Just as I expected....

[stickygrafix 2]

Last night was the first time I have tried to use the MH721 and it did just as I figured it would.....cut straight across the vinyl like the piece of crap I already owned. I guess these machines are designed for little 6" decals 1 at a time or that is all I'M suppose to make anyway. Just to test out the cutting depth and the speed I told the machine to cut 1" Arial letters 50 in total and it cut 1-12 and on the number 13 it cut all the way across the vinyl and then stopped. I figured for the price this machine was gonna be junk and I got what I expected. I guess the old saying is true, you get what you pay for. After buying this machine, I think I'm just gonna call it quits and get out of the sign business. I don't have the money to buy a high dollar Roland or anything so I guess I'll just call it quits while I still can and haven't invested TOO much into the business.

Keep an eye out everyone on ebay for a really good deal consisting of a brand new only used once Refine MH721, a Creation Pcut 630, 45 rolls of vinyl, 2 emachine computers with LCD screens and TONS of other stuff. I'll probably sell it all for around $3000.

[TaterNuts 3]

Its odd that you have had 2 cutters do the same thing...

Where you from??? I may be interested in this deal...

I have nothing but 'cheap' cutters, and yes, I have experienced this randomly on my other machines, but never my refine.

If you are close, I maybe able to look at your machine and see why its not working correctly...

[TaterNuts 3]

Or we could meet half way or something... Im in toledo ohio...

PM me if you want me to help you...

[stickygrafix 2]

I guess one of my biggest problems in life is when I get ticked off I call it quits without sitting down and calming down first. My wife pointed out that I was trying to use it on my laptop with the USB converter so I guess I will try it with the serial and parallel first before calling it quits. But, at the same time, I'm definitely done using the creation. I hated that machine from the day I got it and Sign warehouse wouldn't do ANYTHING to help!

Well, I will get back to you guys with what I find out changing the connection type. Plus I think I'll switch over to my desktop and try it instead of my laptop. I'll let you know if I still need the help Tater....I might take you up on the offer if I don't have any luck later today.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

I've never had a problem with the refine cutting across the graphic,other than when it was in demo mode. My brother got his creation 2 weeks ago and has NEVER had the problem. I just talked to him,he cut the lettering for 14 banners last night,including letters that were 24 inches tall x 14 inches wide. I don't think the problem ,in your case,is the cutters. In fact,I know it's not. It is either in the set-up,the grounding,or the software.

There are numerous posts on this board about random cuts. and the solutions. Have you tried any of the fixes or just assumed the problem was in the cutters.?

In my experience,if you start out expecting things to go wrong,they usually do.

What you need to do is...if you can't solve the problem yourself,get someone who lives in your area to come out (or you go to them) and have them set things up for you. I had a guy drive over 100 miles,bringing cutter and laptop,up to my house. What he couldn't do in a week,I was doing in 20 minutes. It was ALL in the setup.

The other day I spent over an hour on the phone trying to help him set up a printer. The first thing i asked him was did he do everything in the correct order. He said yes.

After an hour of wasting my time... I had him uninstall,and start over. The problem,all along,was that he didn't wait to plug the USB in to then printer until he was told to.

Point is,sometimes the simple mistakes you overlook can keep everything from running right.

In the event that you can't find anyone close enough who is willing to take a few hours to help you,I suggest you call Ken during busines shours,and have him walk you through it. This should have been your first option before labeling a cutter that I,along with hundreds of others,use daily and in fact make my living with...a piece of junk.

If calling Ken doesn't work, I am sure either Tater or myself would be happy to get a deal on the cutters. I would bet my old granny's whalebone corsett that i could have either or both up and running correctly within an hour,as could tater.

As Sherlock Holmes said..when you eleminate all possibilities,what remains is the solution. In this case,it's called troubleshooting.

One last thing,I hate to ask the most obvious of all...but you did register and activate Signblazer(if that is the software you got)? The cutting across the garphic is what it DOES in demo mode.

[stickygrafix 2]

I've set everything up based on the info I read in the manual and on here. As for signblazer, it looks too cheap to me so I won't use the software. (sorry, I'm picky and it looks generic to me) I cut using sign tools 3 and it actually has drivers and everything for the Refine.

