Please define the problems with the software and or the plotters........

[Guest garysigndesign]

If there is a mechanical or an electrical problem with these plotters would someone have the courtesy to let all of the customers in on what is up. I am patient regarding this whole operation but there dose not seem to be any real resolve to the overwhelming and continuing problems encountered by every one who has purchased a Refine plotter and maybe even your other plotter line. I wish that you and your team at US Cutter would resolve the problems, which do not seem to be that difficult, but they are effecting our ability to accurately and confidently  face customers in need of a simple sign. Thus keeping us from making money.  With that said time has been marching on if there is a problem that has been identified with these plotters do the right thing and fix it. I am sure that there is a solution to affordably resolve this issue. Every day we are unable to make signs, with what can be one of the best plotters on the market today, is another day short of any personal gains or profits.  Once this hurtle has been successfully over come, what may seem like a set back will in the long run show the other plotter manufactures that you do not have to spend a bundle to plot out a simple sign or graphic design. That will be the day of complete triumph. I don't know if I am making any sense but I envision US Cutter as the future bench mark of the plotter industry. I base this statement on some real personal success in cutting out a very detailed graphic design so I know what these plotters are capable of and with a little tweaking what they can be. So please contact me and all of  the other customers of this fine plotter and reassure us of what needs to be done. Even if it may cost a little bit of cash to get the job done right.  Note: I will be upgrading my machine to an eMac with a G4 processor 700MHz  and OS 10.4.9 I should have it up and cutting with in a week of this re-post. Thank you. Gary Karm  out...

[TaterNuts 3]

I have no issues with my Refine Plotter... Have had it for about 7 months now.  still working flawlessly...

The sign cut program, does what its intended to do as well...

I don't know if I am making any sense but I envision US Cutter as the future bench mark of the plotter industry

You are probably correct.  US cutters are distributed on 2 diffrent ebay ID's as well as there online store... US Cutter has a feedback score of 5106 with 99.6% positive... Selltopia has a score of 4915 with 99.5% positive... According to my calculations thats about 10,000 SATISFIED customers.  Now... you say 'we' in your post... How many of these 10,000 people are you speaking for? 

Honestly, I'm really not trying to be rude here... I dont know what is going on with your machine and why its not working... Ive been on this board for a long time and am one of the top posters.  If i actually seen US cutter NOT supporting there products, I dont think that I would be on here so much... Every post that there is an actuall problem, I see Ken saying PM me or CALL me... He gets the things done...

There are going to be some bad apples in every bushel... You really cant say that they are all bad apples. 

Ive seen US Cutter go to extents as to NOT use UPS to ship items because of there carelessness with these fragile items.

I just really get tired of people not seeing the whole picture...  You think that these machines could be of a tremdous value that they are if they have employees going thru and throuly inspecting and testing each machine before it gets sent out?

So, Now back to your original question... The problems with these machines.

Like I said, Ive had no problems, but some of the people that I have encountered have had these issues.

Hardware Related.

Motherboards.

power cords.

Software related...

Sometimes not being able to activate the software thru SignCuts website.

User Installation error (normally not selecting the correct port)

Model Specific Problems

The copam running on the MAC (US cutter is aware of this issue), a fix would be obtaing the keyspan USB adapter.

now, since I do not work for US cutter, and Im only here volunteering my time, Its hard to say what the actual fail rate is for these machines.  but from what i have seen, (combined feedback rating of 99.55 % positive!) I would guess that the fail rate is very very small, less then 1% by my guess...

As with all products, it is possible that there are going to be a bad apple, Please let US cutter fix your bad apple...

Just because you see posts of people having problems, they are seeking help... nine times outta ten, its a setting that needs changed or a COM port, which most people are unfamilliar with... There have hardly ever been any posts saying that there machine is working flawlessly, because bad news travels fast...

[kenimes 42]

Gary- have you tried your cutter on another computer? Could be as simple as that. There are no problems with the software or cutters, but every computer system is different- different programs loaded, different devices attached and so on.......might be a conflict on your particular computer because the majority have no issues.

[Guest garysigndesign]

To: Ken Imes and any other persons who may doubt that the problems I have been dealing with are caused by some problem with my computer and or how I may have or may not have loaded my programs correctly hear is my latest up date.

As of 9/3/2007 I have upgraded my  iMac 500Mhz G3 processor w/ 640 MB SDRAM and a 30GB hard drive to an eMac 700MHz G4 processor w/ 1GB SDRAM with a 75GB hard drive on both machines I had connected the Keyspan serial connector and connected to the correct port on both machines. Now there has been an upgrade in SignCut's program for both OS 10.3 & 10.4 On my newer eMac I am running OS 10.4.10. My first cut is a graphic that came with the SignCut program under examples it is an .ai file titled Laitex.ai this was also the last item I cut on my old machine so I could do a comparison cut on the two different machines. Much to my surprise after expending more money into the Keyspan adapter and the eMac both cuts were the same. Now I have to attempt to fiddle with some variables within the program itself to see if there is a way of compensating the basic settings of the blade offset and maybe the over cut settings to achieve a consistent plot every time. I must say that after several months the frame border and weed settings are working just fine which is a step forward but as far as the plotter is concerned I believe that all in all it is functioning fine. Moreover, I believe that this Refine 721 plotter has been working as it was designed to from day one. I believe that there might be a gap in communicating to the Chinese designers / manufactures and the non Chinese speaking software designers. This might be the key to solving certain issues that still plague the communication of the software to the plotters. This would be the first hurtle to fully understanding and solving these obvious yet elementary problems that are so clearly apparent in the speed at which each upgrade is accomplished. I will admit that the Chinese language is more than difficult but without a technically certified translator there are little bits of critical information that will get lost in translation. This is just a possibility that might have some bearing on resolving some of the finer issues that are still not resolved. For now my focus will be on the controlling software and the latest upgrade which was suppose to address the intermittent problem of cutting graphics incompletely thus when weeding a project one would have to assist with an x-acto knife to assure that all points on the graphic would weed smoothly and avoid any tearing of the vinyl thus causing a noticeable flaw in whatever was cut out and try avoiding  having to cut the project out again. So for the time being I will have to spend yet more time fiddling with this set up which is something I have grown accustom to doing since December of 2006. Ken, if and when the good people at SignCut perfect the functionality of their program to the Refine plotter I would hope that at the very least they credit those people who have been patiently waiting for a finished program that will instill a sense of confidence when dealing with a project for pay in the form of resetting the time spent on the initial program user date to begin at such time that their program is working as it should as in my case I have yet to cut out a project for a customer as I can not take on a project until I know that I can produce a finished product with out any delays from the plotter which would end up costing me money and loosing a customer. Remember that I am not the only person who is making signs in my county so pricing is very competitive and generally when I make signs I am able to get top dollar because of my past history but I can not present myself as less than what I should be and that is all I can say on that topic. When I am hired for a job or project it is because of my turn around time and quality with little room fore excuses especially regarding my plotting capabilities. Until next time this is Gary Karm / garysigndesign.  out...

[Kimon 1]

In signcut it is quite easy to adjust the offset, from the main screen click on the cutter button and then on the offset change it from .25 (default) to .30. Keep adjusting by .05 until you acheive the results you need. If you have cuts that are not closing the increase the value if the corners start to peak then decrease the value.

As a user of signcut for over 6 years I can tell you confidently that it is a "Completed Program" it has been in development for over 15 years and will continue adapting its software to best meet the needs of its end users.

Do you have any other issues other than "cutting graphics incompletely" whitch I believe is an offset issue.