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Plotter Help
Hi all, I hope someone can help with this one, I have a graphtec plotter 1mtr wide and this morning it has started cutting funny. The start is marked but not cut through towards the middle is cut fine and then towards the end the blade doesnt even mark the vinyl. I was wondering if the cold had caused the bed to warp at all as this is the only thing I could think of which might cause this.
Any thoughts would be appriciated. We have now brought the plotter into the warm to see if this makes a difference but we havent run it yet as the machine is not warm enough, I dont want to force heat it for fear of causeing permenant damage. -
10 Replies
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Have you checked the cutting strip?
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…I don’t often swear…but…”B l o o d y H e l l – it’s our Brian!”
Where have you been – and more to the point why haven’t you been around?
are you back for good? 😉
good to see ya’
more soon
mikethesign
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Hi Brian and to echo Mike good to see you back, “Have you checked the cutting strip”?
I’m not sure what you mean Brian could you elaborate a little please. -
Anyway take a look the blade in the holder and make sure it is spinning very freely, if not strip it out and drop in a dab of oil, Is the blade sharp?
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Hi martin.
There are various reasons why the plotter can cut in this fashion. I don’t think we could pin it on one.
It’s normally always something silly to be honest. What Brian has said just there is a possibility.
What he means is the thin nylon strip that the blades cuts on maybe damaged. I.e. cut into or grime or glue caught on it. Have a look, if you see some deep gouges or the like than that maybe your problem. This happens if on off chance your vinyl runs out and keeps cutting on the strip. Or blade pressure constantly to high etcI do not think it is what Tim has said. If this was the case and the blade was clogged you would find it would still have a constant cut, but the cut would be ragged… almost like the blade had been dragged around the vinyl on the side of the blade… it cuts in one direction and drags in the other because the blade cant spin free.
Another thing it maybe is….
Is your blade holder tight? What I mean is, sometimes the little grip that you tighten round the blade holder
Is slack. When the blade comes down the blade holder moves up a little so as the blade cant get constant contact with the vinyl. Giving the cut, then not cutting a little along, if you not what I mean.
Another possibility is the vinyl….
Has the vinyl been in a cold workshop for a while… what I mean is, try rolling it out on a flat surface vinyl up!
Look along at it and see if the centre puckers up or vice versa. Normally because the edges are damp with the cold.
When you put it n the machine the pinches are holding it in place at edges and middle so the puckering becomes exaggerated and when run through the machine the blade is cutting more into the higher ground than it is on the stuff laying totally flat. Hope this makes sense.please let us know what you do to resolve this problem…
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Quick update, we took the plotter out of the workshop and put it in the warm, we left it there for quite a while to warm up naturally. I had also removed the blade holder to check that the blade was OK, so I now dont know if it was loose or not or if the holder was raised at all.
I tried the plotter before I left work and it seemed to be cutting fine, which is a relief and put the problem down to the cold. I wish I had left the blade holder untill after I had tried the machine in the warm as I now dont know if this had been the problem.
Still it seems OK now so thanks for the help, hopefully we wont have any more problems but if we do at least I have a bit more to go on now so I’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed. -
Rob, when the blade on our machine was not spinning freely it was giving very intermittent cutting problems, very deep, or ragged in some places, and only just marking the vinyl in others, This is why I did’tn think the knife was the problem and messed about with the pressure and speed etc for a while.
Martins machine seems much improved so at the end of the day, every thing put together, as sorted things.
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Yeah, same thing happened on our Mutoh. I think the bearings in the knife holder were knackered.
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Glad you got it sorted Martin, It’s almost certainly the blade holder that was the problem. I shoulda suggested that you check that as well 😳 I have been selling Graphtec plotters for around 12 years and have never heard of one warping because of the cold & I have seen them in some very cold places believe me!
Mike there have been 1 or 2 reasons why I haven’t been around, I would rather not say here though. I have lost your email address, I know you gave it to me recently so I could send you a vehicle. Could you drop me a line so I have it please…ta
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Thanks Brian, it seems to be working fine now, we did a menu board for a Chineese today 8mm text and it cut no problem at all. If I have problems again I’ll check the blade holder first.
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