Graphtec CE7000 loses accuracy on contour cut near rollers

[annarface 2]

10 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

Cutter calibration, should be in your cutter software.  You would actually make and cut say a 3" square, Then you measure it and it should be exactly 3".  That is calibrating the vinyl cutter.  I use Flexi software and mine is listed under resolution. 

Graphtec Pro Studio is only for windows.    There is also Graphtec Studio which is for Windows and Mac.  totally different software.   Graphtec Pro Studio cost over $1000 and is made by SAI,  (FlexisignPro)

Ah I understand now, sorry. I will look for the proper calibration in the software but most of my stickers are sized to have a width of 1.5 and they all measure the right size across the entire sheet so it would seem to be correct.

I see - yes I did get Graphtec Pro Studio with the cutter. Will download it now. I am only really using Illustrator due to familiarity with the Adobe suite. 

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

You can still import .ai files into Graphtec Pro Studio.  Just use it as your cutting software.  Flexi software is professional software. 

[annarface 2]

So I believe I have fixed it... don't want to speak too soon but my cuts are pretty close to perfect now. The tip had snapped off my blade and I noticed my corners weren't closing completely, so Google said to check the holder was free from dust etc which caused me to notice the blade was blunt. Swapped it for a new blade (all I had on hand was a 60 deg for blue) and it's massively reduced the bulging on the media (I didn't realise it was still causing some movement with my blunt blade I guess - I do now I've seen it travel completely flat) and I'm no longer having issues with my cuts aligning with my print. Not sure how long my blade has been like this but seeing as I had been cutting with it too deep and low force probably a while. I'm now cutting with 20 force and can hardly see the blade out of the holder.

I've also worked on improving my method for feeding the media straight and that seems to have made a difference. I'm liking the 60 deg blades for kiss cutting so will keep them going forward. I do have slightly "rounded" straight corners - they are within a window of tolerance I'd accept but if I could improve that they'd be absolutely perfect. I did look at my cuts from when I used Silhouette machines and they also have a very slight rounding so I am not sure what is causing it as my boxes in Illustrator are perfect squares.

I did also try Graphtec Pro Studio (did the length calibration thing - it was off by about 0.3mm for both directions) but I cannot figure out how to separate my AI layers to cut in GPS so I have just gone back to CM4 in Illustrator until I can take some time off work to try and work it out.

Graphtec support have been fairly unhelpful which is a bit disappointing. I could only find a sales number so I have been emailing support and had no reply.

But a huge thanks to everyone who helped me out, I appreciate it!

[darcshadow 1,626]

A very slight rounding of corners is normal for drag knifes. Post a photo with something for scale and those with a Graphtec can let you know if what you're seeing is normal.

[annarface 2]

2 minutes ago, darcshadow said:

A very slight rounding of corners is normal for drag knifes. Post a photo with something for scale and those with a Graphtec can let you know if what you're seeing is normal.

Ahh I see! That explains why it was present before then. My stickers are for use in paper planners and when stuck to the paper you can't tell at all, so that's reassuring. 

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

20 force is pretty high. Are you sure that you have the blade holder all the way down in the carriage arm. and that the flange is over the ridge of the blade holder. ?

Another forum member posted this picture , because a member was running at too high a force.  They did not have the flange over the blade holder ridge. Look at it good.  The flange should be over the blade holder lip.

[annarface 2]

1 minute ago, MZ SKEETER said:

20 force is pretty high. Are you sure that you have the blade holder all the way down in the carriage arm. and that the flange is over the ridge of the blade holder. ?

Another forum member posted this picture , because they was running at too high a force. Look at it good.  The flange should be over the blade holder lip.

Yeah, I am definitely setting the blade right. I swap between my red and blue blade every sheet as I am contour cutting with blue and perf cutting with red, so it's always being put back in correctly. I was actually on force 22 to see a very faint outline of the triangle in the test cut (think it was in the "setting the blade for CE6000" official Graphtec video where they said that) but backed off as it felt unnecessarily high. Shall I ignore the need for faint mark in backing of the triangle? I do get a clean weed with less force but then there's no triangle visible. 

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

Still your force is pretty high,  You do want a faint line on the backing, so that you know you are cutting all the way thru the adhesive.  Check your blade tip again. 

[annarface 2]

I guess I could have possibly blunted my blade again, but it doesn't seem to be causing issues like before. I'm using Clean Cut blades. I'll do some testing with lower force again and see if I made an error. 

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

With a Clean Cut blade you need to back off half of what you should have in force..  Those blades tips will break very easily.   

