade exposed out of the blade holder. Vinyl is only 2-3 mil thick and you only cut with the very tip of the blade,

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3 hours ago, CMJ said:

My blade is not even a credit card width showing.

You do NOT use a credit card thickness or post it notes to set blade depth. Use my instructions above.   That is 10 times too much blade exposed out of the blade holder

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Just now, CMJ said:

I followed their instructions on their YouTube channel.  I will try again.  

Those instructions are wrong.  I gave you the correct instructions above to use. They work. 

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The instructions to me to start my pressure at 90.  OMG..  Whats a good starting pressure?  It has the speed on 300.  

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Please read the instructions that I gave you above. There is not any set in stone settings for any vinyl cutter. Even the same model will be different. You have to set the blade depth correctly first. Then you adjust the force. It's trial and error until it is correct. Run slow until you learn your cutter.  High speeds have nothing to do with setting up your cutter correctly. Use the TEST feature on your cutter. 

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1 minute ago, MZ SKEETER said:

Please read the instructions that I gave you above. There is not any set in stone settings for any vinyl cutter. Even the same model will be different. You have to set the blade depth correctly first. Then you adjust the force. It's trial and error until it is correct. Run slow until you learn your cutter.  High speeds have nothing to do with setting up your cutter correctly. Use the TEST feature on your cutter. 

I did the test several times before I tried cutting and it cut fine so I thought I was good.  I am going to try a few more times to see if I can get it right when I am actually cutting.  My test cuts are perfect just by hitting the test button on the machine.

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You shouldn't be cutting all the way through - just enough blade exposure and force to cut the vinyl and adhesive - the waxed paper backing should only be lightly scored/indented. If you're cutting into the paper backing, you either have too much blade, or too much force.

Each time I need to do blade adjustments, I use the test function on my cutter. The 'test' pattern is a rectangle. So I will cut one rectangle and then jog the vinyl a smidgen forward and move the blade carriage a smidgen over so the rectangles have slight overlap. When I weed the two rectangles, I can then check to see if the back has an indentation, or if I actually cut into it. I make my adjustments from there.

As far as your point of origin. Different software has different settings on how the job is sent to the cutter, so you'd have to take a look at your software and see what kind of options there are, but as Skeeter said, sometimes the software tells the cutter to start the job further into the roll and not necessarily at the point of the origin that you designated when you reset it.

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a credit card should never be referenced with any plotter after you use it to make your purchase

 

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Hmmm ... if you did happen to cut all the way through the vinyl, adhesive, and paper backing - take a look at the cutting strip (it's the teflon strip runs side to side on your cutter, just under the blade). It's meant to be a means to protect your blade in the event you do accidentally cut all the way through and/or cut off the vinyl. If there are lots of slashes and/or gouges on the cutting strip, you might want to consider replacing it soon. A heavily cut cutting strip can cause cut quality issues - as in, some places are cutting, and other aren't, or getting perforation type of cuts, etc.

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