drag knife off-setting?

[cegglestn 0]

how can i change this?? it doesnt seem to cut very square.  How can i adjust it to cut things square.  Im using signblazer.

[Bruce SignBlazer Support 0]

To adjust the blade offset go into cutter setup and set it in the blade offset position.

[Jerry Bonham 1]

Hi Everyone,

There appears to be great confusion over correct blade offset.

So here a few tips to help.

First of all the offset quoted for all blades is in millimeters.

Now how do you translate 0.25mm to inches?

My trusty calculator tells me that this is 0.0098425 inches.

So what do you do?

Well in SignBlazer when you run the program in Inches the blade offset stays in millimetres. 

So just enter 0.25 for all normal blades marked as Roland Equivalent.

For normal blades marked Mimaki or PCut the offset is 0.30

Blades with other angles have other offsets.  These are usually marked clearly on the packet.

Sometimes I get asked what blade to use for different thicknesses of vinyl.

Here is a guide for PCut Blades. For Roland blades simply use the nearest angle and offset.

Now you have to understand the difference between angle and offset.

Angle is the angle of the blade in relation to the centreline of the blade.

Offset is the distance from the tip of the point to centre of the blade.

So you can have a 50 degree blade with quite different offsets.

A 50 degree blade could have an offset of 0.15 or 0.30 or 0.50.

1. For small letters (quarter of an inch or less ? 5 mm)  Blade angle  should be  50 degrees and an offset value of 0.15 (these are not cheap and hard to buy).  You use these blades on only 7 year calendered or cast for small letters.

2. For standard calendered vinyl the normal blade supplied and sold is 50 degree with a 0.30 offset. This is used for 90% of all work.

3. For Cast Vinyl a special blade is made and sold.  Again this is not a low cost blade and may be hard to find.  The angle for cast vinyl should be 36 degrees with the same offset of 0.30mm

4. For heavier vinyl such as fluo a heavier angle is needed.  So the blade best for this work is 50 degree blade with an offset of 0.50.  Sometimes the blade angle may be 60 degrees.

5. For heavy rubber and very thick materials you need and even higher offset.  The blades used for this usually have an offset of 0.75. The angle will be 60 degrees.

Executive Summary.

Blade angles are from 30 degrees to 60 degrees.  The higher the angle the thicker the material cut.

Blade Offsets can be from 0.15 to 0.50. The smaller the offset the thinner the substrate being cut.  The bigger the offset the thicker the material being cut.

Now sometimes you need to be able to set the offset yourself.

If anyone wants a ---how to ---- on this just put a post up to this reply and I will give full instructions with illustrations to calibrate the perfect offset for any blade.

Jerry from SignBlazer

[mt_man_paul 0]

Jerry I want to know how to adjust the off-setting to our machine. Please send me the information.

Thanks,

Paul

[mars 45]

I really wish Jerry could answer - unfortunately he passed away last year - before I found this forum - so I never corresponded with him.  I do use and enjoy his program (SBE) and want to see the program come back under new owners sometime in the future.

As to answering your question somebody who knows will step up and I look forward to seeing the answer too.

-Mike

[Jay2703 704]

In the cutter set-up window there is a blade offset setting. Usually .25 mm for a standard 45 degree blade. See this post for more information:

http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php/topic,16152.msg127602.html#msg127602