Me or the PCUT

[MattS 0]

I have been using the PCUT for a while now and can not get it to cut perfect.  I don't know if it is me or the machine.  I have been reading everything here and adjusting every setting back and forth to try and fix this.  I throw away a lot of vinyl because of these little cut marks that show up.  I have a hard time explaining what it is doing so I drew up an example just to show ya.  I know others have this problem and some don't. 

Anyway, I am using SB for my cutter program and I do a lot of graphics in.  I definately do all the text in SB.  This pattern that is attached is what I use to test the cutter.  I have tried heavy pressure, light pressure, fast speeds, slow speeds, adjusting the blade, changing the offsets, and everything else I can find.  The best setting I can find right now is; offset 50, speed 30, and pressure 140.  But it still leaves these little extra cuts and sometimes doesn't close the loop at these locations. 

It gets very frustrating especially when my garbage can is full of vinyl that should be going to the customer.

PLEASE HELP.  I have a lot of cutting that needs done and sent out soon.

[Guest sciondrgn]

Just for point of reference here is my settings I am using on the PCut my cuts come out good. Maybe give them a try?

Avery A4 Vinyl

Offset - .25

Pressure - 95

Speed - 50 +/-  Normally leave it on 50-60 for larger cuts and slow it down for smaller or detailed cuts

Couple things to possibly check as well..

-Make sure the carriage's wheels are on the tracks

-Take the blade holder apart to make sure theres no bits of vinyl stuck in there and causing the blade to not spin freely

-Apply a drop of oil to the blade  to help it spin

-The Blade holder is in the rear slot of the carriage which puts it over the plastic cutting strip.

Hope that helps!

[MattS 0]

I haven't tried going below 30 on the offset.  It seems to get worse the lower I go.  But I will try it anyway.  I will try your setting all together and see what happens.

I am using Oracal 651 and ShineRight.

The blade is in the rear location.  I will take it apart and clean & lube. 

Are people getting perfect cuts with this machine.  Something with no marks anywhere.

[Popeye 0]

The smaller the offset the smaller the "hooks" are..

This might help http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php?topic=1694.0

[Guest sciondrgn]

None that i noticed, It seems like once you get the settigs just right for your material it cuts great! I have not had any noticble tags on my stuff Ive done

[MattS 0]

Alright, things are looking better as far as closing the loops.  EXCEPT, the cut still seems to start outside of the loop.  I have taken the offset down to 10 and pressure is at the minimum I can get to where I can still weed which is 105.  I have taken the speed down to 20 it is still doing it. 

Any other tips to try?

[Jerry Bonham 1]

Hello Matt,

I downloaded the JPG file and examined it closely.

If i am correct when the cutter finishes the circle the blade trails away?

I would have liked to see what it did with a rectangle.

It is very frustrating to have a problem that does not appear to have a solution.

Here are some other ideas.

1. The blade holder.

      Inside the blade holder is a set of tiny bearings.  these allow the blade to rotate and are inside at the top of the holder.  The tip that is inserted into the holder rotates on these bearings.  If one or more are missing then this will cause problems similar to what i see in the JPG file.

2. The Blade holder.

    The blade must rotate smoothly when it is in the holder.  If a bit of dirt or foreign material gets in there then this can cause this problem.

3. The blade itself

    Recently i have seen for the first time ever blades where the cutting tip is perfect however the tip that is inserted into the holder is not correct.  They have not been completed during manufacture.  You can see these incorrect tips by simply examining  it under a low power glass.  It should be mirror polished and the sides slope at 45 degrees.  The incorrect ones have a long point and rough edges unpolished.  These blades are useless and can cause this problem as they cannot turn correctly.

4. More on the blade.

  If you are using a 60 degree blade instead of 45 degree blade on normal vinyl with the incorrect offset then this is also a cause.

5. More on the blade.

  If the tip of the blade is broken or worn then this is also a cause.

That is all i can think of at the moment.

Check the above and let me know if any of this was a help?

jerry from SignBlazer.

[MattS 0]

I took all of Jerry's info and checked out my blades.  I still have the blades that came with the cutter and I examined them.  Two of the had an uneven rotating point.  The one that I had in there was the worse.  I grabbed the best one I had and went to put it in the holder.  It wouldn't even go in.  So I took the better of the two left over and put it all back in the cutter.  I could tell much about this blade holder except for a bearing at the end.  I don't know what kind of bearing it was because it would push into the holder and spring back into position.  So I cleaned it all up the best I could and put it back together and ran my test piece again.  I will say that this is probably the best I have gotten out of this cutter but it obviously is still wrong. 

I took my test piece and rubbed some chalk in it so I could show everyone what exactly is going on and scanned it.  You can see how the blade is either cutting to soon or its cutting to late.  I don't know.  But this is definitely what my problem is.  And notice how the corners are off on the squares and rectangles. 

Recap, the setting are currently

Speed: 40

Offset: 20

Pressure: 110

For reference, the big circle is 1 inch.

[Jerry Bonham 1]

Hey Matt,

Give Ken a ring and tell him about my post and your blades etc.

These blades with unfinished tops are a recent thing.

It is a real pain.

You may need a new blade holder.

I always recommend to have a spare so buy another from Ken.

Oh, access to the bearing in a blade holder is a non user :santahat: function.

It may all fall to bits if you try to open it up.

Glad to have been of assistance

Jerry from SignBlazer. :present:

[MattS 0]

I got a new holder and blades from Ken (Thanks Ken) and noticed it was different from my original.  This holder seems to have a lot more adjustments from my last one.  The one that came with the pcut did not have any hight adjustment, but the new one does.  Although with the new blade and holder the cuts are coming out better, I am still getting a few cuts out of bounds.  What can this adjustable blade holder do for me in this case.

How about some pictures to make sure I am setting this up right if someone has the time.  I would love to see a close up of the blade and adjustable holder in the up and down position and maybe some screen shots of the SB settings.  I was curious if cutter direction and that stuff would have some effect?

Thanks for everyones help so far.  Its getting close.

MattS

[Guest sciondrgn]

I have a picture of mine from an older thread here. I believe there is a newer design out now as mine only has the black cap that screws on at the bottom. I plan on ordering a couple extra holders pretty soon but someone posted a picture of the other design not to long ago, just not sure where it was posted.

http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php?topic=2101.0