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wildgoose brings up an interesting point -- "(haven't replaced a blade in so long that) I misplaced my stash of new ones and I started to get worried and ended up ordering some new ones, Ha-ha." Common problem, and I did the same thing, that little plastic container of blades vanished into a drawer or box somewhere. When a new set of blades arrived, I used a strip of Alien Tape and affixed the container right onto the back of the cutter end-cap.

The font is 4BigMedicineDNA (regular *Oblique) [SignDNA / (Commercial)] If you plan to do this kind of work often you should consider buying the Find-My-Font program. Probably one of the best bang for the buck programs available. I even use it on my own files sometimes when I can't remember which of my many fonts I used to create something. It's about $50 last time I bought it. Also, there are tricks to utilizing font search software. The one you posed was so washed out that it wouldn't work as it was. I picked the most distinguishing letter (in this case the P) and traced it out so it was clean, then screen shot the trace and used that for the search... whalla we have the correct font.

RIP Banner John- gone but not forgotten

Once leveled and taped at the top to hold it in place using blue painters tape. You can place a long piece of painters tape across the top to form a hinge, then cut up between the letters to apply them individually. Or if you have a graphic like in example #2 use a vertical hinge, peel the backing back to the blue tape and cut it off, then apply that half of the decal. remove the blue tape hinge peel the backing off of the second half and apply the other half of the decal.

SO WE GO IT WORKING LOL WE DID A CLEAN ON THE PRINTER WITH THE INK IN THE PEINTER NOW IT WORKS YAY!!!!!!

Hello All, I just received my MH 871 yesterday and I am in the process of setting it up. I'm sure I will have lots of questions. I intend to use it for hobby use and create gifts and things for personal use. I originally wanted a cutter to create stencils for doing graphics on wood projects using stains. This may develop into decals, etc. in the future. Thanks in advance for help that I may need. CWS (Walt)

I have been lucky over the years, clients stick to the basics and don't aggravate me with odd font requests. Probably 80% of the stuff I've produced is straight Block (sans serif) lettering, Helvetica Bold or Microgramma Bold or some-such. Boring AF, but readable and direct to the point. My philosophy is that signs need to be created with the KISS principle. I'm not a graphic designer. I am a sign maker. (Or to be precise, a computer-cut-vinyl sign lettering guy).

I just tell people that Serif fonts have "feet", and Sans-Serif doesn't. They pretty much grasp the concept ... then usually want something that custom that kind of falls into it's own category from dafont.com

Clean Cut Blades are hard to beat and last a long time. And a lot of people go with the 60 degree blade and just use it for everything. Unless you're doing a lot of relatively low detail designs, the hassle of switching back and forth between 45 and 60 is just not worth it.

There is already a thread here that people showed their shops, you will have to find it. Also, there is only a couple handfuls of forum members that answer questions anymore. I never went small. I started with large graphics and never looked back. My average is 20" wide by 8 feet. L. Clear up to 27" w x 16 feet .L. I prefer making my money fast. Less work, more pay. Large detailed graphics is my niche' I work out of a 13' x 14' bedroom, 8 ft table, 30" cutter, old XP laptop. I have been at it for 16 years, online only. Good luck.

You said it was working properly before you moved it. Did you check to see if the carriage rollers are riding on the track properly? One good bump could knock them off the track. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks so much for the lists, haumana--that is wonderful, and much appreciated. At this point I'm now leaning a bit to the USCutter to give myself room for the paraphernaliaments, possibly including the heat press. I need to investigate that specifically just because there may be other challenges with it, but that's worth checking out.

Howdy Mike. First piece of advice, when sending the design to the cutter, always remember to MIRROR. Secondly, a good picker tool for weeding. Some prefer a fine tweezer, others like a pointy spike, and yet others just use the xacto knife. Maybe get her all three, and see what she's comfortable with (weeding HTV is slightly different than regular vinyl). Thirdly, the press itself. Do you believe that hats will enter into this equation? If so, consider the 5-in-1 package, which is currently on sale for $400. https://uscutter.com/USCutter-Perfect-Press-Digital-5-in-1-Heat-Press The cheapest option is $95. (USCUTTER offers a $15 discount on the sale price $110 press purchase when you subscribe to their newsletter) But keep in mind that the size on this basic press is only 9x12 and that's kinda tiny, although still useful for pocket logos and maybe bags. Ask the wife what her vision is, as far as production and designs. Most people in this game are using 15x15 It's up to the two of you to decide how much to sink into this venture from the get-go. You can start with a hundred bucks (see above) or make a choice to throw about $500 at it now and have a wider option for future work if she likes it. As for myself, I do not own a full-size platen press. My only equipment is a small hat press that I grabbed from craigslist for just $50 several years ago, and I do a few hats now and then for fun. (and it allows me to do a shirt pocket logo, which I've produced for a few people) HTV is a fascinating world, there's lots to love about it. (and don't even get her started on DTG printing!)

What do you mean it's not. Follow Slices link, click buy now, and bam! Option to upgrade. It's going to cost you $500, don't know why you would think it'd be free. You're not doing a simple patch/update, you're going to a whole never version. Rarely does a software company give you a new version for free.

