dann6968 1 Posted November 3, 2011 So, lets say I cut five decals from one side to the other across the Y axis. The first and last decal will always be cut deeper than the middle three. Any idea why? The outside decals will either be cut too deep with the middle ok or the middle not deep enough and the outsides ok. Great way to waste vinyl. I set blade depth by hand on a scrap piece of vinyl and usually fine tune a bit on the machine. Pressure is usually around 120. Thanks in advance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
arty-rc 719 Posted November 3, 2011 Just a thought, Is your cutting strip damaged in the midddle area? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vinylmotivations 143 Posted November 3, 2011 Mine had the same issue (laserpoint 24) and it seemed to be hit and miss... I couldnt try a new cutstrip because their not available from USC> and my warranty expired. It could be a solenoid issue in the head assembly. Mine were usually like this, bottom line being the leading edge of the vinyl, X being bad O being OK... OOXXOO OXXXOO OOXXXO OOXOXO OOOXOO Totally not uncommon for me. I gave up and bought a graphtec. The answer I got from USCutter support was to dial up the pressure a bit (basically leaving too deep of cuts on the ones that were ok anyways) so either way, yep good waste of vinyl! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kenimes 42 Posted November 8, 2011 More pressure, and less blade exposed usually helps. Takes a bit to get her dialed in to the correct pressure and blade depth, but once you do, it should be fine all the way across. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vinylmotivations 143 Posted November 9, 2011 Mine worked fine for 8 months, at months 9 and 10- NOPE. So doubt its the machine. Finally put in a support ticket but USCutter has yet to get cut strips in and now my warranty on the cutter is up- so I have a door-stop. again. Oh well- I will save for a graphtec, and ebay it at this point probably. Hopefully worth at least 300 to someone that wants to deal with it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kenimes 42 Posted November 9, 2011 Mine worked fine for 8 months, at months 9 and 10- NOPE. So doubt its the machine. Finally put in a support ticket but USCutter has yet to get cut strips in and now my warranty on the cutter is up- so I have a door-stop. again. Oh well- I will save for a graphtec, and ebay it at this point probably. Hopefully worth at least 300 to someone that wants to deal with it. Have you tried removing your cutting strip completely, and then cutting? With barely any blade exposed, you should not worry about damaging it without a cutting strip there, because if you do go all the way through your material, there will be hardly any blade left exposed to damage. The PCuts and LaserPoints- both made by Creation, had this problem. I spent countless hours working on machines that were sent in with this issue, and many of them could be resolved without a replacement part. Just timely trial and error with blade depth and cut pressure, until it was dialed in for that particular machine. Funny thing is, there was no exact pressure setting that worked on all of them, even with eyeballing the blade depth as consistantly as I could. Anyhow, if you are going GraphTec, you will never have to worry about something like this again. Good luck! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BearlyRich 167 Posted November 9, 2011 Sitting here bored, so I'll thow out an idea just for conversation's sake... I can't think of anything that would cause such a problem except for a defect in the cutting strip. The electro-mechanical down-force of the blade should be the same no matter where the head is positioned. I had a thought about testing this and it is what I might do if I thought I had this problem. Take a nice stainless ruler and use double-sided tape to mount it on top of the cutting strip. A ruler with nothing on the back side, and having that blank back side facing up is what would be nice for a smooth surface. Now, run a test cut across the surface of the ruler. We know there's no chance of damaging the blade because it's depth is set correctly and will not cut through the backing paper of the vinyl. Right! With that perfectly smooth and hard cutting surface, you should get a perfect cut across the vinyl. If not, there is something else wrong. I suppose any other flat, thin and hard "stick" could be used on top of the cutting strip but the ruler was the first thing that came to mind. Cut a strip of lexan or something similar for nothing else... folks around here have also used a strip of heavy reflective vinyl to cover a bad strip. Just a thought... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vinylmotivations 143 Posted November 9, 2011 In these machines the cut strip is actually recessed into a groove, and uses kind of a tongue and groove setup to hold it in place. If you remove it, there will essentially be a valley beneath the blade leaving nothing for the blade to press against. I had this machine for quite a while and have had nothing but good luck with it. Wish USCutter would get new cut strips in. I would probably buy 2... or 3 lol. just to be sure! but meh. Graphtec I think is the safe bet. Wash my hands of the creation machine. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mondo999 0 Posted December 13, 2012 Hi all. i was tearing my hair out at this problem, cutting ok in some parts and way too deep in other parts, So i seen the comment on here to increase the cutter pressure, Nothing to lose as i wasted a huge amount of vinyl. So adjusted her up to 70 pressure and adjusted the blade to just visible,,,,,,,, Hey presto cutting like a dream. don't give up folks i guess there is always a solution..... Thanks for the great info on here,,,,,,,, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mondo999 0 Posted December 13, 2012 I forgot to add the cutting rail on mine is not level, i ran my hand along it and felt low spots, i then put a steel straight rule on top and def showed low spots,,, so it seems adding pressure and tweeking the blade sorts it,,,,, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