Like I said, I'll try using my desktop, I'll try making sure it is grounded as good as possible (even if it means doing an earth ground myself outside of my house.

[Guest fivestar]

Keep an eye out everyone on ebay for a really good deal consisting of a brand new only used once Refine MH721, a Creation Pcut 630, 45 rolls of vinyl, 2 emachine computers with LCD screens and TONS of other stuff. I'll probably sell it all for around $3000.

I wouldn't call that a good deal, sorry.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

There you go,assuming things again...I've been using Flexi for a long time...considered by many to be the best in the business. Certainly not cheap. After a few months of Signblazer,I find it to be almost the equal of Flexi. certianly NOT cheap. The full version will cost you about $2000 USD.

Signblazer has been in business for over 10 years,based in Australia. A little research would have told you this. It is a full featured designing AND cutting applicaton.AND does not require a 3rd party app to use.If you want genericmtry signcut,or artcut. Signblazer is a PROFESSIONAL sign cutting software.

If you are using Sign Tools 3 with Corel,that could be part of the problem. Once again,a search of the forums turns up problems with cutting through Corel.

Why don't you just...for the fun of it...instead of wasting more time ....load and register Signblazer and see what happens. The fact is..nobody on these forums,or Ken, can help you much if they don't have the same software you are using. You can't troubleshoot something that you are unfamiliar with.

If you aren't willing to put forth a little effort,or try some of the thing suggested,nobody will help you. And installing Signblazer would be a good first step.

As for sign tools 3...I tried a demo version about a year ago..uninstalled it the same day. I couldn't use it.

Oh,and the grounding is for the cutter.not the computer.And all you really need to do is run a wire from the cutter to the stand. Ground the cutter to the stand. Mine isn't grounded,but like I said before,I've never had any problems.

[stickygrafix 2]

There you go,assuming things again...I've been using Flexi for a long time...considered by many to be the best in the business. Certainly not cheap. After a few months of Signblazer,I find it to be almost the equal of Flexi. certianly NOT cheap. The full version will cost you about $2000 USD.

Signblazer has been in business for over 10 years,based in Australia. A little research would have told you this. It is a full featured designing AND cutting applicaton.AND does not require a 3rd party app to use.If you want genericmtry signcut,or artcut. Signblazer is a PROFESSIONAL sign cutting software.

If you are using Sign Tools 3 with Corel,that could be part of the problem. Once again,a search of the forums turns up problems with cutting through Corel.

Why don't you just...for the fun of it...instead of wasting more time ....load and register Signblazer and see what happens. The fact is..nobody on these forums,or Ken, can help you much if they don't have the same software you are using. You can't troubleshoot something that you are unfamiliar with.

If you aren't willing to put forth a little effort,or try some of the thing suggested,nobody will help you. And installing Signblazer would be a good first step.

As for sign tools 3...I tried a demo version about a year ago..uninstalled it the same day. I couldn't use it.

Oh,and the grounding is for the cutter.not the computer.And all you really need to do is run a wire from the cutter to the stand. Ground the cutter to the stand. Mine isn't grounded,but like I said before,I've never had any problems.

Not once did I say signblazer WAS cheap, I said it LOOKS cheap and I don't want to use it. I downloaded the demo and it looked like crap. I don't like the layout of it and it's cartoony look, so I won't use it. As for coreldraw being the problem, I know it's not coreldraw because I had the same problem with cibercut, signcut x2, and Flexisign Pro. I guess I can try using multiple programs just to cut decals if that's what it is gonna take. I guess I will use photoshop to design, illustrator to vectorize, zoner photo studio to view them on my computer, and signblazer to cut? Sure seems like a hell of a lot of trouble just to make a sticker.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

I run a full time sign shop.It is what i do for a living. Flexi and Signblazer is software designed for the sign buisness. Corel is not.Repeat: corel is NOT. Corel is design software that can be used for cutting with plug-ins. The problem you are having is in the cutting.

It seems to me from your post that you have had trouble with just about everything you have used. Have you ever actually had a success at cutting anything,with any cutter?