Yes I downloaded the Graphtec Driver , I don't know why the new SB that I downloaded on my new laptop doesn't have the same Comm settings as on my old laptop. I will keep playing around with it. I only do this every 5 to 7 years and struggle every time thanks for your help! I probably have the Graphtec software but have been using the SBE since the PCut and haven't taken the time to learn a new one. I just love SB.

next step up is a servo cutter - titan 2 - I love my graphtecs but haven't heard if they worked out all the bugs in the ce7000 - - the only series I would stay away from. miss my ce6000 and had to return the ce7000 = stepping up to the fc9000 was a bit of a leap for a semi retired dude. stay warm sir

Not so much an applicator as a dispenser. Using the big squeegie take all the work out of it.

I concur. But by that same token it is also a bit of a old wives tale about the 60deg being so much better. There are also trade-offs with them also being easier to break a tip. I use a Summa and the standard factory blade is only 36deg. I can tell you from experience that I can cut basically every bit as small with the 36 as I can with a 60. Now, when it comes to thickness the 36 is limited and as you work into thicker materials the amount of blade shoved into the cut does in fact come into play and will mess around more in extreme corners. But for basic 2 and 3 mil vinyl you are probably good to go with whatever you want. I'd try both and see if you find any difference. I DO wholeheartedly support the vote for Clean Cut blades, they will outlast the cheaper blades. A quality blade TAKEN CARE OF meaning staying out of your cutting strip will give you at least 6 months of regular cutting. I have been running on the same blade for 14 months.(summa blade but similar quality as the CC) So long that I misplaced my stash of new ones and I started to get worried and ended up ordering some new ones Ha ha. The others will turn up but we moved last year and I haven't found them yet. I like you am a AI designer and no there isn't really anything that can be done in other design programs that is missing in AI. They used to have one over on Illustrator by being able to do true block shadows but with the new updates Illustrator made to let that happen it's as good as it gets. I used to have to build those manually and it was a bit more time consuming. I DO agree with people that Illustrator is a bear to master, sort of like learning a reverse polish calculator I guess. But once you figure it out I really have no desire to spend time on other programs. I am a Mac guy and I use Sign Cut Pro 1 which is outdated and hard to even find these days. I own a dongle that I paid a few hundred for about 10 years ago so no subscription fees. It's a bare bones cutter interface but has most of the cutting bells and whistles that the highest versions of the others have. It works on both platforms (Mac and windows) which comes in handy sometimes but you have to own a dongle to quickly change between computers. They have Pro 2 out now and if my dongle ever dies I'll probably consider going to that upgraded version.

You don't know how the previous owner set their blade depth, but this is the correct way. 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. Regular sign vinyl is only 2-3 mil thick. You only cut with the very tip of the blade. When you think the blade is so far in the blade holder, that you think it would not even cut, that is probably correct.

The $50.00 "CUT" version of VM is the entry-level. (The 'trial' or 'demo' version mentioned by Haumana above is offered for download to explore the features and interface, but is cutting-disabled). You asked about choosing between SCALP and VM, and I gave you an answer (my opinion). Illustrator is a fine design program, to be sure. Just as Inkscape can also be utilized for vector graphics, it's up to you regarding what application to work within while putting together cuttable files. If all you need is a functional way to get that cutter to work/communicate, then SCALP is sufficient (once you sort out the COM issue). I'm not a graphic designer. My work consists of text-based signage, single color lettering primarily, for banners, vehicle door magnets, window decals, job-site signs, simple things like that. My primary way to get my work accomplished is through an old software (that used to be provided with all US CUTTER machines) called SignBlazer Elements. I dont think you have a 'driver' problem, you likely have a COM selection problem.

Try my hand at reflective vinyl and here’s some of my work.

This guy Derril has a very strange handle history, with random posts that made little sense, dating back to 2018. And now he comes into a necrothread to say "yeah" out of the blue. Lately there have been some really strange things on these Forums, keeping the (volunteer) moderators busy with deleting the junk. Kudos to them for those efforts, it's an ongoing challenge to maintain the integrity of these boards.

a good unit like Royal Sovereign is going to be expensive - especially ones with heat assist. I used a Daige for years which is a cold roller and you will have some silvering for a couple of hours but worked great and had 2 of them over the 7 years I did printing with the roland printers

Hi Guys, I got a very cheap (and ancient) Roland ColorCAMM PC-60. I know that driver support and software is a problem. But I am fine using it through a Windows XP VM if required. I am actually more of a Mac user and the single Software that I found that listed the scanner in its compatible devices was SignCut Pro 2. Cutting vinyl works with it, but it doesn't have any design functions and I consider it rather expensive to just "drive a cutter". Right now I am not even looking intro printing with it but even options to get it to cut are limited. I have read that people "just use the software from the Roland website" to work with it. But I couldn't find anything besides firmware and drivers. The XP driver is probably the only useful thing from their website. Q1: Can you point me to that particular software or any other (old) software that I can use? The cutter understands two protocols: CAMM-GLIII and RD-RTL. I would assume that even if this particular cutter isn't listed, it would be to some extend compatible to other or even different manufacturer models. Q2: To what cutters would the PC-60 be considered compatible? I have tried e.g. EasyCut Pro and picked PNC. But that doesnt do anything... Also InkCut as a free alternative and picking PNC-900 doesn't do anything. Any help would be appreciated. I am new to the world of vinyl cutting :-)

Sign Blazer Elements - totally free, and probably just as ancient, if not more so, than your Roland. It has design and cut abilities.