offset blade enquiry!

[John Thomson]

Blade offset ( which I assume is what you mean) is adjusted in your software not on the cutter.

most blades have a 0.25mm offset ( it will tell you on the blade packaging) and the overcut is generally double the offset at 0.5mm.

Well worth doing some research on this as it is critical when setting up a Chinese cutter that you get these settings as close to perfect as you can.

john

[Kevin Flowers]

John
does depend on the cutter & software i have the option to adjust in both. Offset should be set to what your knife specifies.

Kev

[John Thomson]

Chinese cutters do not have the facility to adjust offset in their firmware ( one of the cost savings) so it has to be done via your cutting software.

john

[Brian Carey]

will look in to that, thanks folks
BC

[Daniel Evans]

How did you get on? I’ve got a Creation CA630, i’m using signcut and set the offset to 0.25 and pressure on the cutter to 119 (what does the pressure do? is it for the wheels or the knife?)

I’ve got ok results, it cuts but weeding can sometimes be a nightmare, some times letters do not join up completely and this could be on a diagonal straight line say on a 4 so weeding can be a right pain and time consuming, i’ve searched this and other forums to get the right settings so if anyone has this setup with good results or a model that is similar, i’ll be glad if you could post your settings on here.

Thanks

[Martin Pearson]

Daniel, the only way to set your plotter up correctly is trial and error, there are to many factors to consider and one setting won’t do all the work you do yourself as the settings will vary depending on what type of vinyl you are using and the manufacturer, even with Branded machines you need to have about 4 different sets of settings, this is to allow you to be able to switch between say a pen, a calendered vinyl, a cast vinyl and maybe reflective. My plotter will store 4 perdefined settings so selecting the one I need is just a case of pressing a button ONCE I have set them up to my needs.

[Daniel Evans]

Thanks Martin

I never realised you needed different settings for different media, I’ll get some different media and trial and error them.

Can you please guide me to what are the main settings i will need to change and should i be following a guide to setup the blade, i got no instructions when i bought it so i’ve setup blind in a way so far

So far i have the blade sticking out where i am able to put my finger over it, i feel a prick but it’s not piercing the skin, i would say the blade sticks out about 2-3mm

I understand blade offset is a major settings, could you tell me the others so that i am adjusting the correct settings.

Thanks

[Brian Carey]

I got a pack of blades with my p cut 630 when i bought it but it doesnt mention any setting on the pack, does anyone know what the offset should be, have just being using it at zero since i got it, but sometimes having problems weeding.
BC

[Daniel Evans]

I had the same problem, it was taking me ages to weed simple stuff, set the blade offset to 130 and the speed depends on the size, mine is set to 90 but the smaller the text the slower it should cut, from what i understand anyway, hope this helps.

[John Thomson]

Most standard blades have an offset of 0.25mm….this is measurement from the centre of the blade shaft to the tip of the blade.

John

[Daniel Evans]

Sorry, i meant 0.30

[Brian Carey]

I have set mine to .30, and seems better, but time will tell, and press at 100. where do you buy your blades Daniel? Are you using signblazer software?
BC

[Daniel Evans]

At the mo i’m still using the blades that come with it, i need to find a supplier for them so if you know a good reliable source, i’ll use them.

I’m using a trial of signcut, it does exactly what i need it to, but the trial ends in a couple of days and it seems expensive for what it is, i’m sure i see something saying it was only £20 but when i went on the site it’s more like £120, the thing is i use a mac and as far as i’m aware, this is the only thing that works.

They way i work is by using illustrator and then just use the sign software to cut, signcut it a bit problematic and you often have to force quit it (ctrl-alt-del) for you windows users, but it works and i’m getting pretty good results and weeding is much better now.

[Brian Carey]

Thats good, will let you know when i find some blades, still have some left, but i have seen them on that internet auction website!
BC.

ps. does your roller on the left side slide over and back or are they meant to?

[Daniel Evans]

Hi Brian

Both my rollers slide width ways so you can clamp the media down if not as wide if that’s what you meant, otherwise they stay in line.

I’ve seen them on there to, i’ve also heard about replacing the blade holder and blades with a roland one to improve things, they’re on that same auction site, from HK or china i think.

[Earl Smith]

I asked about replacement blades on this forum about 2 years ago. I was advised to try Edward Mathias at http://www.blades.uk.com/
Harry is your man there and he knows all about blades and offset for any type of cutter. I have used his blades for the whole of this year and they have never let me down. And they come with the holder as well.
Earl.

[Stuart Macfarlane]

If its any help I had my blade sticking out no further then 1/2 the thickness of a credit card and I used 0.30mm for my offset in FlexiSign software.

With the above settings I had near perfect weeding where I could freely pull the weeded material away from the cut out vinyl in mid air without worrying too much.