At my whits end with my CE7000-60

[theK2 0]

Previously owned a CE5000-60 that was great for nearly 10 years. Decided to replace it last year with a newer model CE7000-60. Out of the box, the speed was amazing compared to the old unit and the cutting quality was noticeable improved over my aging CE5000.

However, I'm running into an issue with a monthly job that I run (500-1000 qty) that I can't seem to resolve. The quality of cut will change over the course of a file sent to the cutter. Some of the cuts will be crisp, squared corners while other places that should be square corners (on letters) get rounded off, or O's will not even be closed entirely. The problem doesn't occur in the same place every time, and sometimes a sheet will come out (with all the same settings) looking perfect. The randomness of it makes it very hard to debug.

Here are my settings and some of what I've tried while debugging:

• Force 10, Speed 20, Acceleration 1, Seiki CB-09U blade
• Ver 1.22-STD
• Mac Ventura
• Have tried:
  • New blades multiple times
  • Slowing the cutter down as far as Speed 8
  • Cutting from Illustrator > Cutting Master
  • Cutting directly from EPS > Graphtec Studio
  • Exporting EPS > Graphtec Studio > PLT file and loading that via USB on the cutter
  • Sending only 1 of the design and having CM/GS "copy" it to 7 columns + 1-4 rows (I've tried all variations)
  • Creating a fill that has 7 columns of the single design in the EPS and sending 1-3 rows
  • Having the design run 0deg vs 90deg (this just moved the problem to another part of the cut b/c of the rotation)
  • Loaded the newest version of CM
  • Different brand of vinyl
• I haven't updated the firmware (yet)

I'm at a loss for why this is happening and would really appreciate any help at all in resolving the problem. It's creating so much waste in material and time that it almost makes the job not worth doing. What am I missing? 

The photos:

#08 is what a correct/quality cut should look like

Full row - showing how the cut changes

Zoomed in photos

 

[MZ SKEETER 4,718]

 What has Graphtec told you? First, no mention of how you set your blade depth. That is where you start trouble shooting. You are not showing the TEST pattern, cut with the TEST feature. That must be perfect. square and triangle. Make sure the blade holder is clean, add a drop or 2 of light oil, 3-1, sewing machine. etc. Blade must spin freely.  Make sure there is no scratches and gouges in the cutting strip. Always have enough vinyl prefed to do your entire order. Never be pulling from the vinyl roll while cutting. This has been posted hundreds of times on here and it works.  No using a credit card depth, or post it notes.  This works.  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. 

Turn your speed down. You want quality, it's not a race. Especially cutting text.  Start with speed 4 and trouble shoot there. When you get it to cut correctly, then maybe you can cut a little faster.   Don't mess with the FIRMWARE!!.  There were some problems with the tracking on those cutters when they first came out. The knurled grit rollers were different.  Toward the end of this thread OP Dakotagraphx is showing the difference.    

 

[MZ SKEETER 4,718]

Also adding, make sure that your cutter is calibrated to your cutting software. Calibration should be in your cutting software.  You can tell if it is correct by cutting a 3" x 3" square and it measures exactly 3" x 3".  If the square is not exactly the correct size you will need to calibrate your cutting software to your vinyl cutter.

[theK2 0]

Hi @MZ SKEETER and thanks so much for the reply and suggestions. Let me respond to all your great questions:

 

What has Graphtec told you?

I have not submitted a ticket yet - but will submit one today. Was hoping someone else here may have seen this problem before and I'd get a faster response than Graphtec Support.

 

 

no mention of how you set your blade depth

I should've said that I'd already read all the forum advice on setting blade depth and oiling the blade holder (which I also had done). For the sake of clarity, here are some photos from running another test for blade depth as the forum outlines (removing the blade holder and testing by hand). Note that I couldn't even feel the marking on the backing paper with my fingernail but the vinyl was easier to separate at the cut.

---

 

You are not showing the TEST pattern, cut with the TEST feature.

Fair point albeit I had run it - but here is the output. The triangles and squares looked sharp, especially compared to the logo/text graphic, all across the test width (half the cutter width).

 

Make sure there is no scratches and gouges in the cutting strip. Always have enough vinyl prefed to do your entire order. Never be pulling from the vinyl roll while cutting.

I checked the cutting strip and it's in great shape. I never pull directly from the roll while cutting - always pre-feed.

 

 

Turn your speed down. You want quality, it's not a race. Especially cutting text.  Start with speed 4 and trouble shoot there.

For the sake of testing, I did run two sheets at a speed of 3 and while the rounding wasn't as significant, it was still there. I can't realistically run a 1000 piece job at a speed of 3 where it takes 51 minutes to cut 21 pieces; that would result in 40 hours of just cutting.

Here's the output from the speed test where you can see that some of them look nearly perfect while others, on the same sheet/same cut sequence, are starting to round the corners.

 

[theK2 0]

 

Also adding, make sure that your cutter is calibrated to your cutting software. Calibration should be in your cutting software.  You can tell if it is correct by cutting a 3" x 3" square and it measures exactly 3" x 3".  If the square is not exactly the correct size you will need to calibrate your cutting software to your vinyl cutter.

I ran this test as well - with squares, triangles and text and it was bang on scale between the design and cut out of Cutting Master 5.

[haumana 1,227]

Haave you tried to cut it from Graphtec Studio?

[MZ SKEETER 4,718]

Seeing as how you are using a Mac, you don't have a lot of choices of cutting software. But I think Signcut has a 30 day trial. It will work for Mac.  Not a lot of Mac users here.  I am still back on Windows XP. with my Graphtec.

You do want a little marking on the backing paper, so that you know you are cutting all the way thru the adhesive. The correct combo is less blade more force.