OutlawCustom

FWIW - most inverters (small ones in particular) are -very- basic square-wave units that produce choppy power that sensitive things like computers don't react well to, especially over time. Running the cutter will probably work but it could have problems down the road, the timing and results of which are somewhat unpredictable (though would most likely involved a damaged or burnt power supply). For something as finicky as a plotter, this could also translate to cutting problems as well. Honestly, I'm not sure (these are just some things to consider) and would be -very- interested to hear your results. What I've shared is based off the fact that my last house was 85% solar powered and used one of the first true sine-wave inverters available on the market at the time. I'd waited until it was available before buying because of the extensive use of computers and such in my daily life. The nice thing about working with that kind of power setup is that it runs your -whole-house- on one gigantic UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply). ;-) If you do it please share your results!

Good job! Now I have to get motivated to do my own logo

Survival Notes: one long day at a house/pool party and it survived unscathed being moved, splashed, sat on (often by wet bathing suits) and whatever other indignities a party cooler has to endure. The general consensus: everyone loved it and was utterly compelled to see what was inside (four blue-ice packs, about eight flavored waters and some Red Bull (it was a PG/dry party). :-p Oh, and I got two orders for decals (NOT nuclear!) and a small shirt order.

It's a PitA to get it to stick the first time and it's never 100% secure, but if you clean/prep the cooler well and are a little careful it'll last for years. If you look carefully at the left side, under the RADMAT icon, you'll see a diamond-shaped "clean spot" that was left from the previous OSHA label I had there for about 10yrs. I've found the best way to encourage the vinyl to stay put is, well, leave it in the hot truck for a long afternoon with something soft and heavy on the top (or take a heat gun to it, get it fairly toasty, and apply pressure). YMMV but, hey, it's all for the shiggles, right?

I'm a firm believer that when you own cool toys you should play with them - and, hotDAMN I think my cutter is one of the coolest toys currently in my toybox! Disclaimer: obviously NOT for general consumption! Maybe this will keep people out of my personal stash of frosty libations...

Okay - I'm well into this now so I like to think I have a pretty good handle on How It Works. That's probably the very reason this is happening so... I'm set to cut a client's logo (looks like a gear - VERY simple). I've tiled a group of them to fit nice and efficiently onto a 15" sheet (14" without perfs). I print three copies at a time, roughly 3' (perfect length for my worktable). Everything works great 95% of the time. Then, for no apparent reason, the cutter makes a 45deg cut from the center of one image across the vinyl to another image point and back again (it doesn't leave the vinyl) The width of cut is about 2mm. It's almost as if two points were being randomly connected. The cutter then resumes normal operation and finishes the sheets. On 24 runs this has happened 3 times now, twice in the middle sheet and once on the end. I'm using Flexi 8.1 with Oracal 651 and I've upgraded the USB cable to a nice, shielded length (I had problems with the one that was included with the cutter). This has been my only real "issue" with cutting thus far. Has anyone else experienced a similar problem? If so, can you recommend a fix? And before you suggest static, I live in Sarasota, FL - the ambient humidity in my office is 40% (yes, I monitor it) - we don't really have static issues here. :-p Thanks in advance!

Got a website we can check out ?

Well, the noob here will be quick to chime in about how much he's liking Oracal 651. Before I placed my first order I did a LOT of lurking and 651 showed up more than any other brand/type. I figured I'd "roll with the flow" since so many people seemed so happy with it. Thus far I have to say, I'm happy with it, too! I've done a bunch of (car) window decals, logo/labeled the transport crates for my production company and have banged out a few other odd projects with no issues at all. With my heat press on the way I'm planning on checking out thermal-transfer vinyls next (being especially interested in UV-reactive for a dance/Rave we're producing in June). Good luck with your projects!

I've gotten a few samples from my helpful rep but I don't like to be/appear greedy so this link was MOST helpful in getting me a few more I've wanted to check out. The flip-book will be invaluable! Thanks for the heads-up on this!

CBS - do a search for the Calibration thread - it helped me a LOT. Also, you'll likely have to play with your Offset (in your software), blade depth (on the plotter head), pressure and cutting speed (on the cutter's menu). If you're worried about "messing up" your factory settings just jot the original values down on an oh-so-convenient Post-It note (that's what I did). You can restore them easily enough. Honestly, the hardest part I've found about owning a plotter is the voodoo that's involved in getting it dialed-in.

I'm using Oracal 651 and, while I don't generally have an issue with my LP24 picking up the letters, I'm still having issues with it completing cuts. So far the smallest I've done has been 5/16" (which ain't half-bad, IMHO) and it's been a real trick sometimes weeding it without trashing it. On the whole, I remain happy with my LP (but look forward to Roland at some point in the future). I'll be curious to see how it works with heat-press vinyl when my press arrives later this week.

