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twentythreemx

help! sloppy cutting..kinda still new at this lol

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Hi, can someone please help point me in the right direction. I have a MH871. It has been fine for the last 4 months or so that i owned it. I noticed lately though the cuts in some spots have been very sloppy. Its cutting OK lines and even curves, but it just seems like sometimes it leaves just a tiny piece connected, then I have to rip it off, and it makes it look like crap. Very hard to explain what I mean.. but you can kind of tell in the pics. Thes are small letters so its worse, but it even does it on much larger stuff.

 

I did recently change the blade..

 

I have a feeling its something with offset. I have no idea what that should be set at? I know its sset in SCAL.

 

Here are the pics. Thank you!8F3595AB-E3B5-4E06-AFF1-B76601F4CC4E-102

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It could be blade offset, but usually pulled up vinyl like that is a sign of the infamous "too much blade" issue.  Search the forums for one of the 197,000 postings about how to set your blade depth and double check it.  While you're at it, check your blade holder for any contaminants or pieces of stuck vinyl, if the blade can't freely rotate, it can cause it to drag and pick up vinyl, too.

 

The corners not being completely cut through sounds like there may also be an offset issue, so you may have more than one thing to correct...

 

From personal experience, I can tell you that weeding fancy letters at that size, unless you're doing only one or two, will drive you to drinking.  My first big order was 150+ memorial decals with a small, fancy font - also in white - I still have nightmares.

 

post-24492-0-45122900-1371002284_thumb.j

 

(please ignore the registration marks at the bottom that I forgot to crop out of the JPG version...

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Thought they were crosses. Trade you script for the old english they want down here all the time.

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+1 on OW's advice about properly setting and maintaining your blade...

as well as a little wd40 to lubricate it. (once you've cleaned it and made sure it rotates freely)

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how do you set offset? my blade package says .25 - 1.mm does that mean  i want to input values inbetween that, into sure cuts a lot offset setting?

 

and yes these little things are no fun... only doing small quantity so not so bad!!

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your corners are square now - mess with the offset and they won't be - do a seach on the forum for offset - it is not the cure all for this problem and is mean to offset how far the blade follows the center of the blade holder in an drag knife system like you have - too much or too little and your corners won't be square

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you corners are square now - mess with the offset and they won't be - do a seach on the forum for offset - it is not the cure all for this problem and is mean to offset how far the blade follows the center of the blade holder in an drag knife system like you have - too much or too little and your corners won't be square

 

Thanks. I dont quite have a full understanding of what the offset is supposed to do and how to adjust it. So that helps a little. But can somene answer my question on how to properly set the offset? (I know WHERE to do it in the software) but I dont know what I'm inputting, or what to be looking for on the cuts.

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If your corner are square you don't need to adjust it. If corners are rounded you need less. If you corners look pointy you need more

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OK, still need help on this!!! The issue from the pics above really isnt there anymore, I think I had  way to much blade out at that point (which I did to try to troubleshoot my original problem)


The issue I have now is that it is still leaving tiny pieces randomly attached. Whether its big or little cuts I'm doing. I can't seem to find any consistency with it, IE not on just corners, or certain letters, etc it seems almost random. VERY frustrating because 1. Its making weeding very difficult and 2. its making my finished product look like crap!! Because it leaves a tiny piece connected I have to pull on it, and it stretches it, or moves it, or leaves a little tail hanging there where the vinyl broke.


What I have tried:

 

Changing offset a little

Took blade out, sprayed a little wd40 into the blade holder. made sure blade spins freely

Tried a new blade

Did blade height test w/ cutting the vinyl making sure its not going deeper than it needs to

Tried more blade, less blade, etc

Using latest versoin of SCAL

 

What else can I do? Does anyone have any recommendations?

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When you go to cut in scalp turn on overcut, this adds a small amount of additional cut which may close you objects.

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thanks, will try. i know i did not use that option before... and this problem was non existent for the first few months of using the machine. Not sure what caused it to start happening..

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The overcut is a crutch to compensate for something not working as designed, usuall either a loose belt or slipping at the pinch rollers. That being said I've used it several times on cheaper machines to help complete cuts.

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