LP24 will not cut all the way through vinyl at times

[JV 1]

I have a minor, but irritating problem with my LP24. I mostly use it for cutting t-shirt vinyl transfers.

When cutting large graphic files, I get one or 2 areas about half inch long where the blade does not cut all the way through the  vinyl. It mostly happens on a radius or straight cut. I installed a new clean cut blade, adjusted pressure starting at 60 and ended up almost cutting through mylar backer at 100, backed it off slightly to 96. The blade is adjusted at 1/2 the thickness of a credit card, blade offset is at .25 mm. The cutting strip still looks new, no signs of damage. Cut lines are straight, everything seems great except this one issue. Is this something I need to put up with or should I try something else to fix it.

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

Make sure the vinyl is flat between the rollers, make sure the cut strip is all the way down. I had one cutter The strip was up on one side and after pushing it down firmly took care of the issue but it was a lot more than 1/2 inch.  Make sure carriage is on the track,

What vinyl are you using?

what are you cutting beside the straight and radius?

[sarconastic 29]

Your blade is out too far. I cut heat transfer at 120-130 and don't go through the backing, Getting a blade 1/2 the depth of a credit card is just a starting point, you then have to adjust it to make it and your pressure match up for the stuff your cutting. If it is not cutting through in certain areas, AND your cut strip is flat all the way across, then you do not have enough pressure. When the blades start making corners the force on the blade is increased and will cause the blade to pop up out of the vinyl for a little bit.

When the blade is out too far people tend to drop pressure to prevent it cutting through the backing. When set up correctly you shouldn't have a problem adjusting it to just cut through the vinyl. Keep in mind heat transfer vinyl is much thinner than regular vinyl, so you won't need as much blade sticking out to cut it.

Kevin

[JV 1]

Make sure the vinyl is flat between the rollers, make sure the cut strip is all the way down. I had one cutter The strip was up on one side and after pushing it down firmly took care of the issue but it was a lot more than 1/2 inch.  Make sure carriage is on the track,

What vinyl are you using?

what are you cutting beside the straight and radius?

I use eco-film from imprintables warehouse (same as siser easyweed)

I pressed all the way across the cut strip, feels even and smooth. Looked at carraige, it's OK. Problem can also happen cutting 1" or larger text, but no problems at sharp corners. Wondering if adding a 3rd hold down roller might help?

Your blade is out too far. I cut heat transfer at 120-130 and don't go through the backing, Getting a blade 1/2 the depth of a credit card is just a starting point, you then have to adjust it to make it and your pressure match up for the stuff your cutting. If it is not cutting through in certain areas, AND your cut strip is flat all the way across, then you do not have enough pressure. When the blades start making corners the force on the blade is increased and will cause the blade to pop up out of the vinyl for a little bit.

I use a quality Clean Cut Blade. It's sharper than standard blades. The manufacture says to decrease down force by 30-50%

When the blade is out too far people tend to drop pressure to prevent it cutting through the backing. When set up correctly you shouldn't have a problem adjusting it to just cut through the vinyl. Keep in mind heat transfer vinyl is much thinner than regular vinyl, so you won't need as much blade sticking out to cut it.

Kevin

I have tried making small adjustments with blade depth, more and less, problem gets worse when I decrease blade depth. Afraid to give it too much blade. When I watch the cutter closely, it seems like the vinyl lifts slightly in the middle then comes back down when blade goes up then down, but don't know if that's normal. I have the pinch rollers set about 1 inch in from edges of vinyl. 15" wide material. Have not tried moving them in closer together, because I usually cut fairly close to edge of material.

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

Definitely less pressure with the clean cut. 1 you will cut clear thru and 2 you will break the tip of the blade off with too much pressure as it is a sharper finer point

[tlzimmerman 11]

My.02

I am with sarcontastic on this one.  The way I want my cutter set up is to have just enough blade out to cut through the vinyl and just graze the backing paper.  I spend alot of time getting thigns set up just right , and honestly I can set my pressure upwards of 180 grams and still not cut through the backing because there just isn't enough blade there to cut though, it rides on the collar and I use just enough pressure to get through the vinyl and graze the backing, no more no less.  I normally run at about 120-130 with non clean cut blades, and I would assume clean cut would run around 100 or so based on reviews from here.  Some colors like white are a little thicker it seems to me, or cut harder, so sometimes I have to bump the pressure on those a bit.  Either way......you should be riding on the collar of the blade holder while cutting, with enough force that the blade never comes out of the vinyl.

