slice&dice

Quick suggestion, try using a different software, to verify the problem is hardware-related. SignBlazer is available (use RedSail machine driver).

The head moves side to side (x) and up and down (z), not back & forward. The grit rollers (y) perform the task of advancing and retracting the vinyl, which you say is not happening correctly. If your Y axis is malfunctioning, there's nothing we can do about that from our seats here in front of our computers. You already have done some preliminary work to find out what's causing the failure (not the buttons) so the answer must be found within the actual motherboard circuitry. That is beyond our pay grade.

I've been on hold for quite a long time with Exodus Customer Care support number. I hate it when that happens.

Looking at this photo, it appears that blade tip is extended out wayyyyyyy too far. (I can see it in the picture, which is not good!)

You're welcome. Just to go back to the VCP thing. It's a small little driver that installs a VIRTUAL COM PORT (vcp) which will then appear in the SignBlazer CutterSetup menu, and you choose it in the list. Did SCAL actually have the Vevor listed as a cutter? Nice. SCAL is sufficient for basic hobbyist things. If you want, install a FONT (wingdings) with a bunch of Christmas-y items. 'Tis the season... https://cuttingforbusiness.com/10-free-commercial-use-christmas-dingbat-fonts/

You got plenty of help, dindn'tja? Were you able to connect without the VCP? Are you happy with using SCAL? Sixty bucks is a great deal, especially now that it functions, and isn't a brick. When we are troubleshooting, it's usually best to be near the machine, so we aren't getting through one step at a time every few days. Anyway, it's all good, congrats.

--deleted-- (tried to be clever, failed, and can't contribute really any productive reply, but looking at the post by darcshadow, he might be onto something, and to get any mac person here is a slight miracle).

We'll just be waiting here with bated breath. And out of curiosity, how much did you pay for it?

Well, good luck with it. Asked you twice about VCP. You didn't answer.

Haumana, as he turns on the cutter, (or hits reset button) it performs a full self-test action of all three axis. Zip-Zip-Kerplunk. That indicates good functionality of the machine. (a 'test cut' is a very different thing than just seeing if the unit is working on all 3 directions xyz). You are right about the tech of cutters. It's pretty much the same as when plotters first were built in the 1950's, (Remington-Rand and Hewlett-Packard) Our mission is to get the cutter to respond and cut. SignBlazer will do that, once the com port issue is solved. Moving forward, after that's accomplished and the unit springs to life when sending "CUT" from SBE, then he can go ahead and buy the compatible software of his choice (probably Signmaster is the way to go, around $50) The Vevor720 has USB. No need for an adaptor of any kind.

Let's rewind and start again. 1. I already offered you a place to obtain the last release version of SignBlazer (hot-linked in my posting, just click on the blue words "download and install") Turn off your virus defender, otherwise you're gonna have it prevent download/install (due to the internal 'crack' scheme, but the program is fine & dandy, not a trojan or malware). https://www.mediafire.com/file/fjk69hgu2cpnr16/signblazer_setup.exe/file 2. "As for the VCP (USB emulation of Serial) I've had good luck with the STM virtual com port " https://mydrivers.online/software/stm32-virtual-com-port-driver It says right there VCP = virtual com port Download it, install it, and plug in your machine. Open SignBlazer and go to CUTTER SETUP, you should see that STM listed. After you successfully do what I've indicated, get back to us. (I am ignoring all reference to the USB serial adapter, you shouldn't have to go that route, just stick with the straight USB connection)

Let's review the term "drivers" in this thread. There are two different kinds of software drivers. One will allow the computer and cutter to communicate. This is part of the COM ports integration scheme of Windows. The computer operating system usually assigns that port number automatically when something is plugged into a USB socket. If you cannot see the Port for the cutter in the drop-down when going into SignBlazer's CutterSetup/Output Device, then you will need to play around within Windows Ports Manager and figure out how to troubleshoot that aspect. (SignBlazer only deals with Ports 1-4, so check that your cutter is using a port 4 or lower, as defined within the Device Manager of Windows OS). What happened when you installed the VCP? You never said. Anyway, once you can see the Port (and choose that in Cutter Setup within the cutting software), then SignBlazer will send through the data and the cutter will cut, but as I indicated above, the code is wrong for the machine and you may experience the problem I've encountered, namely, uncompleted paths (we call them hangnails). That brings us to the other driver: The cutting machine driver. This is program code which the cutting application uses to run the commands to trace paths of your design. We know that SignBlazer doesn't have an option for Vevor, and as such, the proper code to tell the machine how to work is not part of SignBlazer's capabilities, because although Jerry added pretty much every other machine on the market, he skipped Vevor. At this point, we'll never know why.