If you aren't willing to do what everyone else on these forums has suggested,I think you should just pack it up,send it back and buy yourself an expensive Roland cutter.You can probably get $50 for the SignBlazer on ebay to help pay for it.They probably have forums too,for when you can't get it to work. You were trashing the refine before you even got it.

I'll say it again,but I won't say the obvious...the problem isn't the cutter.

I've spent a lot of time trying to help people on here. But never anyone who was absolutely determined NOT to try anything that might actually solve the problem.

I apologize to everyone else for the rant....these are forums hosted for free by US cutter and the point of a forum is to seek out and offer help. None of us like to waste our time offering suggestions that will be ignored.

Meanwhile,I'll just keep running my very successful business with my 2 sub-$500 cutters and be grateful for the help I have found here.

[stickygrafix 2]

I am taking suggestions from people on how to fix the problem. I haven't even had a chance to try the suggestions yet....I was just telling you what I know. I know that with my creation, I tried cutting with flexisign pro 7.6, cibercut, signcut x2, artcut, and 2 or 3 other programs and EVERY program I tried would still cut lines across the vinyl every once in a while. (I would say 1 time out of every 6 or 7 jobs). THEN, when I purchased this machine, I came on here and noticed that other people were complaining about the EXACT same thing with the Refine machine. That is why I was worried before I even got it but people talked me out of worrying saying that it wasn't a common problem. But then, last night, while setting up my machine, I decided to do a simple job just to check out the machine and to my surprise, this machine did it too.....just like OTHER people had experienced. I tried cutting it with Coreldraw at first I'll admit, but then decided maybe it was a problem with the program so I tried Flexisign Pro 7.6 and not only did it do it too, it did it sooner in the cut than Coreldraw did. (around number 8 of 25). I'll try anything I can to remedy this problem and not have problems again. I'll ground the machine to the stand, I'll use signblazer, I'll buy flexisign 8 if I knew that would fix my problems for good. I just wish I didn't ruin half a roll of vinyl when I try to do a job.

So all arguing aside, what are your suggestions right now as to make it cut the designs and not cut across the vinyl like this?

Is it grounding and signblazer? Is it serial instead of usb? Is it my desktop instead of laptop? Is it all of the above?

Also, every time I turn the machine off and turn it back on, it resets the origin to all the way to the right of the machine to the reset button, is this normal?

[Guest missy]

I really appreciate all the help I have gotten.  I just purchased signblazer but I am having a hard time doing what I want it do. I am trying to layer colors.  The outline is not functional and the registration marks are not functional.  How can I get around that.  Is there another way to do this.  I do not know how to fix manual registration marks and with out them laying colors is just about impossible.  Thanks to anyone who can help.

[Guest fivestar]

Sticky please post the file you are trying to cut and if nobody tries to cut it tonight I will cut it tomorrow.  I will try cutting out 25 copies and see if mine does it.  I have a 721 also.  I really believe that there is a grounding issue that is causing your problems.

[kenimes 42]

When you turn the Refine cutter on, or press the reset button, the carriage always returns to default origin (the far right).

It is possible that one or maybe all of the factors may be affecting your cutter. The random slash is not easy to troubleshoot. Some say a cooler setting for the cutter helps, some say proper grounding, some say different connection method or even a different computer. All the cases seem to vary a bit, with varying solutions, so there is really no 1 simple fix carved in stone.

With a little patience I think we will figure it out, and worst case scenario- it could be a hardware malfunction. If so, we will make sure and get you the part you need to resolve.

[stickygrafix 2]

Ok, I want to state for the record that I am deeply sorry for coming on here and trashing the machine and arguing with people. This past couple of weeks has been very stressful around here and I basically came on here and let out all my pent up anger.

Sorry to everyone and I really do value everything that people have suggested.

Also, has anyone heard anything from beardown? I PM'd him about his youtube video showing how to silkscreen using vinyl and never heard anything back....I'd really like to see that video.

[kenimes 42]

I have not seen Beardown for a couple of weeks, so I emailed him to see if all was alright. We had to send him another MB for his cutter, and I have not heard anything since......so I can only assume. I also asked if the video was still available. Hope to hear back from him.

As for the pent up anger, I completely understand. I have been known to vent in a forum myself, just not the one I admin. 

Keep me posted on the slashing issue so that we may resolve.