Please help, cutter problems

[Peter Normington]

the problem may be caused because either the carriage rails are not parallel to the cutting strip or are loose at on end.
Can you see any movement in the top rails when the rollers are lowered?
And is there any play in the blade holder Assembly an one side of the rails?
Not knowing your cutter, is it possible to have mounted the blade holder incorrectly?
You could try and measure the distance between the cutting strip and the rails at each end and the middle, with the rollers up and down. (try marking a piece of card with a pencil)
Dint know if this is going to be any help, but worth checking.

Peter

[Hugh Potter]

i’d agree with Peter, check the end that is ‘not cutting’ for play, or if poss, with the rollers down and up, accurately measure from the underside of the blade holder (or anywhere on the blade carrier section) down to the cutting strip, its sounds like something has to be out, it will either cut deep, or not, it shouldnt do both,

H

[Richard Urquhart]

what about the cutting strip itself not fitted correctly !!
i.e not sitting into channel

[Alex Pirozek]

I sometimes had this problem when i had a pcut. I used to use the same vinyl as you, bought from a supllier on ebay. The trouble i had was that the vinyl came so tightly coiled that as it when through the cutter and past the cutting blade it pushed off the cutting strip in the middle and somtimes on one of the ends as it went in and out. Once the vinyl comes off the strip i think it looses it’s vacuum as the fan tends to pull the vinyl down to the strip so you get a uniform cut. The carriage’s would have to be miles out for it to miss on the ends as the pressure is controlled by the electro mag plunger inside the head. Make sure that you have more than enough travel (up/down) on the blade. I normally set a 3-4mm gap between the blade holder and the vinyl and adjust your blade in the holder as per instructions on this thread and NOT as per in the creation manual. Try some other vinyl as well but all said and done it could be a dicky machine.

[davehale]

Thanks guys

i have tried measuring distance with sheets of paper this the next best thing to thickness gauge blocks, i took the blade out and measured distance between nylon cutting strip on the bed and the base surface of the cutter housing

left side 10 sheets

middle 10 sheets

right 10 sheets + 1 application tape

so slight miss alignment

any ideas, no obvious adjustment.

[Alex Pirozek]

I still think that it’s either the travel in your cutting head or that vinyl as it obviously out according to your paper measuring test but i think the cutting head should compensate for that with giving it more travel or less travel. The machine measures the pressure from the “push off” it gets when in contact with the vinyl and not blade travel, so if the blade has to travel further then it doesn’t matter as long as you have it. make sure you can move the head up and down at least 5mm and that you’ve got more travel left after it hits the vinyl.

[davehale]

just given that a try it did have 2mm travel, it now has 5-6mm travel, still the same thing.

thanks for all your recommendations. i think the sledge hammer may be next.

Cheers

Dave

[Alex Pirozek]

I take it that you have the blade holder in the hole above the cutting strip and not the one closest to you when you face the machine. i still don’t know why they put two holes in on the head? Like previously mentioned check for play on the rails and also if you take of the plastic cover on the head you will expose the levers for the plunger etc, it’s not really advanced in there so don’t worry, when you look at it there might be something in there thats not quite right or catching on one or the arms.

[Mark Reed]

hello again dave, as the last reply mentioned have you got the blade holder in the right hole on the cutting head, the other position is to take a plotting pen that normally comes with the machine. also try some decent vinyl I wouldn’t mind betting this is where the problem is. like some of the others I also tried the stuff from ebay when I first got my p cut soon as I change to metamark or mactac I’ve had no problems at all.

[davehale]

Hi Mike and alexp

The cutter is in the correct hole, i am going to buy some quality film not this crap that i am using, as you recommended. not been able to order any over the past couple of days will order some tomorrow.

i hope it is just the vinyl. trying to get it fixed back in China just isn’t worth thinking about.

Thanks for trying to help

Dave 🙄

[John Childs]

I don’t think it’s vinyl.

I had the same problem once with an old Aristo AG50 Signline, although it wasn’t old then, and it was only solved by an engineer visit for some serious adjustment.

Sorry to sound so negative. 🙁

[Lee Ballard]

quote :

trying to get it fixed back in China just isn’t worth thinking about

If its the same deal as the ones they are currently advertising it come with a 12 month rtb warrenty anyway and they have a uk based warehouse.

Regards

Lee

[Ian Cawthorne]

I had exactly the same problem with a cutter this week and it was the carriage that had jumped off the rails. I overlooked this point for an hour and a half and went through all the other things you have done before spotting it. Worth another look ?

[Peter Normington]

Hello corkyballs,
Do you have a proper name?
It may be worthwhile to say hello in the “say hello” forum so that we get to know a little bit about you,

Welcome to the boards

Peter

[Ian Cawthorne]

Hiya Peter

New post in the ‘Hello’ section as requested.

Cheers

IAn

[Peter Shaw]

I think we will all be interested in the cause of this problem.

Many years ago I had a severe tracking problem on the first cutter I bought, which was from a top manufacturer. It turned out that it had been shipped with some support foam packaging missing from underneath the cutter in the box. It had probably been thrown around by the carriers and the base of the machine had bent very slightly where there was no support.

You might want to check to see if this could be your problem, but I pity you if it is. After sales support from China – an oxymoron I think !!

Peter

[davehale]

I have just resolved the issue, it was all down to the blades. The plotter shipped with three blades, 2 of which turn out to be faulty, from a quick glance they all look the same but when they are fitted they sit at different heights in the cutter holder. It was just lucky that i tried the third blade before writing the machine off.

Could anyone recommend a supplier of blades in the UK as i am now without any spares?

I would like to thank everyone that has taken the time to try and help me out, being new to cutters its been very helpful.

Regards

Dave 😀

[Nick Minall]

well done for sorting it out, but can you not adjust the blade height?

[davehale]

No its not just the height, the blade tips are not tips, it looks as though the grinder head when making the blades has not ground the blades enough. the tip should be a sharp point, but on 2 of the blades the tip has a tiny smooth surface not a sharp point, you can only see the difference with a magnifying glass. They don’t look worn, the smooth tip is shiny, a machined finish.

Thanks anyway

Dave

Me (:) 👿 Supplier of cutter

[Brian Hays]

Dave, Flynn Signs is the oficial importer of Creation P-Cut machines so you can get blades & other spares from them. Their number is 01992 630318.

[alan flynn]

hello brian, yes we have loads of blades and spare parts in stock, the blade height is very important with these machine as any other, if the machine is not set up correctly, IE blade height pressure speed for what you are cutting you can end up with nothing but dramas,
then its down to us dealers to start earning our money, with tech support,which a lot of people seem to miss I’m afraid
also brian dont forget to give me a ring next time liverpool are losing, your calls seem to work wonders
regards
alan flynn

[Brian Hays]

Don’t worry I shall wait until the final whistle next time Al 😀

[John Singh]

Now come on Brian and Alan
No more cutting remarks 😀

[biddwiser]

I posted my problem on another thread, but thank God I found this one!

I have the EXACT same problem, and because I am totally new to vinyl cutting, I kep thinking it was something I was doing wrong. I too have bought a P-Cut 630 and I also bought Ritrama vinyl, and I used the first two of my three blades, all of which either tear the hell out of the vinyl or don’t score deep enough.

I’ve just read all this and it inspired me to try the third blade. Lo and behold, after very little effort I have managed to cut a rectangle which has remained on the backing paper successfully. YESSS!

Thanks Dave, you just inadvertently made my weekend!!!

Thanks

NIck 😀