Newbie Vinyl cutting problems

[MikeOswald 0]

Hello, great forum you have here.  I have been cutting for about 2 months and been doing pretty good locally.  Today I replaced the blade and my cut lines are now very very rough a jagged.  Never seen this before.  Please help.

Attached are 2 pictures.

It is not just the straight lines, also the curves are very rough.  The blades are new Rolands

The depth is perfect, I think, just enough to get through the vinyl and barely cutting into the linear.  Pressure is 100g.    There must be something simple I am missing.

I have some huge jobs coming up and there is no way I can present this to the clients, it looks like it is cut by a 1st grader.  The files are perfect, I have cut some of these in the past flawlessly, but now they are just bad.

Thanks in advance for any help guys!

[wasatchcars 0]

I had the same exact thing happen.

I replaced me blade just like you never got it right it was a 45 degree blade got frustrated threw it our put a new 60 degree blade in and it worked perfect.

I am still not sure if it was a bad blade or that it was 45 degree.

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

or blade not rotating freely - a drop of 3 in one oil will cure that.  also what cutter do you have?  if p-cut they used 2 different sized blades depending on if it was a new model or old

[deth502 39]

i had a similar problem when the blade/holder got dirty and was keeping the blade from rotating freely. maybe there was a small shard of vinyl on the tip that got pushed in there somehow??

mine just got cleaned out and i shot a little dry graphite in there and it was fine.

easy fix, id give it a shot before you start dropping money on it.

[deth502 39]

beat me to it

idk which is better, but my opinion on the lube:

anything that i dont want to continuously clean/maintain/re-oil, i dont like going with things like 3 in 1 oil. it holds dust and dirt, and, sooner or later, becomes a paste that needs to be cleaned out. thats why i prefer the dry graphite.

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

graphite is better but more people have the 3 in 1 , sewing machine oil, reel oil around the house to try

[deth502 39]

ok, i was just wondering if there was some reason that i wasnt thinking of that would make 3 in 1 a better choice in this application.

[MikeOswald 0]

Thanks for the helps guys, I was really hoping the 3in1 oil (all I had available) would do the trick, but no luck, still very jagged and rough, I can hear that something is not right, almost like there is too much friction when cutting, it is just way louder than it should be.  The blade depth is good, I've tired more/less pressure and faster/slower speeds, nothing is working for me.  The material is oracal.  I never should have messed with the blade

Any other possible things that could be wrong?  Something in the track rollers?  Pinch rollers?    There is not much to the machine.   

The cutter is a rabbit-800, china built junk, but the guy I bought my laser engraver from gave it to me for almost nothing to make the sale of the laser.  Alas there is no service and I am ready to junk the whole machine.

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

order a clean cut blade   http://www.cleancutblade.com/   great reviews on these,  after all, you said all you did was change the blade.  So try a different kind Why junk a cutter, for that.  Or I'm sure you will get plenty of offers for it cheap....

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

also when you do a simple test cut, what does it look like?  is it perfectly square?  If not, have you adjusted your blade offset any? 

[MikeOswald 0]

You're right, I am not getting rid of the machine, I just demand a lot from myself and my work, when I can not produce high quality stuff, I have a short fuse  , lol.

I have 4 other brand new blades, all of them cut the same roughness, so I ruled that out.

the test cut is perfect straight and square.

[roxanneupnorth 106]

Does your file have too many nodes?.....

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

Have you still got the old blade?  if so, throw it back in, until you figure out the problem,  unless it is poor quality. 

[tinaski 11]

you might have done this all ready but just a question

-- did you put the old blade back in ?

-- is there a way to put a pen -magic marker -crayon -something in replace of the blade -

load a sheet of paper and plot that out. if you still get bad edges then you know its either the controls of the cutter or the design itself - i bet its not the design since you can see how it should look on the screen.

its prob going to be the controls - either motherboard, motor going south, or stuck rollers -

tell me if this is correct - if you cut lines up and down there fine - cutting lines left and right there fine - but if you cut at an angle there bad - both sets of rollers - motors have to move at the same time --

i have seen this happen a lot - i have never had it happen to me so i haven't had the chance to mess with it and see what the problem could be. from what i am aware of no one has found what causes that it would be trial and error. just some things you can try. lube up all bearings including the motor bearings that would allow them to roll smoother, after that its allot more technical. you can check the motors out ohm them and see what the resistance is they all should be very close. mother board find one and replace it and see what happens.

[MikeOswald 0]

I put the old blade in, no luck.

I put the pen in, and still jagged edges.

The files are perfect, I am a 10 yr CAD designer/user.

The straight lines are good, left right up down.

