thredz

I think it is the selltopia -refine ,or the refine cutter driver.I'm not sure on the name as you can tell.But it has those words in there somewhere.

I did not get an upgrade yet.And it is a 4 megabyte.Marcel has sent the request for the 4 meg upgrade to the factory,but it has not arrived yet.Marcel said it would not be hard to install.I will post a message when I get it on the installation.

I guess they are loud.But mine is right by my desk,so I hear it real good.Being a musician most of my life,I tend to do most of my work at night.My wife says the sound of R2 lulls her to sleep.So I guess the sound has it's good and bad qualitys.And I have had no tracking problems with mine as long as the carriage brackets are level and tight.If you don't check it and make sure you have the vinyl feeding straight,it will track off.But I use the trace on flexi to make sure it's tracking right before I cut.On the small letters,I have done a few t-shirts with a large back and small logo on the chest.The chest lettering was 3/16th's of an inch and it was a little tedious weeding it out,but it cut well with no problems.And the maximum cut area on the 721's is 57 feet.I don't know about the others.But it should be able to handle a 53 foot job with no problems.

When you go to the other forums they are naturally going to tell you to get a higher end cutter because that's what they have done.It's like me when I talk about R2.I have no problem telling everyone how great I think these cutters are because it is what I am using.And it's also made me more money in four months than my embroidery machine has made in two years.I also have been a musician for over 37 years and I sell guitar parts.I have found through selling guitar parts that there is one main company that makes 95% of the parts used on every new guitar made.A name does not make it a better product.It just makes it a more expensive product.And with the price of theses cutters,you could afford to buy another as a backup and still have less money in them than a roland or graphtec.A high end cutter could wipe out a whole years profit if it broke down and you had to replace it.I think it's up to the individual on his choice.But if I had to buy a higher end cutter I wouldn't have one right now because of the price alone.

They did write a good review.The only thing I didn't understand was the part where they said throw the blades away and get better blades.They are roland carbide blades.I think they work fine.The vinyl,I don't know about.I didn't get vinyl with mine.I didn't read the discounts because you have to register to read the forum posts.Forums are great,but I don't like having to give my name address and phone number,just to read a post.Thanks for the info!

I'm glad you got it running.They had a major storm accross the pacific northwest and it knocked the power out at uscutter.They said they have no way to heat the building,so they would not even have phone support until possibly monday.As for the artcut,it sounds like a problem to me.Have you tried uninstalling it and reinstalling it?Other than that I can't tell you because I use flexisign and have not had any experience on artcut.I drove by a devry institue once.They had nice trees.

The number to selltopia,which is uscutters ebay store is : 425-284-2282 .But I would wait until monday to call.Marcuso said they have no power at the office and no heat,so there is no one answering the phones this weekend.

I haven't heard of a discount either.The only discount I know of are by going on ebay and bidding on the cutters.That's how I bought mine,and I saved right at $200.00 that way.I would like to see the forum where you read about the review and discount.Could you post the link?Thanks.

I see what you're talking about.I thought you just had a flat piece of board across the brackets.I may have to try that.Thanks!

I'm gonna get me one of them 1351's sometime next year.My 721 is great,but I want to be able to larger seamless jobs.I have also noticed that quite a few of the parts the cutters are made of use the same roland parts.I figure it is one main manufacturing plant that makes cutters for most of the companies that sell them.And I agree with you on the flexi program.To me,it is the easiest program,and the fastest way to get from design to cut.I hope to see some posts of the work you do with your cutter.

I sure you can get it shipped in three days,but it might be awhile before you get an answer.I think the storm that hit washington and oregon has affected the power at the company.Marecel will probably contact you as soon as he can get online.You might email him at his address in the member section as well,so he will know you need it in a hurry.

Mrnieguy,I just wanted to let you know that Marcel may have a problem getting online today.I have read that a storm has knocked power in washington and oregon.He is usually on the board by now.I know you're haveing problems and want to get your cutter going.I'm sure Marcel will contact you as soon as possible.

The picture you show is along the same lines I was talking about.But I don't see anything to catch the vinyl.Are you talking abouit having a flat piece of static resistant board flat across the carriage? I'm thinking more along the lines of a deep mesh basket.When you have 7 or more feet of vinyl feeding back and forth through the cutter,I don't think a flat piece would catch the vinyl and keep it from sliding off to the side.And on the softer vinyl,you have to set the rollers a little loose so they don't show the roller marks in the vinyl.I have R2 right by my work desk,and I've had the end of the vinyl bump the end of the desk when it fed out.It knocked the whole registration of the design off.So now,when I have a large vinyl run,I have to make sure to pull the cutter back so it doesn't hit anything while it's running.I have seen the ones that are for sale online,but to me they are way too shallow to catch a large amount of vinyl.

I've been using the back of the silicone sheets for the vinyl backing to do plots when I check a pattern before cutting.It's a lot cheaper than wasting vinyl if the design is wrong.And if I don't have any coroplast lying around,I'll use my walls!I am going to do ouir bedroom in what ever design my wife decides on after the first of the year.I'll post those when I get it done.