One thing to make sure there isn't an uneven cutting surface, is the lapses in cutting happening in the same place all the time, or is it just random?

[JV 1]

Thanks for all of your replies,

Today I will try decreasing blade depth and increasing pressure. I was wondering if the blade holder collar should be contacting the vinyl, so it does sound like I have to much blade out. I have firmly pressed across the cutting strip to see if any high/low spots, but seems ok. Strip has never even been cut by blade yet, so no signs of damage.

Thanks again to all

[JV 1]

Your blade is out too far. I cut heat transfer at 120-130 and don't go through the backing, Getting a blade 1/2 the depth of a credit card is just a starting point, you then have to adjust it to make it and your pressure match up for the stuff your cutting. If it is not cutting through in certain areas, AND your cut strip is flat all the way across, then you do not have enough pressure. When the blades start making corners the force on the blade is increased and will cause the blade to pop up out of the vinyl for a little bit.

When the blade is out too far people tend to drop pressure to prevent it cutting through the backing. When set up correctly you shouldn't have a problem adjusting it to just cut through the vinyl. Keep in mind heat transfer vinyl is much thinner than regular vinyl, so you won't need as much blade sticking out to cut it.

Kevin

Thanks to all for your help. The recommendations from clean cut blade to reduce down force 30-50% seemed to be the main problem, also I did have the blade out to far. I first set the down force back up to 130, then retracted the knife blade all the way back in until it would barely cut the vinyl, then slowly adjusted blade out until it left a light scoring on the backer. Noticed much nicer cuts right away. Really put it to the test when I needed 1/4" font cut today.

Slowed the cut speed down to 30 and hit cut. I have never been able to weed small fonts without loosing some letters, but they all came out perfect. Thanks again for your help, now I don't feel like I need to buy a better cutter.

[sarconastic 29]

Great,, glad your getting somewhere. These machines are good, IF you take the time to ask questions, read the available forum info and do the necessary adjustments.

I would now try adjusting the pressure down and cut some things. Like someone has posted, too much pressure can break the tip on a cleancut blade. I don't want you wasting your money. try a couple things and drop it 10 each time until the problem recurs. One thing I have learned is that too much pressure also affect the accuracy of your cuts.

Good Luck

Kevin

[tlzimmerman 11]

Glad to hear its working for you.  These cheaper machines are harder to dial in, but they can make some pretty nice cuts when you get it done right!

Congrats.  The longer you run one the easier it gets.

[JV 1]

Great,, glad your getting somewhere. These machines are good, IF you take the time to ask questions, read the available forum info and do the necessary adjustments.

I would now try adjusting the pressure down and cut some things. Like someone has posted, too much pressure can break the tip on a cleancut blade. I don't want you wasting your money. try a couple things and drop it 10 each time until the problem recurs. One thing I have learned is that too much pressure also affect the accuracy of your cuts.

Good Luck

Kevin

Yes, I did notice the cutter was tugging on the vinyl, settled in at 115 gf. Cuts like butta

[sarconastic 29]

: Great!

One last tip now that you have it dialed in for Vinyl. If you want to cut heatpress vinyl all I do it take the adjuster nut and turn it about a quarter turn to the right and bump the pressure up 10 pts. Then when you go back to vinyl reverse it. I am not using a clean cut so you may have to make those a bit smaller to prevent cutting through the backing. but once you find the happy point you can switch back and forth on a moments notice.

Kevin

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

another tip - I purchased a separate holder just for reflectives/metalics as they are hard on blades and it is much easier than changing settings when you have to change a blade all  the time.  Heat applied I seldom have to make adjustments