Hippie459MN

Looks good. I need to make something like this.

I have a MH871 that I have had for about 12 years now and recently it stopped responding out of nowhere ( http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php?/topic/57643-mh871-suddenly-stopped-responding-at-all/). Sadly it seem that my MH871 too old and they no longer carry parts for it so im looking to replace it asap. I only use it as a hobby thing so it doesnt get a ton of use so I cant justify paying thousands for a new one. I would if I could afford it and it was going to be generating enough revenue to justify the cost in a short time. So my question is, is the SC2 a good choice for a small upgrade or should I just get another MH871? Also, will the SC2 work with SignBlazer ok? Its my preferred software as I have save a ton of stuff in it and after 12 years, I just know it and it works more than enough for what I need it for. Thanks.

I guess my next question is, what does the anti static kit consist of? I cant find any real actual picture of it. If its something I can make rather than pay $15 for something that consists of $2 in parts. EDIT: Never mind, I found it.

I think I might just pull the trigger on the SC2. The only real trouble the MH871 ever gave me was when I was using it on USB with larger images but I switched to the serial cable and that fixed that and I had to replace the Z axis chip in it twice because of static but other than that, it worked great for me for what I needed it for. One day I will buy something much better if I ever decide to really step up my vinyl game.

I have a very early model MH871 (Non MK2 model) and its been great for a lot of years but all of a sudden I went to use it and in Signblazer it will say its sending output to cutter but the cutter doesnt respond what so ever. It just sits there and does nothing. If I press the test button on the cutter it will make the little test pattern just fine. If I disconnect the DB9 (Serial) cable from the cutter or computer it will say it cant initialize so it is communicating somewhat cause it know if its connected to the computer or not. Im on a Win7 machine hooked up via the serial port (Not USB. Was having issue with that a while back). Now I hadnt cut anything for about 3-4 months and its was moved since a bit and I turned it on the other day, went to cut a job, and nothing. Any ideas? Mother board? Z-Axis chip (I think I have one or two around here as I have had to replace them before). Maybe the memory chip? I do have some 4mb memory chips that have never been installed. Any help or ideas would be great. Nothing on my computer has changed as its pretty much used only for my cutter.

I was looking at them. I just might do that. Im going to see if US cutter has any parts for this older MH871 also. Your link just goes right back to this topic. Also, I dont know why it would all of a sudden just stop working after like 4 or 5 years when no setting or anything have changed. I think something on the cutters motherboard finally bit the dust maybe. I have had it like 12 years. lol

The thing is, absolutely nothing has changed since I used it last that I can see. If the serial cable is plugged in, it will send the job to the cutter, but the cutter itself just sits there. If I dissconect the serial cable from the cutter, then I will get the "error initializing cutter" message. I am wondering if the I/O board is bad maybe. I dont know. I wish I had another computer to check it with. I totally redid my office and my mother helped me and she moved the cutter (on the stand, which was on the wood floor) and she never unplugged it or anything when she moved it so im wondering if maybe static got to something. And it being older, im guessing parts arent going to be a thing unless I can find someone with one they have laying around. lol

I have a first generation MH 871 and this thing is about to end up in the garbage! This has been an ongoing issue and seem like its only getting worse. I know I havent changed the blade in a while so not sure if that could be part of the issue but it makes for really sloppy looking cuts and getting to the point I dont want to cut anything for anyone. I mainly use Sign Blazer but I have also tried using Sign Cut with sometimes even worse results and I am starting to think its the cutter. This thing is leaving little dove tails and it is starting to not finish a cut where it sometimes started. I have attached a picture but I will try to get a better one later. I have wasted A TON of vinyl trying to correct this issue with zero luck. If anyone has ANY ideas please let me know. I bought this cutter from US Cutter about 4 1/2 years ago and I dont ever remember it being such an issue back when I first got it but then again its been so long now. As you can tell by the letter R on the right, for whatever reason it didnt finish where it started. Its getting worse on all the letters and I have decals here I have cut 100 times over and seems like just today its cuuting them awful as well. I am using the COM port. no USB. Was on USB for a long time but had bad results with longer cuts so switched it out. I have also since updated my OS from Vista to Windows 8 and that when most my issues seemd to have started. Any help or ideas here would be awesome. I have tried adjusting the blade offset the best I can for the best corners (Currently .35 in SB and SC). I have also tried adjusting the pinch roller thinking that maybe its not tracking 100% correctly or something with zero change. In SC I have tried upping the over cut with HORRIBLE results and the default overcut is still way too much. I even took the cutter apart twice and cleaned all the wheels and the tracks for the cutter and everything is tight and on track. I have adjusted the blade depth about 20 times and messed with all kinds of speeds and pressure with no changes. I remeber seeing a few posts somewhere in here some time ago but now I cant find them or if anyone found any sollutions. This is driving me totally crazy.

I am working on restoring a boat and want to cut the original logo that is on it and I am having a heck of a time getting a clean cuttable image from this. This is the best picture I have and would be awesome if someone could help me out. Sadly I stink at tracing stuff with not so good images. I have attached the image and also, here is a link to the original image encase the web site resizes it any. http://www.hippie459mn.com/downloads/IMG_20170408_010649.jpg I am using SignBlazer with .eps files if that makes any difference. Thank you.