We don't have problems here.We have discussions.And through discussion - problem solved.On your problem,I would talk to Marcel and he will be able to help you out.I don't think it matters if you live in Canada - A'!He usually checks the board when he gets to work,which is in the pacific time zone.And Beardown,I like the pic.Is the white vinyl or board?

What I see is someone who is pessimistic,and looks for things to go bad.Their tactics if you read this forum,is to sell the cutters,and help the people out with their problems the best way they can.If they have a tactic to sell parts,I sure have seen not one person mention that on this board.And what would you report to paypal or anyone else?That your cutter gave you no problems until the daily wear and tear caused by you using it made the machine break down?I see a lot of posts on the forum about help.That's what forums are for.And if you can find a machine anywhere that is mass produced that has never had one of them break down,you let me know where it is because I would truly like to see a miracle in my lifetime.I've had R2 for over four months now.I broke some bolts because I use mine ten to twelve hours daily.And when I bought it,I did not get a warranty because I didn't think I needed one.And I was right!When I get up in the mornings,and I'm not scared to turn R2 on.Not all of the cutters have problems.But this forum is for those who have problems.Not just the cutters,but software as well.And this forum is a way for the people who own these cutters to share (heavy hint to all the members) photos of the work they have done with these cutters.And they are a new company.selling cutters that are basicaly made with the same parts as roland cutters.If we are all guinea pigs,I'm glad I got in on the ground floor.Because once the demand for these cutters increases,so will the price.

I knew I had read your post on the problem somewhere in the forum.I'm glad the problem is fixed.And that you have put it in the f.a.q. .That will help people out a lot.I can't imagine how those rollers jump track with the way they are so carefully handled by the shipping companies.

In flexi you have to use the roland pnc1000 driver.I think artcut uses the refine or selltopia driver,but it doesn't use it in flexi.

I had the same problem with the first banner I cut.It was a 36 ich banner,and when I cut it,it cut to the stitching seams.So I had to cut and fit the lettering when I put it on the vinyl.

You'll be there in no time.I had never used a plotter or cutter until I got mine around four months ago.And some of the work did take a lot of time to set up and cut or plot.There were a lot of times I would still be working with R2 when my wife woke up in the morning.I think she stopped asking me if I ever went to bed three after three nights of my work.You should get some diamond plate vinyl,and some translucent red and flame your mower in diamond plate.You would probably be selling your work to all of your neighbors!

If you ever need any 1985 pens for that plotter,I've got a few!You've hit on the nicest things about these cutters.They are at a price that makes it possible to do your own sign work for your business at about the cost you would pay a sign shop.And,in turn,it gives a whole new avenue to your existing business.Diversification.Tha's the way to do business these days.I use flexi,so I don't have that problem with the metrics.I posted a conversion chart somewhere in the forum.And I think Marcel has posted a link to a chart somewhere in the forum.Maybe that would help.Just print it out and put it on the wall so you have access to it.

I'm glad you got it going.I'm sure you will spend many sleepless nights playing with it.You ought to try getting a 1985 hewlet packard pen to work.It's too small to sit on top of the holder,and if you put it inside the grooves,it's pressing on the paper.I had to take a pair of wire cutters and cut the ridge off just to make it work.I'm buying myself a dremmel tool for christmas.I've got about 35 of those pens.

I actually don't use the choke/bleed settings.I blow the design up as big as I can work it,and I use the point editor to make sure those holes are closed up.When you look at it in normal screen mode evrything looks good and you wonder why it's not cutting all the way.I try to make sure there is a little overlap,and if there's not,I move the point to give a slight overlap.I guess it comes from being an embroidery digitizer for the last 5 years or so.I have gotten so use to manually setting points that I have a habit of doing it.But it works out better because my designs should work about the same on any cutter or software program.It's the same when you work on a two or more color design.You have to blow the design up,to see if the colors are overlaying like you want them.I wish I could tell you what "follow through" would be in the program,but I rely more on sight than software settings when it comes to the design itself,and that has always saved me a lot of time and wasted material because I know if I blow it up and see a closed box or oval,then R2 is going to cut it that way.I also use the point edit to clear out those small dots and lines that show up when you bezier trace an image.You might also try the weld command to pull all of your lines together.After you weld,select all,then go to arrange and group.That will tie the whole design together and make it easier for the cutter to process.And as for the pulling your hair out.I have to keep my beard and moustache shaved because I sit here and pull my facial hair out while I'm working on a design.So you're good to go!

You might check and make sure the rollers are in the track on the cutting head.I've heard of them slipping out of the tracks in shipment.Other than that,I can't think of anything else it might be.

I think also that if you are running a design that is going to fit in a 17.5 x 23.5 area,you have to put a border around the design in that size.When you go to the production manager,it will automatically set the panel size to the edge of the design.I don't use the template panels in mine.I set it all on a custom and work the design from there.That's why it's cutting too big.It tells you it's the size for the sign,but it can't set the dimensions for the design to fit in the sign.