OwenBridges 1 Posted March 22, 2018 So I have a client who wants some decals made. When I test cut, some of the text was ripping up when the cutter was cutting. The small text is about a half an inch tall but it is a thin font style. I’m using oracle 651 vinyl. I was wondering if I used the thin material blade if that would help. Also, what settings are you all running for pressure and speed? Thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,298 Posted March 22, 2018 slow slow, use the absolute minimum amount of blade exposure possible. a 60 degree blade will help I personally only use cleancut blades - this was done on a titan2 with a cleancut within first hr of set up using 651 and a 60 degree cleancut blade. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haumana 1,227 Posted March 22, 2018 Like Scott recommended - when going small, whether text or graphic detail, slow is the way to go. It also helps if you have the 60-degree blade, but if you don't, the 45 should do it, just at the right speed, and make sure there is no random bits of vinyl in the blade holder so it will spin when it needs to. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShaneGreen 131 Posted March 22, 2018 It would be nice to have an image that everyone could use to do a test cut with. For instance, on the smaller feathers on that eagle I don't think my LPII would do a very good job. But if someone else with the same machine cut it out fine then we could compare notes and do some fine tuning. It would also help twice a week when someone posts asking what cutter to buy and we could point them to a page full of samples of the same image cut on different machines at different speeds. Just a thought. . . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,298 Posted March 22, 2018 Shane: this is a graphtec ce5000 with a 60 degree cleancut blade to compare to be fair both of the ones I posted are servo motor cutters lp series is stepper motor 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,298 Posted March 22, 2018 Mr.300s (member that has passed away since) did this htv with his ce5000 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haumana 1,227 Posted March 22, 2018 5 hours ago, Dakotagrafx said: this is a graphtec ce5000 with a 60 degree cleancut blade to compare to be fair both of the ones I posted are servo motor cutters lp series is stepper motor I hope to never weed anything with that many teeny tiny bits to pluck out I made the mistake of agreeing to cut a couple of Spiderman stuff for my nephew ... oh, the webbing design and all those thin lines - UGH! never again. not even on a dare! Hahaha. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShaneGreen 131 Posted March 23, 2018 Dakota, here is a similar image set as close to the same size as I could get it. It's Oracal 631 at 100mm/sec with the 45 blade that came with this LPII. It did a lot better than I thought it would and it's not weeding half-bad. Is there anything I can do to improve the lifting issues? Would a 60 degree Cleancut really help, or have I surpassed the limits of this cutter? Is there a trick to getting those thin lines to stay stuck to the backing? They want to lift as I'm weeding. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,298 Posted March 23, 2018 20 minutes ago, ShaneGreen said: Dakota, here is a similar image set as close to the same size as I could get it. It's Oracal 631 at 100mm/sec with the 45 blade that came with this LPII. It did a lot better than I thought it would and it's not weeding half-bad. Is there anything I can do to improve the lifting issues? Would a 60 degree Cleancut really help, or have I surpassed the limits of this cutter? Is there a trick to getting those thin lines to stay stuck to the backing? They want to lift as I'm weeding. 631 isn't going to stick to the backing as good as 351 imho but the best results we found were new sharp blade (that is where the cleancut comes in as they are sharper than any other blade we have used), cutting slow with the absolute least amount of blade exposure possible - I think for a stepper motor cutter with stock blades you did very well. my wife and I did some stuff for weeding contest years ago that taught me to dial in the graphtec for best results . this shows one she did for the second round of a weeding completion years ago when we both could see better. if you make the jump to cleancut there are a couple of rules to remember - start with too little blade and work your way up, second is back your pressure off 40 percent BEFORE you insert the cleancut blade. they are sharper and remain sharp much longer but the trade off is the fine grained carbide is more brittle if abused. I usually get 10 months of hard use out of them but couple of weeks ago put my laminate holder in when I was cutting regular vinyl (way too much exposure) and broke a tip on a 2 month old blade :() 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,298 Posted March 23, 2018 Results of my memory lapse at 65x magnification 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haumana 1,227 Posted March 23, 2018 Wow. I'm still using the 60-degree Clean Cut that I did with the group buy waaaaay back in the day. Love the blade!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShaneGreen 131 Posted March 23, 2018 WOW. . .it hurts my head to think about trying to weed that! Fantastic! I think it's time to order a Cleancut blade. Everyone seems to love them. USCutter doesn't show a Cleancut for the LaserPoint II and the blades they do offer for LPII don't look at all like what's in my cutter (mine is a smooth shank and they are showing a stepped shank). Cleancut's site just says that "most" USCutter models use a Roland. So what should I be ordering? I'm going to be cutting reflective on a regular basis soon. It stands to reason that they will hold up longer than a standard blade on reflective. But is it going to last long enough to be worth the extra money to have one dedicated to reflective? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikemike 711 Posted March 23, 2018 Love the clean cut blades. I could not believe how much better they are. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,298 Posted March 23, 2018 1 hour ago, ShaneGreen said: WOW. . .it hurts my head to think about trying to weed that! Fantastic! I think it's time to order a Cleancut blade. Everyone seems to love them. USCutter doesn't show a Cleancut for the LaserPoint II and the blades they do offer for LPII don't look at all like what's in my cutter (mine is a smooth shank and they are showing a stepped shank). Cleancut's site just says that "most" USCutter models use a Roland. So what should I be ordering? I'm going to be cutting reflective on a regular basis soon. It stands to reason that they will hold up longer than a standard blade on reflective. But is it going to last long enough to be worth the extra money to have one dedicated to reflective? Call Ross directly at cleancut and he will make sure you get the right blade, mention you are a forum member for a discount. I usually use one in my regular holder for 10 months then move to to my reflective holder for the next cycle because you generally do not do as fine of work with reflective and then may main vinyl blade is always primed for the fine work. And I get double duty from them 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mfatty500 455 Posted March 23, 2018 11 hours ago, ShaneGreen said: Is there a trick to getting those thin lines to stay stuck to the backing? They want to lift as I'm weeding. You could also apply your transfer tape, then weed it. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShaneGreen 131 Posted March 23, 2018 48 minutes ago, mfatty500 said: You could also apply your transfer tape, then weed it. Hmmm. . .I've never thought of trying that. Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mfatty500 455 Posted March 23, 2018 Your welcome, let us know.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haumana 1,227 Posted March 23, 2018 All this talk of Clean Cut Blades ... I just had to get some! Put in an order to replace the one on my LP, and some for the Graphtec! I'm so excited! Hahaha. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,298 Posted March 23, 2018 Jen - I have a blade holder - holder and have separate ones for regular vinyl and after the 10 months that blade moves to the reflectives/ metallics holder and on the roland printer have another one for laminate so i can just pop in the correct holder without resetting depth etc. the roland one is color coded thanks to my daughters nail polish the graphtec holders actually got a little vinyl wrap for color. the picture of the graphtec was from mb20music that makes them - I have 1 original holder and 2 aftermarket I use for that one 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haumana 1,227 Posted March 24, 2018 3 hours ago, Dakotagrafx said: Jen - I have a blade holder - holder and have separate ones for regular vinyl and after the 10 months that blade moves to the reflectives/ metallics holder and on the roland printer have another one for laminate so i can just pop in the correct holder without resetting depth etc. the roland one is color coded thanks to my daughters nail polish the graphtec holders actually got a little vinyl wrap for color. the picture of the graphtec was from mb20music that makes them - I have 1 original holder and 2 aftermarket I use for that one That's awesome. I'm afraid of the requests I would get (from the family kidlettes) if I stocked glitter, so I don't have any - but, I do have reflective (most because I think it looks crazy awesome), but rare cut that because it's a total pain in the butt if I even have to peel it off of something. But I love that idea of having different blades for the different materials! I might be more inclined to cut more stuff if I had a multiple blade setup. The way I now circumvent the 'reflective is a pain to peel off' is that I just put reflect on black or white vinyl, then have the cutter go over the materials twice. It makes it crazy thick, but at least I can peel is easily when necessary! I haven't found a real functional use for the reflective - mostly putting it on truck license plate frames <- I honestly don't know if it's visible when reflective at night when someone is behind me. My guess is that they're seeing just a line of blue reflective tape rather than the actual text of it. Hahaha. BTW - LOVE the blade holder holder! Is your other Graphtec holder real Graphtec or aftermarket? I have an aftermarket one, but am hesitant to use it because I can feel that it's heavier than the OEM one, and I don't want to over stress the up/down of the motor, so it's sitting in a box as a total "in case of emergency" thing. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,298 Posted March 24, 2018 I use both but mainly rely on aftermarket for replacements - works as good and I don't think twice when I think they might need replaced after a couple years as they are so cheap 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wildgoose 4,200 Posted April 2, 2018 On 3/22/2018 at 9:45 PM, ShaneGreen said: Dakota, here is a similar image set as close to the same size as I could get it. It's Oracal 631 at 100mm/sec with the 45 blade that came with this LPII. It did a lot better than I thought it would and it's not weeding half-bad. Is there anything I can do to improve the lifting issues? Would a 60 degree Cleancut really help, or have I surpassed the limits of this cutter? Is there a trick to getting those thin lines to stay stuck to the backing? They want to lift as I'm weeding. Clean cut blades are a HUGE improvement but you can also benefit from using higher end vinyl. 751 or 951 weed a lot better for small stuff. I often use premium cast for small work just because it saves so much time weeding. I often cut a couple extra so I can either cannibalize one of the extras if something goes wrong. If I did cut a few spares sometimes I just grab a corner and rip it off in one fast pull. Doesn't work on all but on some. Just be sure to reduce your pressure with the good blade or you may break a tip when you cut through. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShaneGreen 131 Posted April 2, 2018 I've been cutting a couple extra, but just because I'm still getting the hang of it and screw things up on a regular basis. LOL When I bought this LPII it came with a ton of 631 and Greenstar IPV. My plan was to burn through all the Greenstar while I was learning and then order 651. It's been kind of shocking to see how much the Greenstar wants to stretch. If you accidentally pick up the edge of a letter while weeding it's ruined. The part that came up will have stretched to the point that the letter is distorted. I made a couple of decorative pieces for my wife and mother this weekend using the 631 and there is a world of difference in the weeding. I made a sample piece on the excess vinyl and intentionally lifted some letter and they maintained their shape. I know the 651 has a stronger adhesive, but I'm hoping it isn't as stretchy as this Greenstar. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OwenBridges 1 Posted April 6, 2018 Sorry guys, life got busy for me the past few weeks. I ended up using the 60 degree blade that US Cutter sent with the Titan in the kit. It worked great after I changed from the 45 to the 60! I appreciate all of your guys' help. My first paid project was finished on time thanks to you all. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShaneGreen 131 Posted April 10, 2018 CleanCut blades arrived yesterday. WOW. In a properly organized society every cutter would come straight from the factory with these. What a difference. I went from 185 grams of force to cutting with 75g and I can cut fine detail I never dreamed of before. It's like I upgraded my cutter for $18. Here is the same picture I posted before of Oracal 631 at 100mm/sec with the 45 blade that came with this LPII on the left. On the right is same setup with a CleanCut 60. I counted seven places where the vinyl had slightly lifted and they all sat back down with a little nudge from my fingernail. A huge Thank You to everyone who suggested these blades over and over, I'm just sorry it took me so long to make the switch! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