Hi, I'll give this a shot. First of all, I believe Vevor cutters will not really run 100% properly with SignBlazer, it's one of the few proprietary machines that Jerry didn't get into the program, before he left us. Those Vevors ship from the distributor with SignMaster (it's like VinylMaster) and you might be able to get FutureCorp. to provide the version which supports that unit. If you want to download and install SBE, (v7.0.0 in the HELP/About menu after install -- it's really just v6.0 with a 'crack' applied to eliminate the start-up nag screens), maybe use the LiYu or RedSail drivers first. Those are fairly standard for Chinese chipset machines. If it works, then great. If not, try other OEM models and check each of the output results. (My issue was with a Vevor that I was setting-up for a friend, and no matter which choice of driver we used, the cuts never closed perfectly. It was almost OK, just a micro-bit off, but just enough to make weeding impossible. We spent hours going through the list of options in CutterSetup, and nothing resolved that problem.) She now uses the Vevor with SignMaster. As for the VCP (chipset USB emulation of Serial) I've had good luck with the STM virtual com port -- https://mydrivers.online/software/stm32-virtual-com-port-driver

A.Taylor I'm glad to have helped. I'm a bit of a savant with regards to fonts. Both of those in your example were already stored in my brain. I used to work with a guy who could routinely tell you the name of a font by just looking at it, he had a database inside his head of many hundreds. This fellow could also show you the minor differences between similar fonts. Let's see your final result, OK? You are invited back, it's always fun to see the outcome of our efforts here.

I think we lost A Taylor. Oh well, the correct answer was provided, FWIW.

All-n-1 and address info text is "Serpentine" Here's the hook (.eps) which needs to be attached to the flowing tail of 'g' at end of Towing. Now all you need is the font for Towing. It's ScriptinaPro. Yer welcome. The general rule is don't vectorize text. Find the right font(s) and re-create/re-type. hook.EPS

Seems like the spammers are able to access the Forum too much. It might be worthwhile to implement a quick "Not a Bot" verification and knock 'em outta here. (Please not one of those "identify a picture" puzzlers -- too much. Just one checkbox would be fine.)

If you go into the HELP menu, there's a pair of red lips, with the words Run Demo. (Nothing should occur if you click on it, as it's disabled in the UK hybrid/unlocked version that is being offered at the link above).

The short answer is "No" there aren't any downloadable versions of the "HotShot" or SignBlazerFull program. While I'm not exactly sure why there's no distributable copy, my best guess (based on accumulated information over the years) is Jerry Bonham was still developing the software at the time of his death, and afterwards, ColorChromeLtd. just folded up and disappeared. While you're probably correct in noting that the expanded version is "a lot better" than SB Elements, as of today, all we have available is SBE, and have to make do. https://www.mediafire.com/file/fjk69hgu2cpnr16/signblazer_setup.exe/file

TobyM, my suggestion is go to the 'Introductions' topic and post something about yourself there. We rarely get newbies to join in with deeper discussions, but you might be the exception to that. Hopefully!

Use a decal-remover wheel with your power drill.

I'm thinking this new account is a troll, but anyway, I prefer the high-tack tape, instead of the medium-tack. You wanna know why? I'll reveal that answer if you Post back, and tell us you are a real participant, and not just some random Bot.

My guess is you're the first end-user of their software EVER to express the need to understand PureTrace. 99.9% of customers just put their Vector engine into automatic action and are perfectly fine with the default results. As their Customer Support person noted "the default settings are more than satisfactory" and that's absolutely correct. If you want to pursue this up the chain of command with VinylMaster (Future Corp.), feel free to go ahead. This is USCUTTER board and USCUTTER cannot do anything to assist you in this pursuit of obscure inner workings of VM. Neither can the people who participate here.

Windows no longer has the "lower left corner" -- everything is on a dynamic taskbar (cribbed from Apple's MacOS). Alternatively, use "Windows key + S" keyboard shortcut. Which reminds me, I need to back up my files!

It's always a challenge to keep track of live links for files/downloads (we've been doing our best to keep a good link to SignBlazer over the years, as hosting for the installer file was dropped by USCUTTER due to it being abandonware and unsupported). That VCP link was to a website that offers USB virtual com port for flying quadcopters. I don't know why they dropped the download, but a quick google search provides several alternatives -- https://mydrivers.online/software/stm32-virtual-com-port-driver (OS versions prior to Windows7 are compatible with the Windows7 installations included in the zip package.) and this guy is providing access ---> https://quadmeup.com/stm32-virtualcomport-driver-for-windows