Thank you.

Got a quick question. I have been doing this for years as a hobby and not really doing any real business but now I have a friend that wants some decals cut that I designed for them and they approved the design this morning but im having a hard time trying to decide what to charge as I dont want them to feel like I am charging way to much yet dont want to feel like I am short changing myself on this job. The decals are 6"x6" using white Oracal 651 and they want a 150 of them to start. I have never really done any bulk pricing before like this so any ideas would be great. Thank you.

Thank you!!! I dont know how the heck I ever missed that.

So today I was doing a cut of 36" x 10 1/2" and it stopped cutting half way through and then the cutter just stopped and appon restarting it, I noticed I had zero blade pressure and it wouldnt lift either. I am guessing the z-chip went out. Wondering how is the right way to test this with the 9-volt battery? Also, is there another sourse for these chips or are they a pre-programmed chip? I have a huge electronic parts supplier somewhat local (digikey) and if I could cross referance the chip I would rather go that route. Plus US Cutters $9 shipping for a tiny chip is completely outragous! I could see buying 500+ chips but for only 1 or 2 of them, thats a bit on the price gouging side.

Yes, the Z-Chip fixed my issue and yes, I have a few left. Will send you a message.

Well, I went to a friends house tonight and tried it on his new MH 871 (Literately a month old) and pretty much got the same results but it was a bit cleaner. Im starting to wonder if its a combination of the file and the cutter. Whats weird is the text part of the file is right from within signblazer so wouldnt imagine there would be a big issue with it cutting but maybe I am wrong. And no it is not pulling from the roll. Also today I did try to clean the tracks that the roller sit in and that didnt help but man were they dirty. lol I tried adding a bit of oil to the blade to help it spin better and no go. As for the belt, it seems tight but not sure how to gauge how tight it should be. I am going to do some more testing later tonight when I get my kid to bed and report back. I will figure this out if it kills me. lol Also, thinking of trying out SCAL and see how that works or makes any kind of a difference. Seems like a lot of people are liking it. Hope they have a trial or anything so I can try before I buy.

I forgot about this topic before I posted this new one. Im about to go crazy with this thing here http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php?/topic/42584-cutting-issues-bad-cuts-dove-tails/ Anyone have any ideas I would be open to them.

I have SBE and wondering if there is anywqay to set the blade offset ot a negative number. If I increase it its leaving a bigger gap on cuts but at 0 it pretty darn close and I feel if I could go to a -0.10 offset it would be about perfect. Anyone have any ideas? I was on Win Vista before and had to use .15 offset but now I am running Windows 8 and just installed and some reason it is different now and could really use a negative offset to get the cleanest cuts.

Surprised no one has mentioned http://www.hostgator.com I have been with them for almost 5 years now and only had to contact them once and it was for something I did anyways so was mostly my fault. They have awesome uptimes and the prices are pretty awesome for the features. I myself have my domain names through domain.com and godaddy but use hostgator for my hosting/web server.

My neighbor is a photographer and like she always says, Prices are for not only the picture taking but my time, equipment costs (She has almost $6k wrapped up into just her one camera and maybe 2 or 3 lenses alone), any overhead expenses, travle time, time spent editing the photos, the cost of photo devolopment/printing... You get the idea now why it costs what it does? And by her taking the pictures you sign a contract saying she will give you full rights to the photos and provides you with them on disk so you can do as you please with them, but by signing the contract you also alow her to use the photos at her discression for advertising for her business such as flyers, business cards, etc... You dont like the cost of having a profesional do it, then take the pictures yourself and do as you please with the photos... How about we get back on topic here, and that is sharing work that is not copyrighted or your own personal work you do not mind sharing for others to use. Otherwise known as licanse free.

Name your business one of the names you mentioned other then CG-Etreme Grapichs and then you might have problems but you are not CG-Extreme Thermal Copound or Air Valves. lol

But you are paid by your company to draw said designs. It would different if you were self employeed/free lancer and you approched the company and offered to sell them to them. Then they woiuld be yours until you sold them to them and even then, depending on whatever is in the contract, you could still hold most of the rights to the originals. Just like the guys that do the drawings for Disney. Just cause they drew them does not make them theirs. They were hired by a company to draw thier copyright material. Just as your company is doing with you. You just dont get it I dont think...

Looks good. Another Minnesotain I see

I didnt get them from US Cutter and they are ST chips so no genaric. Picked them up from my electronics supplier. Just cross referanced the numbers off the old one and good to go. First class would be about $3 tops im sure. I send out a lot of small stuff like that via usps and its usually in that area.

Well, I turned the blade way in and set the pressure at 150 and got a way better cut and was able to adjust the offset and looks like .35 was about best. And my cutter is actually way quieter now. Weird... But now the issue of the wavy (saw tooth looking) lines in the straight cuts Its not super bad but it is noticable. I remember having them long ago but I just slowed the cutter way down and have always run it slower to avoid this. I will get it figured out though. So far its cutting a lot better it looks like and its way easier to weed now so I am going in the right direction. Going to turn the pressure up to about 200 and see what I end up with.

Doing some adjusting now. Will report back. Thank you for the help so far. Oh yeah, Using Oracle 651