Parts of letters getting bent up when cutting

[prettybird 0]

Hi, I have a Seiki SK870T cutter and sometimes when I cut out a saying (more often than not lately) it messes up the letters on the corners.  It lifts the vinyl up on the corners of the letters it cuts out so the vinyl kind of wrinkles up and sometimes I have to redo the letter because it is ruined.  I am using Oracal matte vinyl.  It does it maybe on 5 letters in the saying and the rest are fine even though they might be the same letter and same size.  Any suggestions on how I can fix this so it doesn't ruin my letters?  Thanks!

[pyrophire 0]

Sounds like your cutting blade might be dull, you can try switching it out and see if that fixes the problem.

[prettybird 0]

I did just recently replace the blade, but I will try another one just in case.  What's better, a 45 degree or 60 degree blade? Thanks

[MZ SKEETER 4,709]

for smaller and detailed work a 60 degree

[mr300s 1,272]

also make sure there is no little bits of vinyl stuck up inside the holder as it needs to spin in there.  Also a drop of oil in there goes a long way to help also.

[prettybird 0]

When changing the blade I did notice a couple small bits of vinyl stuck up there. Maybe that was causing some of it.  I'll try it out and see how it goes now.  I will try some oil too.

Thanks!

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

also make sure there is no little bits of vinyl stuck up inside the holder as it needs to spin in there.  Also a drop of oil in there goes a long way to help also.

+1 the oil is a real helper

[wwpro 1]

does the oil need to be applied on the blade itself ? 

[Toolman 1]

Go with the cleancut blades they are super sharp. i use a 60for everything i cut now.

[NukleoN 34]

Hi, I have a Seiki SK870T cutter and sometimes when I cut out a saying (more often than not lately) it messes up the letters on the corners.  It lifts the vinyl up on the corners of the letters it cuts out so the vinyl kind of wrinkles up and sometimes I have to redo the letter because it is ruined.  I am using Oracal matte vinyl.  It does it maybe on 5 letters in the saying and the rest are fine even though they might be the same letter and same size.  Any suggestions on how I can fix this so it doesn't ruin my letters?  Thanks!

I've had this issue in the past too. Usually, it's a result of one or more of these issues (which others have mentioned as well) and a few of my own insights:

Dull blade

Bits of vinyl stuck to blade tip

Too much pressure on very small letters (you don't need that much pressure with a sharp or the Clean Cut blades). I use 110 for normal vinyl, 130 for thicker stuff. Too much pressure can sort of push your letters into the backing paper, making it harder for your app-tape to lift the letters when you're ready to apply or worse, when your customer wants to apply your decal.

Too high of a cutting speed (slower speed is better for a lot of detail). I believe my cut speed is 60. Pretty slow but not too slow.

Wrong offset (a starting point is 25mm for 45-degree blade).

With small letters it's even more important to get this right...but if you have your settings right all of your decals will weed easier in general.

Apparently the oil people use is sewing machine or fishing reel oil, but I haven't oiled my cutter blade yet. I'll probably pick some up soon. Some people use dry graphite for lubrication since oil can tend to attract dirt, but that sounds messy to me too (though I haven't tried it yet).