Newbie needs help

[jlprest 1]

I totally new to the vinyl cutting arena so I may be making a multitude of errors but here goes...

I have a Copam 2500 cutter (settings 30 mm.sec, 60 g, and .25 blade offset - 45 degree blade that came with cutter)

Using Greenstar white vinyl 24"

SignBlazer software, images created with CorelDraw X4 and exported to EPS file

I cut a few items with letters and seemed fairly good though cut paths did not exactly meet in a few instances but not off by much.

I created this graphic for my own use - it's about 6x8" in size. (Picture enclosed)  The problem is the vinyl seems to catch on the knife at times and get pulled up at the corners and some of the smaller lines will pull up and fold over - a royal mess.

I've played with the cutter height and it seems about right - cuts through vinyl and part way into backing but not all the way through.  Increasing  and decreasing cutting pressure did not help.  I also slowed speed down which did not seem to help much.  I did notice there is a place for cutter offset in Signblazer - not sure if .25 is to be entered there but either way didn't seem to make much difference.  The knife is brand new and looks clean.  I do have a 60 degree knife I got to cut sandblast resist I could try if you think it would help.

Perhaps I'm trying to do something that can't be done as far as the thinness of the lines (about 1/8"). 

Any suggestions appreciated.

Jackie

[JoeDirt 5]

is it cutting it twice? are you sure the graphic doesn't have layers?

[pitkin2020 1]

try posting up the EPS file maybe an issue with the file its self

[Jay2703 704]

Also put your blade in a little farther. It shouldn't be cutting into the backing paper at all.

Jay

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

both great ideas - looking at it I think it must be cutting the graphic more than once due to the little strings in the pic

[jlprest 1]

Thanks for your responses.  I think you may be right about cutting the image twice as there are small slivers of vinyl throughout.  I will upload the EPS file later when I get home.  I tried importing from a cmx file but I get "not a valid cmx file" or something similar.  Is there one file type I could export to from Corel Draw that is more reliable than others?

Thanks again

Jackie

[MZ SKEETER 4,709]

export as .eps file

[fargo_182 0]

I think your blade is wayyyyy to far out for starters.

Answer this, can you run your finger across the blade without feeling it? If yes, retract blade. You should only be able to slightly feel the blade. It should not cut through the backing at all. It should just slightly score the backing enough to the point where the vinyl weeds nicely.

[jlprest 1]

Here is my EPS file.  I'll play with adjusting the cutter depth and see if this helps. 

aTm Vector.eps

aTm Vector.eps

[JoeDirt 5]

they are lines .007" thick you need to fix by un-grouping and getting rid of the line and making them solid fills.

at least that's how I would do it.

I did it to the A and M the eps file is completely done.

aTm Vector2.eps

aTm Vector2.eps

[jlprest 1]

Thanks again

I think I understand - by creating the graphic with lines with no fill the cutter is basically cutting out the lines which creates two cuts on something that should be a single cut line.  Is this correct?

[JoeDirt 5]

yes I think the lines are for printing mostly

[jlprest 1]

I may be getting off thread somewhat but I wonder what people use to initially create graphics - a bitmap program then convert it to vector and cut or do you create directly in a vector program such as Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator and import to something such as SignBlazer or just create in SignBlazer directly?

Again, thanks for the help

[CyberSultan 6]

I create directly in a vector program.  I know many people that create directly in SBE, but even when I was using SBE...I still created my designs using Corel, Illustrator, and Inkscape (I do use all three based on what I'm trying to accomplish as each one has their own strengths and weaknesses).  I use mainly CorelDraw...but I was making a high school wrestling t-shirt design last week that really required Illustrator to do what I needed.

[MZ SKEETER 4,709]

all of the above,  plus    www.inkscape.org

whatever is the easiest for you to learn and feel comfortable using.

[Brandon_Davis 1]

Listen to these guyz there are spot on! For future issues remember US Cutter is here to help, customer of ours or not... http://support.uscutter.com and 1-888-298-8143

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Don't forget to vote in the VectorFest - http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php/topic,23925.0.html

[jlprest 1]

Thanks to everyone for your replies and assistance.  I seem to have the problem corrected and am pleased with the output I am getting.

Jackie