darcshadow

I just did a google search for your cutter model.

Doesn't Graphtec offer some free software for their cutters? Looks like they do, https://www.graphtecamerica.com/cp-download-ce5000-40

And people stop ready the instructions. The ones I read that mention the credit card say it's a starting point and then go on to describe basically Skeeter's method for setting blade depth. Although it used paper rather than vinyl.

Moving forward, use the test button on the cutter itself. It'll make a small star with a box around it, about an inch square I think. Get the blade dialed in using that, then go to your software and adjust the offset and over cut. And so you don't have to waste a lot of vinyl, you can use the arrow buttons and origin button to reposition where the stare/square will be cut. So on a 24" wide roll you can get around 15-20 tests Have you tried adjusting the tension on the pinch rollers? If not, great! If you have, that could be a problem as well. Getting the tension reset correctly can a challenge and everyone on here advises not to touch them. You probably also need a new blade. I see you're making an indentation into the backing but the cuts are not clean, I would suspect either the tip of the blade is broke, or very dull. Another reason not to cut post-it notes to set blade depth, paper will dull a blade very quick.

If the vinyl was put on well, taking it off is not easy and it'd be much faster to just buy a new shirt and try again.

That screen there is basically an instruction screen. It's telling you the commands line options. You would need to open a command/terminal window then type Hinstall -i. I would guess, if you scroll down that window there is an example.

If nothing has changed you might take a close look at your blade, has it gotten damaged? How did you you set your blade depth, if you had to much blade exposed, the tip breaking off is pretty easy to happen.

Also take a good look at the arm that holds the blade holder. It sounds like your blade holder might be moving around in the holding arm. The arm could be either broke, or simply not tight enough. Take care not to over tighten it though or it will break. On a side note. Why are these instructions for setting the blade still on the USCutter's pages? Half a credit card is nearly 10x too much blade. Then it says to set the depth cutting paper, why? Why not give instructions to set the blade depth cutting, oh I don't know, maybe VINYL.

The half credit card is NOT the recommended setting. How exactly did you set the blade length? If you tried cutting with the blade too far out like it sounds you've done, you may have broken the tip of the blade and need a new one. What exactly is the problem you're having?

Welcome from Texas

Cool, small world. I've got family near you, Ossian, and I have a sister up in Michigan not too far from Dakotagrafx.

I grew up in Indiana, just outside of Logansport. Living down in Texas now. Welcome to the boards.

I made a windshield banner using the etched glass vinyl and love the way it looks. It has held up for about 6 years now in the Texas heat and sun although it doesn't sit out every day.

pre running the entire length is a good idea, but just because the vinyl drifts, doesn't mean the cut will in relation to other cuts.

What you're describing is about what I would expect for those sizes. As Skeeter said, you can fine tune some stuff, but it'll never be perfect for long cuts. If you are simply doing rectangles, one option could be to draw the rectangles and individual lines rather than a box. Doing this will force the cutter to start at one end of the line and go straight to the other end. This way you won't have to worry about the cuts lining up in the middle someplace. However, the lines may not all be exactly parallel but it should be close enough that you won't notice. I would also draw it so that the corners overlap a bit, like a hash mark.#

Maybe, but it's a gamble, Keyspan is known to work for sure and is worth the extra few bucks. You'll also need a serial cable, cutter should have come with one. If you do not have the original cable, check the manual to see if you need a straight cable or a null modem cable. Most cutters use a Null modem, but not all.

I suspect it's the transparent background of PNG and SVG files that occasionally causes problems. Also, be aware, going from png to jpg you can loose some detail, probably not a problem in this case. To preserve detail of a png files and loose the transparent background convert it to a bmp file.

Does the test function on the cutter itself work?

I believe VM does have what you are asking for, sort of. It moves the cut head across the design, and then back, then feeds the vinyl through, and then back. So it kind of works, but to really get a good feel that the design will fit on the vinyl it should really move to the max in both axis at the same time. Maybe if enough people request it that feature could be added but I wouldn't hold my breath. Just taking a quick ruff measurement of the vinyl available is easy enough.

If it just suddenly started acting funny, what on the computer changed? Was a windows update pushed?

ok, and?

Agree with what others have said. I have a MH and while I can get it to do what I need usually, it was not an easy process to get there. Coming from a Cricuit you would be highly disappointed in the MH. I believe in order to match the cut quality of the Cricuit on a large plotter you would need something in the Graphtec range. The Cricuits are really quite good at small stuff. You mentioned a 34" cutter. What exactly are you planning on? Often times people think they want the biggest they can get but in the end find out that a 24" would meet 90% of their needs and the rare times they need something bigger the design can usually be broken up to fit a 24" cutter anyway.

Never heard of the 86, that's a neat logo. I don't count the Raptor though, it's just the name in a stylized font.

Is the Abarth a car, or a company? Some friends came up with this list The Camero had a red white and blue stripe shield logo The Buick Riviera had a stylized R emblem The Honda Gold Wing has a Thunderbird like emblem The Datsun/Nissan Z cars have their circle Z emblem Pontiac Firebird had a Firebird Dodge Hellcat has a cat head Dodge Demon has a demon head Ford SVT Lightning had the word Lightning in funny font over a lightning bolt, not sure if that counts Chevrolet Impala has a running four legged horned animal of some sort. Likely a type of antelope, but exactly which species is unclear Ford SVT Mustang "Cobra" had a cobra emblem Mercury Cougar had some sort of wild cat emblem, like a puma or something

Pontiac and Ram don't count as they are company's not specific car models.