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Choppy

CE7000-60 test cut pattern not square

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Hello all, I'm new to plotters and have a small print business, I'm having issues with the plotter cutting correctly, I've had some trouble getting it to cut accurately with print and cut functions using registration marks and barcode, I am able to use Illustrator and put the reg marks and barcode on print but it is not cutting true, especially the top right corners, I've done some test cuts from control panel on plotter and these are the results, the blade is cbo9u and standard settings on condition 1, I haven't used the plotter much, I've done a factory reset on machine last week to make sure it wasn't an issue with settings. Thanks in advance for any help! 

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Biggest problem that new users have is setting the blade depth correctly.  Too many incorrect instructions out there saying use a credit card or post it notes.  This is 10 times too much blade sticking out of the blade holder.  Also blade offset is ZERO on a Graphtec.  Make sure you haven't broken the blade tip off, very easy to do.  Make sure flange is holding down the blade holder. 

To start with, you should set your blade depth correctly, by taking the blade holder out of the machine, and firmly cut across a piece of scrap vinyl, you will be cutting. You should only be cutting the vinyl and barely a mark on wax paper backing, Adjust blade to get there, Then put the blade holder back in machine, and use the force of the machine to get there, same results, only cutting the vinyl and barely a mark in wax paper backing. You should barely see and feel the blade tip out of the blade holder. Regular sign vinyl is only 2-3 mil thick. You only cut with the very tip of the blade. When you think the blade is so far in the blade holder, that you think it would not even cut, that is probably correct.

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Thanks MZ Skeeter, exactly the response I was hoping for a someone with experience that could tell right away by taking a look at the image, I have the graphtec depth tool for blade adjustment, looks like a loupe, should I set the blade on first line or halfway to it, or is that tool not very useful? About what pressure is common? As you said the blade is too far out and my pressure is only at a 9 to compensate for that, so I can see how the blade is too thick to be getting around corners at that depth, I have a 60 degree blade also would that be a better option than the 45 degree?

 

 

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We don't use those tools with our Graphtecs.  I gave you instructions that work. Posted hundreds of times on here. It works for any brand of vinyl cutter.

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Perhaps my blades aren't sharp, idk, I got some from cleancutblades.com, I looked at a new 45 and a new 60 in the loupe and they both seem to have a flat spot on tip, is that normal? The original 45 graphtec blade is even worse, maybe it's worn or broken tip. I'm at 20 pressure probably too high, I'm seeing should be around 10-12. These pics with a cleancut blade 45 and pic with three cut outs is tangential mode off and second pic with one is tangential mode 1. 

2.jpg

1.jpg

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Blades shouldn't dull that quick.  I use my (Seiki blades) for about 9-10 months and cut almost every day. 20 force is way too high.  You really have to back the force down about 1/2 to use a  new Clean Cut blade. or it will break the tip right off.  I don't know anything about your different modes in CE7000.  I run a Graphtec FC7000-75 and FC8000-75 with Flexi software.    Never had a problem out of any either one.  If you started with the blade so far out, look at your cutting strip, for gouges and scratches.  They will cause problems.  A broken tip will cause problems. If you raise the force higher and it cuts thru the wax paper backing, then you have too much blade exposed, as it is not possible, as you should only have enough blade exposed to only cut the vinyl and barely a mark in wax paper backing. Should be running your cutter speed slow until you learn this cutter.   I never cut over speed 5, It's not a race.  I am usually answering questions here while cutting. 

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Yes the cutting strip is pretty gouged up, I'll order some new ones and some new blades, I had gotten the machine 2nd hand and the first owner was less adept than me and didn't make it through the learning curve, lol. 

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You never mentioned at first that  it was a 2nd hand cutter.  If gouged up like that, they sure didn't know how to set the blade depth correctly.  If using Clean cut blades, start with almost nothing force and work it up a little at a time, or you will break the blade tips off. 

