OWJones 1,981 Posted June 28, 2012 I've had my Clean Cut Blades sitting on my work surface for several days and finally decided it was time to get around to installing them and seeing if all the praise was really deserved (Spoiler Alert: It IS!). I installed a 60° blade in my default Graphtec blade holder (still debating about ordering one of the all aluminum blade holders from ebay for $16) because I've seen several people say they use a 60° for everything and I ordered two 60° blades, so I could afford to waste one in testing. I had been using a pressure setting of 13 based on the recommendations in the Graphtec manual and backed it down to 8 per their suggestion to reduce pressure by 30-50% with the new blade. I ended up turning it back up to 12 to get it to leave a faintly visible mark on the release liner. It took me 4 test cuts to get it perfect. After that, I wanted to test something that had been giving me fits with my default blade and settings. I put in a scrap of red Green Star vinyl and cut a ribbon shape (see attached image) that has a very small triangle piece that would always lift away when I tried to weed after cutting with my original, default blade. I was amazed at how much easier it was to weed with the new blade! I picked up a corner of the vinyl and started lifting and it all came away - except for the parts that were supposed to stay, even those little tiny lines between the triangle and the other three parts, came apart as if they had never been one contiguous piece of vinyl. I then proceeded to cut a bunch of small letters - stuff that had always cut cleanly, but been a pain to weed - still cuts cleanly, but is no longer a pain to weed. I have no idea what the life of the blade will be, as I've only cut a few feet with it so far, but if the claims with regards to lifespan are as accurate as the claims were with regards to cut quality, I'm thinking the three blades I bought (two 60° and one 45°) will last me for years to come! I was pleasantly surprised when I ordered to discover that the manufacturer of Clean Cut Blades is located here in my home state of Iowa. We're well known for our corn and pork production - but I never thought of us as being the center of excellence for tiny carbide blades, but apparently we are! Even without the forum discount, their prices are so low that it's definitely worth the few dollars to give them a try. With the forum discount, you're just being silly for not trying them out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
markvvq 14 Posted June 28, 2012 I'm glad they worked great for you. I wanted to be one of those that sang their praises too. I purchased several CC blades including 2 - 60 deg. I also turned down the pressure and had to go back to where It was with the original blade. It did not completely cut through the vinyl with less pressure. My 60 deg blade did not cut well at all. I inspected it and found the point was chipped. I did use it on some 3M 1080 reflective. That is some tough material. I put the other 60 deg. in and didn't find it any better. I thought it would make cutting small details better, that was not my impression after using it. I did just purchase a couple of blade holders from china off of eBay as well as some blades. When I get some time I will do a side by side with the Chinese and CC blades. I also ordered the larger blades and holder. I'm using a Graphtec CE-5000 and I love it! Mark Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snapper 30 Posted June 28, 2012 I picked up some DuPont dry film Teflon lube made for cutting blades.... coated a blade I had. This worked like a hot knife thru butter even cutting silver scotchlite. I noticed less drag on the cutter head which means less heat on the edge... that translates into longer blade life and cleaner cutting. And I believe with the dry film the chance of adhesive contamination from using liquid like WD40 as I've seen mentioned here is not an issue. This little bottle should last for at least 2 years and cost was under five bucks. Give it a try. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jay2703 704 Posted June 28, 2012 I picked up some DuPont dry film Teflon lube made for cutting blades.... coated a blade I had. This worked like a hot knife thru butter even cutting silver scotchlite. I noticed less drag on the cutter head which means less heat on the edge... that translates into longer blade life and cleaner cutting. And I believe with the dry film the chance of adhesive contamination from using liquid like WD40 as I've seen mentioned here is not an issue. This little bottle should last for at least 2 years and cost was under five bucks. Give it a try. Snapper, where did you find the dry lube at? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snapper 30 Posted June 28, 2012 Snapper, where did you find the dry lube at? I picked it up at Lowes... DuPont 4 Oz. Non-Stick Lubricant... Item #: 363776. Use it on HSS cutters as well as saw blades... keeps chips from sticking and runs cooler... figured it also keep adhesive from building up as well. So far real happy with it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sue2 920 Posted June 29, 2012 I switched to a CC blade on my LP 24 and it made a big difference in cutting the fine details and small stuff. My pressure setting went down about 25%. Well worth the few extra $$. Sue2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