Angles. curvers are where it is bad 

I think I narrowed it down to 2 things, the rollers/motor like you said, or the cutting pad.  The pad is way worse then I first looked at it, to the point where it has cracked all the way through in some spots.

[NukleoN 34]

I put the old blade in, no luck.

I put the pen in, and still jagged edges.

The files are perfect, I am a 10 yr CAD designer/user.

The straight lines are good, left right up down.

Angles. curvers are where it is bad  

I think I narrowed it down to 2 things, the rollers/motor like you said, or the cutting pad.  The pad is way worse then I first looked at it, to the point where it has cracked all the way through in some spots.

Ok, so the cutter was doing great until you changed the blades? Here are some suggestions:

1. Check and make sure you replaced the blades with the same type of blade, and the correct blade for your machine.

2. Check your offset as it relates to the blade angle. As a general rule, .25mm offset for a 45-degree blade, adjusted as needed.

3. Double-check that your blade is not sticking out too far. It shouly only be sticking out about half the thickness of a credit card. It should be barely visible when held up against a light source or lit background.

4. Your blade pressure seems ok. The file is probably ok, but you can make a test file (with curves) and attach it in your next post so others can verify your EPS is not the issue. I've noticed that it's easy to overload your machine's memory with too many nodes (even if the vector looks perfect) and this can give unpredicable results. Don't assume it's not the EPS until you rule that out by having someone else cut from it.

5. Make sure there's no electrical or static electric fields interfering. Have you grounded your machine to an outlet or Earth? What kind of connection are you using from PC to cutter? I switched from a USB to a KeySpan a while back....I think my USB connection was probably ok but the KeySpan is way more secure as a physical connector and less prone to wiggling or dropped-connection.

You may also want to consider just getting a well-supported U.S. Cutter machine, like an LP24 or a Graphtec CE 5000 with contour-cutting, especially if you are doing big jobs. It's nice to train on the cheap stuff, but don't let the fact that you got a good deal on a cheap machine seal your fate forever....sometimes it's better just to cut your losses/frustration and get a better-quality unit with better support. If you're getting some local work, that's going to largely cover your investment and with a better product, you'll be a happier cutter and your machine will pay for itself in no time.  

That's all I've got for now.

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

replace the wear strip below the blade if it is that bad - sometimes they can just be flipped over.  Try another new blade in case that one is bad.  offset will only cause trouble in the turns so that should not be a factor.

[MikeOswald 0]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies.  I did order a new cutting pad, just did not get around to installing it.  I did do everything that was stated in the previous posts, but no luck, I am betting all on the cutting pad, it was worn all the way through so I could not flip.  Lesson learned to say the least.

I did upgrade to a used 48" Pcut machine.  I know this is still a little lower quaulity than the copams I was eyeing up, but it is a world of difference for me.  Great machine so.  Still have to work out some small bugs and learn the machine more but we are bak in business.  I am sure I will be needing more help down the road.

I plan to get my othe machine up and running again and use a back up.

[Rodger 527]

replace the wear strip below the blade if it is that bad - sometimes they can just be flipped over.  Try another new blade in case that one is bad.  offset will only cause trouble in the turns so that should not be a factor.

I read that D.O.T. standard reflective tape can be put on a damaged cutting strip for a repair. The article said it could be used forever like that , but I would just use it as a fix until a new strip could be gotten .

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

replace the wear strip below the blade if it is that bad - sometimes they can just be flipped over.  Try another new blade in case that one is bad.  offset will only cause trouble in the turns so that should not be a factor.

I read that D.O.T. standard reflective tape can be put on a damaged cutting strip for a repair. The article said it could be used forever like that , but I would just use it as a fix until a new strip could be gotten .

great tip Rodger

[MikeOswald 0]

I did use a thicker harder tape on the pad and that did work a little better, but still bad overall.

Now, today I did install the new strip I ordered.  Did a test cut and no better results.  The parts cut and are not so wavy, but more very jagged now.  I don't know what else it could be.  It is not software related as the same program controls my new pcut and it cuts excellent.  Blade is at the right depth and I have tried several different blades and different angled blades.    All I can think of now is it would be the roller feed system, the material is not slipping at all but maybe it is not advancing back and forth in the correct manor.

I'm ready to pull my hair out 

[Rodger 527]

Mike ,

There is an article that 1 of the USCutter personal posted somewhere in here . It described stepper motors vs servo motors . that may be what you are experiencing .

[MikeOswald 0]

Thanks Rodger.  I did a search, found some posts about, but nothing that appears to help.  I don't know know what a stepper or servo is, nor do I know if I have both or one of them.

Anyone want a 31" rabbit cutter for cheap?