[annarface 2]

2 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

With a Clean Cut blade you need to back off half of what you should have in force..  Those blades tips will break very easily. 

Ahhh okay. I probably did break it then. Great lol. Thanks, I have spares - I'll try with that

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

6 minutes ago, annarface said:

Ahhh okay. I probably did break it then. Great lol. Thanks, I have spares - I'll try with that

Set your blade depth per my instructions,  Then gradually start with the force at like 5. Do test cuts with the TEST feature and work the force up. or not.   You can check the triangle and see if it is cutting good, with out wasting vinyl and breaking the blade tips off that way. 

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

heck I only cut at 16 with reflective and 12 on regular with cleancut blade that has been used for 6 months.   20 seems high.  like skeeter said it is easy to cut thru the backing and break a tip on the clean cut blades - they use a finer grained (harder) carbide and the trade off for lasting so long is they are more brittle is jammed into a cutting strip on a turn.  if set right I run mine hard for about a year per blade, then that old blade goes into my reflective/metallic blade holder until the next rotation because with those materials you don't do as fine of detail.  skeeter is our graphtec guru and know what she speaks of.

[annarface 2]

18 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

Set your blade depth per my instructions,  Then gradually start with the force at like 5. Do test cuts with the TEST feature and work the force up.  

New blade using your method I'm finding force 11 leaves a slight impression of the triangle  sounds much more like it! I thought I had been careful with this blade too...

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

congrats - that sounds more like it

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

3 minutes ago, annarface said:

New blade using your method I'm finding force 11 leaves a slight impression of the triangle  sounds much more like it! I thought I had been careful with this blade too...

Sounds more like it. If your at those high numbers of 20, something is wrong. 

[annarface 2]

Vinyl weeds fine on the new blade but I'm having worse corner rounding consistently across the sheet. It's the same 60 deg clean cut blade as the one I replaced. Any ideas? Acceleration is 1, speed 9

I also have some incomplete squares where the end isn't reaching the start again.

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

That still looks like too much blade, What does the TEST cuts look like?  They have to be sharp first and good before you go cutting a design, and  Blade offset is ZERO on a Graphtec.  I make all of my adjustments from the Graphtec Cutting Controller.  Make sure your adjustments are only from 1 place. Either the vinyl cutter, the cutting software, or the Graphtec Cutting controller.  

[annarface 2]

Reduced the blade depth a smidge more, now leaving triangle on force 12 really faintly. These are the test cuts. Tool is CB09-U with offset zero, I'm only making changes from the cutter itself

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

They don't look that great. Those need to be sharp first.  I gotta get orders done now.  

You should just barely even feel or see that blade tip out of the blade holder. It should be so far in that you wouldn't even think it would cut. 

[annarface 2]

9 minutes ago, MZ SKEETER said:

They don't look that great. Those need to be sharp first.  I gotta get orders done now.  

I will keep tweaking it for the test cut, thanks so much for your help! 

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

Do you have any regular sign vinyl?    Oracal 651 etc. Try setting your cutter up to it, instead of that stuff you are cutting.  You have to get the basic settings correct. Sign vinyl is very easy to get your settings right on and get square. Blade depth etc.  I only change my force, when I cut thicker material like Avery chrome.  Nothing else changes.  Your welcome. 

[annarface 2]

No regular sign vinyl unfortunately, I only have printable vinyl but I will order some Oracal for testing. I did get some cleaner test cuts trying again with another new blade. The cuts feel a lot cleaner to peel too - I didn't score the vinyl as firmly when I tested for the initial depth and it still cut the vinyl so I am wondering if perhaps I have been blunting my blades from the get go by smashing them into the vinyl on the table! 

 

Do these cuts look more like what you are expecting? You can't see it but the far left square has a slight indentation of the triangle.

 

I cut with these settings for a bit and had no corner rounding like before, but did notice I am having a few incomplete cuts again, mostly at corners but also just where the blade meets to join up the line. General alignment of the cut with the print is improved with my new setting though. Unsure where to go from here, if the blade is looking better. Perhaps still too deep? 

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

Those look better .  Add some overcut for lines not meeting. It's in your cutting software.  Correct, you may be breaking the tips off, when checking blade depth, cutting across the vinyl by hand. 

[annarface 2]

On 5/7/2021 at 3:03 AM, MZ SKEETER said:

Those look better .  Add some overcut for lines not meeting. It's in your cutting software.  Correct, you may be breaking the tips off, when checking blade depth, cutting across the vinyl by hand. 

Seems to be going a lot better now - had a successful cutting day yesterday with minimal issues. Thanks again for your advice!