vinylmotivations

Wow buddy what are you cutting?? Blade depth shouldn't be more than half a credit card and at that with oracal 651 @ 100 for pressure- I STILL cut the backing once in a while when I'm switching colors. I think I found the issue though. I had a crack in the top of my carriage head. It finally broke all the way and I have it temped up with epoxy.

I send a design to the cutter from SBE and have no issues.... then send same one to SignCut and it stops half way and the cutter displays "WAITING".... I have checked static issues/ I am running a humidifier in this room and have grounded the plotter to stand (checked with a VOM meter to see that there is in fact continuity between the plotter base and the house ground) It seems fairly random where exactly in the design it is too.... and will cut small ones without issue- this one is 15x24.5 roughly? I have posted a picture to demonstrate using the pen tool and the back of a junked one that was number 3!

Turns out my onboard serial connection and mated usb header has a loose ground to the main board... went and picked up a gigaware usb serial cable from the rat-shack and forced it to com 2. Everything works like a charm.... For those of you looking for a good test, tech support had me go into the x/y mode menu on the cutter and press mode till it displayed TEST <001> then you press the online button and it will plot a test pattern stored on the main board. I used brown paper and a pen tool for this.

Turns out my onboard serial connection and mated usb header has a loose ground to the main board... went and picked up a gigaware usb serial cable from the rat-shack and forced it to com 2. Everything works like a charm.... For those of you looking for a good test, tech support had me go into the x/y mode menu on the cutter and press mode till it displayed TEST <001> then you press the online button and it will plot a test pattern stored on the main board. I used brown paper and a pen tool for this.

The picture you see is with the pen tool and no knife... also have tried it without the blade actually contacting anything as I burt almost half a 10 yard rolls of 651 messing with this already....

Two diffrent files..... size of 7x12 or so cuts fine but when increased to 15x24.5 it does that. Also tried saving as .eps and going to sign blazer..... cuts longer but still with same end result that signcut has. Plotter stand is grounded and running a humidifier in the room so static should not be an issue.

I cleaned up the joint and used some loctite brand 5 minute epoxy.... clamped it till it cured then reinstalled the rollers. It is actually MORE solid than the other side is now. USCutter is currently out of stock and is warranty replacing my part when they are in. In the mean time I was told this will be an ok fix. It cuts fine, but seem to have a new issue with a particular design. It is posted in the signcut forum. I have also attached a picture of what it is doing if anyone has a clue here....

Same graphic cuts fine though in a size of roughly 7x11 or so... also doesn't always do it in the same spot either.

I only currently have a laptop... and am using this item: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812339013&cm_re=usb_2.0_to_serial-_-12-339-013-_-Product I have not had one single issue until now- the plotter sat idle for about 2 weeks and have also recently repaired a cracked carriage assembly as well. Like I said, I have had no issues whatsoever before with cuts completing, smaller ones complete fine as well. I also sent an even bigger job to signblazer and after about twice the graphic as the 15x24 one it did the same thing as well. Beginning to understand this is NOT a software issue.... I probably need to have this moved over to the laserpoint support forum. I will probably also put in a support ticket for this as well. I know static is an issue here, but I KNOW for a fact I am grounded between the cutter and stand.... if I take a VOM meter between even the FEET of the stand and measure continuity between the feet and the ground pin on the next nearest wall outlet, I have very little resistance between the 2. I have attached a picture of the overkill of ground wire I used.... (don't worry too I assure you the paint behind the terminal connector and screw HAVE been removed. the other end is attached to the bottom sheet metal of the plotter...) I wonder if it isn't too late for the main board on the unit?

Talked to a rep at USCutter today... It IS in fact under warranty, however the problem is, since this thing is chinese made and they have been out of stock for a bit they are waiting to get more in. They may already be there but the rep wasn't sure as the warehouse guys were not available. Hopefully this can be sent soon! I picked up some Loctite General Use epoxy last night for plastic and metal and am going to put it back together tonight and clamp it nice and tight. hopefully reinforce it as well with some pooled on both sides after the main part cures.

You can get an additional pinch roller on the USCUTTER homepage under Cutters, Parts. I think their 15$ for the laserpoint plus shipping. Not sure that would help 100% though. Make sure your rolls of vinyl are as tightly wound as possible and are trapped on both sides to prevent drifting side to side while being unrolled. Also some have luck unrolling enough material for the job into the material basket if you have one and run a test feed.

Hopefully someone here can help me.... I am attempting to reproduce a graphic for a customer to match one side of his truck so changing the font that some sign shop used before is out of the question for him or he will find someone who will do it for him... I am looking for just a few letters of this font as on Letter Head Fonts it is approximately 50$ for the one, which I probably will NEVER use again. The letters I need are (uppercase all) A, C, P and O, and the numbers 0, 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6. Hopefully someone can help me- I dont really want or need the whole font- the designers deserve to be paid for their font as well. If I can just get these few in vector form (pdf, svg) that would be FANTASTIC!!! Thanks!

Actually I found it... problem was that said customer is actually a friend of a friend- and if I was going to have to charge him for it he was going to just go back to his old sign shop. He gave me a graphic to scan- and reproduce, however the last shop that was doing graphics was printing essentially squares of clear vinyl with his logo... leaving me with no clean edges, and I HATE... HATE> tracing fonts. I usually if I can, replace any font in graphics with the actual font if I can- so I never actually required it, only needed it to enhance quality. So it was more my perfection side showing than just handling the reproduction and being done. Come to find out- I actually HAD this font shoved away in an old font folder (its formerly known as Brewers Bold, this is why I could not find it) So long store short. Problem solved... Thanks guys.

Plotter warranty start date is October 2010 so its fairly new.... doesn't happen on same spot it just seems to be completely random. Cutting strip seems to be ok. For example I cut 6 3 color decals for logos on a buddy's company truck, not one issue.... then I cut 12 memorial decals and the whole run of 6 (second row) was un-weedable and junk. Upping the pressure just ends up cutting the backing.

I bought a roll of R-Tape from my local wholesaler- and am having issues with it. It seems to lift the vinyl off the backing just fine, but I am using it for wall-graphics. doesn't seem like it is wanting to release ANY of my wall graphics to any surface. Yet it seems to work fine on glass, fiberglass, composite- etc- anything that has a hard smooth glossy surface. Put it on a wall and its like one solid sticker. GRRR> What kind should I switch to or what should I do to make this stuff release? Were talking everything from a smooth flat paint wall to a bumpy gloss- NOTHING will stick.

I have had this same issue with my laserpoint- only most of the time it cuts fine, sometimes it only scratches the vinyl. I found for me, at least, it was a vinyl issue- when I use oracal I am fine- but I only experience this with greenstar vinyl. Also I found it helps to lube your blade a little- I take the holder out and use the ejection pin to stick it far enough out i can dip the very tip into some 3-in-1 and then onto a paper towel so i do not leave excess on my material. Otherwise if your knife isn't fully dropping I would wonder if your blade holder isn't secured tightly?