Nothing funky about mine...

A picture is truly worth a thousand (or at least several-hundred if you're concise) words! Thanks for clarifying!! Those of us who are somewhat new to this can use all the help we can get in getting up to speed on the jargon and techniques.

Sarconastic - I just posted to your thread about the bearing fix after giving it a look-see for myself. I've reposted it below for those following this thread. I'm definitely interested in hearing about any other discoveries you come up with (I'm considering a new blade holder, also, thinking the factory-supplied one isn't quite up to the task). The LP may not be a Roland, but it's a pretty damn good little cutter - it just needs some tweaking. I've been peeking and poking at local signs and such as well and, yeah, you're right on the money - most don't notice (or care?) that there's some poor cutting jobs being done on their graphics. Perhaps I'm being a bit "fussy" because I'm new and trying to get my work as spot-on as I can, or because I have a bit of a perfectionist streak in me. I don't know. I just know I'd NOT be happy with a lot of the work I'm seeing out there now that I'm actually looking at it with some experience under my belt! - - - - Thanks for the fix, Kevin! Since I'm routinely up to my elbows in computer guts or covered in parts from one of our moving lights I figured this can't be all that much different and decided to give it a look-see. I'll start by saying "damn I'm glad I'm ambidexterous!" since you need to pretty much hold the head with your right hand and undo the screw with your left. I noticed that the jamb nut -was- lose and gave it a quick twist with screwdriver and pliers. I also noticed that I did -not- have as many washers as I thought I should have (I had three, where I think there should really be four, one for each side of each bearing). Once tightened it was a quick put-together (I don't think I could live without a #2 Philips screwdriver). My main observation from this exercise was - yes, the jamb nuts aren't put on right at the factory - BUT that's not what I think the problem really is. Even tight, the head still has what I consider a bit too much play (.25-.5mm). The bearings do not touch both the front and back guide rails at the same time, instead riding either one or the other depending on which way the feed rollers are moving. It's a -very- small amount of play but, then, the "pigtails" on the vinyl are -very- small, also. I can't see any way to tighten the rails short of bending them (which would change them from parallel guides to angles or arcs - which is Not Good) so I'm wondering if a strip or two of vinyl adhered to the inside of one might not tighten it up a bit more while keeping them parallel. So - I ran a quick test cut on my production company's logo (6" wide and 2.5" high, two lines of curves and swoopy text) since we can always use a few more case labels. My first observation - it weeded a LOT easier. My second observation - still has pigtails, though perhaps not as many nor as severe/large. Conclusion - I think this is a fix that could be helpful to a number of people (and is something you should probably check anyhow) but, sadly, isn't the Magic Bullet repair many of us were hoping for to deal with the pesky problem of cuts not fully closing. Thanks again for the breakdown and photo - both definitely helped!

Thanks for the fix, Kevin! Since I'm routinely up to my elbows in computer guts or covered in parts from one of our moving lights I figured this can't be all that much different and decided to give it a look-see. I'll start by saying "damn I'm glad I'm ambidexterous!" since you need to pretty much hold the head with your right hand and undo the screw with your left. I noticed that the jamb nut -was- lose and gave it a quick twist with screwdriver and pliers. I also noticed that I did -not- have as many washers as I thought I should have (I had three, where I think there should really be four, one for each side of each bearing). Once tightened it was a quick put-together (I don't think I could live without a #2 Philips screwdriver). My main observation from this exercise was - yes, the jamb nuts aren't put on right at the factory - BUT that's not what I think the problem really is. Even tight, the head still has what I consider a bit too much play (.25-.5mm). The bearings do not touch both the front and back guide rails at the same time, instead riding either one or the other depending on which way the feed rollers are moving. It's a -very- small amount of play but, then, the "pigtails" on the vinyl are -very- small, also. I can't see any way to tighten the rails short of bending them (which would change them from parallel guides to angles or arcs - which is Not Good) so I'm wondering if a strip or two of vinyl adhered to the inside of one might not tighten it up a bit more while keeping them parallel. So - I ran a quick test cut on my production company's logo (6" wide and 2.5" high, two lines of curves and swoopy text) since we can always use a few more case labels. My first observation - it weeded a LOT easier. My second observation - still has pigtails, though perhaps not as many nor as severe/large. Conclusion - I think this is a fix that could be helpful to a number of people (and is something you should probably check anyhow) but, sadly, isn't the Magic Bullet repair many of us were hoping for to deal with the pesky problem of cuts not fully closing. Thanks again for the breakdown and photo - both definitely helped!