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Yeah, I didn't think it was relevant at first, my friend had gotten it and only ran it about a month before moving on from it, he was wanting to use it for his side tint gig where he cuts the tint by hand on the windows but I guess it was too much for him to learn. I don't even do vinyl but I do photo prints, this model was recommended for cutting out photo prints on paper with a software called Imageprint red and cut it out add on software that automatically nests photos and creates cut lines, reg marks and barcodes. It does very well with that as it cuts on the channel and not the strip in condition 3 and I do a perforated cut, but I wanted to learn more of how to cut other materials as I was having a hard time to cut stickers accurately to add a coupon code to my business cards, it's a holographic material and having a hard time to read the marks on it, I've come up with a solution I haven't tried yet though as I'll try mounting the 8x10" holographic sticker paper centered to a 13x19" white cardstock paper I can print the reg marks and barcode on, I figure I can do the layout in Illustrator.  Pic is the sticker paper and what I'm looking to cut out on right, that one I just cut out by hand real quick that's why it's not smooth, but that's the idea. Thanks for your help Skeeter! I guess I'm going to hold off more testing on this until I get the new strip and blades. 

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Well I played around some more with the new 45 clean cut blade and moved origin more to the left of the sheet as the cutting strip on machine is way more chewed up on the right side, this is just some Oracle 651 vinyl I've been testing on, I reduced pressure to 10 and set speed to 5, the three squares on left are tangential mode off and still getting a slight round corner on top right. The three squares on right are with the tangential mode on and seem to be cutting much more square now, so looks like there is more hope to dial it in, I was almost worried my friend had fudged up the machine somehow, lol. I just ordered new strips from uscutter and got some more blades from cleancut too. 

3.jpg

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Yeah, I didn't think it was relevant at first, my friend had gotten it and only ran it about a month before moving on from it, he was wanting to use it for his side tint gig where he cuts the tint by hand on the windows but I guess it was too much for him to learn. I don't even do vinyl but I do photo prints, this model was recommended for cutting out photo prints on paper with a software called Imageprint red and cut it out add on software that automatically nests photos and creates cut lines, reg marks and barcodes. It does very well with that as it cuts on the channel and not the strip in condition 3 and I do a perforated cut, but I wanted to learn more of how to cut other materials as I was having a hard time to cut stickers accurately to add a coupon code to my business cards, it's a holographic material and having a hard time to read the marks on it, I've come up with a solution I haven't tried yet though as I'll try mounting the 8x10" holographic sticker paper centered to a 13x19" white cardstock paper I can print the reg marks and barcode on, I figure I can do the layout in Illustrator.  Pic is the sticker paper and what I'm looking to cut out on right, that one I just cut out by hand real quick that's why it's not smooth, but that's the idea. Thanks for your help Skeeter! I guess I'm going to hold off more testing on this until I get the new strip and blades. 

IMG_20230219_131701404.jpg

So, being a second hand machine, you will be clueless about how it had been handled in the past. A good choice will be to replace the blade holder as well as the bearing inside it might be playing up. Keep adjusting the blade offsets as well till you get nice crisp corners

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Thanks for the advise Kainth, I got a couple holders blue and red from cleancut on my first order of blades, I'll try out the new holder and see if that helps, the original blue graphtec seems good and not loose, I cleaned and lubed with a light oil too. So it's ok to adjust the offset, I thought Skeeter had said to leave it at zero? Or is that just a starting point to fine tune from there. 

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Thanks for the advise Kainth, I got a couple holders blue and red from cleancut on my first order of blades, I'll try out the new holder and see if that helps, the original blue graphtec seems good and not loose, I cleaned and lubed with a light oil too. So it's ok to adjust the offset, I thought Skeeter had said to leave it at zero? Or is that just a starting point to fine tune from there. 

Graphtec offset is typically zero, however, if for some reason you 're getting better cut adjusting the offset, then do what you need to do to get the best cuts possible.

BladeOffset.gif

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Thanks for the advise Kainth, I got a couple holders blue and red from cleancut on my first order of blades, I'll try out the new holder and see if that helps, the original blue graphtec seems good and not loose, I cleaned and lubed with a light oil too. So it's ok to adjust the offset, I thought Skeeter had said to leave it at zero? Or is that just a starting point to fine tune from there. 

You need to figure out what is the standard blade holder shape and size that comes with your plotter from the manufacturer. The holders you have may be the aftermarket ones and you need to play around with the settings and exposure to get your cut right. I own a creation PCUT CT630 (Imitation machine from China) which came with a black plastic blade holder of 28 mm Overall length. However, there were some Aluminum blade holders corresponding to the same shape but with 27.5 mm Overall length. This .5 mm difference made the holder to work fine by exposing the blade a bit more and adjusting the pressure. Sometimes you need to do these tricks with the aftermarket blades. With the pictures you have posted, these results come up with the offset issue. Give it a shot mate. If it doesn't work out, then you can bring back the offset to zero and look for some other cause

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