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Roland SP-540V cutting problem
Hello to all after a long, long time.
I have an issue with cutting line on my Roland SP-540V. In the last few months, I noticed that it does not connect the start/end points of the cutting line, but at the end (or probably the start point, it makes a little (1 mm) curve instead. That’s very annoying, especially on small objects. I changed the knife holder with new original, and I use non-original knives from Digiprint supplies. I also changed the Teflon cutting stripe. Does someone have similar problems?
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9 Replies
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And yes, the offset setting is correct.
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Check the actual blade holder.
Pinch it with your fingers and shake it side to side very slightly to see if you can feel any play/movement.
If you can, look for any little screws, even hidden ones, and tighten them. (You will need a small screwdriver) Be careful not to thread the head of the screw in the process.If this doesn’t work, try the actual mechanism that the blade holder is fixed to, which may have some very slight play/movement. Again, look for any and all screws, visible or hidden, that you can tighten.
It is pretty common for machines that are well-used. for some parts to become very slightly loosened over time.
That little bit of play is enough for the likes of a circle not to complete a 100% true circle. leaving a tiny little bit of alignment to be out and cause the two ends of the circle not to meet and close perfectly.-
Hello Robert,
thank you for the detailed advice. I’ll check the situation and report the result.
Best regards,
Milos
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Hi Milos
Ive just noticed this is a printer/cutter.
What I have suggested above still applies. But, I have never felt that printers’ on-board cutters are as good or robust as standalone cutters. I think the whole printing activity under the gantry of these machines creates a bit of a polluted environment. Vinyl, in general, can have a sort of greasy surface at times. Throw in inkjets and all else under the hood, and the surface can get contaminated. Not to the naked eye, of course… anyway, my point.
Have a close look at the rubber pinch wheels that hold the material in place.
Take some isopropyl alcohol and give each of them a good cleaning. Roll them using your fingers and clean them well.
Also, look closely at the knurled metal roller bar that the rubber pinch rollers pinch against, below the material. Those knurls can get clogged by paper fibres and all sorts. Use something like a hard-bristle toothbrush to get the fibres off the knurls. even the tip of a scalpel, back and forth. anything to clean it.
between the roller bar and the rubber pinches being cleaned, the grip and tracking will improve greatly.
My Point?
If you have ANY sort of play in the cutting blade, it will prevent circles from cutting true and returning to the origin point. But equally, if you have a slight slide in the movement of the material going back and forward, again, you will find that tiny offset when letters are cut or contour-cut prints.Anyway, just another one to tick off the checklist of possibilities. 😀
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Hello Robert, I cheked the mentioned plays around the blade holder, there is a little, but really little play maybe thi si the cause. The machine is old and some plays are normal to occure. Anyway for now it served well for the purpose and the actual error is really the most annoying at the small objects which are not very common in my work. But when we speak about stickers of 5x5cm or bigger it is not so annoying. We’ll probabbly buy a new machine, optional two machines, one for printing and one for cutting because now investing in the old is questionable. We already have Summa D60R. In that case we would change the cutter for bigger one and buy a new printer… Thank you for all the suggestions,
Milos
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Have you set the correct offset in your printer for the offset of the blade being used?
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Yes the offset is set correctly, the blade holder is original Roland and new, the blade is new, not original but it happened even before with the original.
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This is a famously awful machine for cutting, although its not a bad printer – for its age.
I had one for many years, and in all that time I never got it to cut with any accuracy. Not once.
If you have had any success at all, then congrats to you!
Meanwhile, what everybody else has said, and also check the pinch roller holders for tiny cracks. For some reason these are made of a hard plastic that turns brittle and is not really fit for purpose, given the pressure the rollers exert on them.
– I finally opted for a seperate plotter that can read registration marks (graphtec) and now Ive moved on to a latex printer.
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Hello Simon,
yes mostly all written is true but we still use it for many years. Depend on what jobs you are mainly in. For more complex cutting we have summa.
I just wanted to solve the problem which occured recently and is not crucial, but I think with time it will become. I’m thinking about new equipment 😉
Best regards,
Milos
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