Carriage? Offset? I'm desperate!

[cygnae 0]

Hi, I'm new here, Just got my LP24 about 2 weeks ago [btw can't get my activation code yet... dunno what's wrong with the SB site] and I don't know what to do.

I've read the forums and searched trough them with no luck.

Off to the chase then. I haven't even tried the contour feature because i'm stuck trying to get it to cut right. I've read about offset and such, but the main issue is that it won't cut a perfect square,

it will "round" it, so I read that maybe the carriage was out of track, but since I haven't found any pictures of how a carriage is properly set, I decided to took a couple.

If the carriage is aligned properly, then what else can I be doing wrong? I've tried several offset sizes, but that's not the issue.

It just won't cut a 90 degrees angle, it always rounds it up, making anything I cut look awful. It's properly grounded and checked and whatnot. I can provide with more info and pictures upon request.

Please, just a little help would be appreciated.

Thanks. And Greetings from Mexico. (hence the crappy english)

PS: The pics! I almost forgot.

[cbs1963 0]

HI Cygnae, can't help with the carriage, but the answer to the registration can be found in the Signblazer section under can't get registration code.  Mine did not work automatically work either, but the manual registration worked perfectly. Hope this helps.

[polarkiss 1]

The bottom wheels kind of look off to me.  Couldn't tell you for sure, I have a refine.  Maybe some others will take a peek.

[kenimes 42]

Blade is sticking way too far out of the blade holder. Take the blade holder out and turn the end cap away from the other end of the holder and it will make the blade stick out less. You should barely see the angle of it sticking out, and I think I can see the shaft of your blade. Carriage looks fine. Oh, and if you changed the offset setting in SignBlazer, set it back to 0.25. Set the blade depth and offset, and try your square again.

[cygnae 0]

I'm not sure I understood that, but I un-screwed the little black plastic thingie so now the blade barely shows, I tried doing the test again.....

...same results.

Any other ideas? I know I'm doing something wrong

[BannerJohn 1,324]

I don't have that cutter,never even saw one...but I'm ntr blind and the bottom wheel of the carriage isn't on track...it's just hanging in mid air. If it's supposed to be like that, I can't see how it would work.

[Popeye 0]

First make sure your blade and pressure are set correctly http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php/topic,3362.0.html

How big of a square are you cutting and at what speed?

Are your squares really squares?

Got a copy of the file you're trying to cut?

What blade are you using and what is your offset?

Look here for info about your activation code http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php/board,41.0.html stickies at the top

[cygnae 0]

I tought the same about the lower carriage, but there's nowhere else for the little rolling white thingie to go (i.e. can't push it further in), it does look a bit odd.

Regarding the square, I'm just hitting the test button, and that's it. I get a horrible looking square.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

whatever...that just looks like it would allow too much 'play' and rounded corners are classic signs of a carraige off track or out of adjustment.

[cygnae 0]

ok, let's calm down and assume my LP24's carriage is out of track.

What can I do to fix it? I don't want to break anything, since I live in Mexico and it would be extremely expensive to ship it to get it fixed if I do something dumb.

[kenimes 42]

Again, the carriage itself looks fine and seated as it should be. I would be more concerned about the carriage belt motor, maybe a loose belt. You can investigate by opening the right side case. By doing this, you will not harm anything as you are simply checking the tension of the belt.

[cygnae 0]

Ok, i'm gonna try that. Any specific instructions on how to do it? And, what's the way to know that the belt has the proper tension and it's not loose? I kinda touched it yesterday with extra care, didn't seem loose to me, but you're the expert, I'll follow your instructions step by step.

[cygnae 0]

Ok I didn't open the right part of the plotter, I just touched the band on several parts, not too hard, it looks pretty tense to me, not loose at all, we have another plotter [a Ghong Zheng 780C or something crazy like that] and they feel pretty much alike.

I set the SBE software to a .25 offset

is it 00.25 or 00.025? Maybe I understood wrong.

Also, when the cutter cuts [heh] from left to right after doing a backwards cut, it'll "jag" the vinyl, not fully cutting it. I'll post a pic of that later troughout the day [busy day thank God]

[kenimes 42]

Jagged cuts are another tell tale sign that the blade depth is not set right and the pressure is not set right for the particular material you are cutting. Maybe send me a PM with your phone number and I can walk you through some things.

[cygnae 0]

Ok now i'm upset. I decided trying to get the offset and the carriage and such were just getting into my nerves, so I tried learning the contour cutting part [main reason why this cutter was bought].

So I followed the series of videos found in these forums [the "Contour" example] with an example of my own. So far so good I managed to print the reg marks and such, then it was time for cutting!

so I click on "Cut a Print" then "Cut" then align the right bottom mark, then the left one... then I press cut. And I wait.. and wait.. and press again.. and still wait.

After several failed attempts, I decided "hey, maybe it's because i'm using a USB cable! I'll try with serial"

Same. Freaking. Results.

What in God's name am I doing wrong? Not only I can't cut straight but I can't also cut contours!!!!

[cygnae 0]

update:

Ok, I "fixed" (as in found out) that SBE won't handle some formats real good, so what I had to do was export to WMF, get a mess and long story short I can cut contours now [with awful results since I got about the contours cut at about 3mm off, still figuring out how to properly "align" the cut marks]

Still, my 90 degree cuts are curved.

Another thing, this is the first of its kind i've seen in action, and when it goes from left to right sometimes makes this "clingy-metallica" noise. Is that normal? What else should I check for?

Thanks all of you for your time and patience.