Warp speed Mr. Scott!

[fluidedge]

Dewi we run our Graphtec at speed 30 or 45.

I’d only run it slower for very delicate stuff, and then probably at about 15 or 20.

Can’t remember having changed the blade in the last 6 months.

With the machine flying though, just make sure you have enough clearance front and back for the vinyl to flow without snagging.

There’ll be people with more experience of weeding than me on here, but I find the direction is dependent on the lettering style – for example right slanted italics are best weeded right to left.

Chris

[John Childs]

We only slow ours down for really intricate stuff, or for running long lengths through when the speed can sometimes cause the vinyl to tangle when flying backwards and forwards. Otherwise it’s full speed ahead.

I don’t know what effect speed has on blade life but we don’t use that many considering the volume of work we do. Each machine probably has a new blade every two months or so on the average. In any event, an occasional new blade at about £20 a throw is a lot cheaper than having my staff standing around waiting for cutting to finish so a slow speed is probably false economy for me.

With regard to wear and tear on your cutter, I wouldn’t worry about it. We have never yet worn out a machine and have only ever replaced them due to extreme age. We still have my original Aristo AG50 Signline that is now 14 years old and still works perfectly. The only reason we replaced it was that newer machines were faster and more productive but nevertheless it sits up corner connected to an old Mac that was replaced for the same reason and we just use it for cutting reflective to save the blades in our newer cutters.

[jon vital]

Sounds like you had the machine running very slow if it took 30 mins to cut 1m.

As for weeding, it’s worth trying different directions and angles. And also speeds. Some small text is easier to weed with a short sharp pull rather than all slow and intricate.

[Robert Lambie]

quick reply as im off to dig some big holes 😮

im sure we run our machine full pelt in most cases day in day out.
if your doing intricate small stuff you could slow it down a tad and use tangental feature. makes weeding a bit easier too i think.
weeding, like jon says its down to what suits you best. im right top weeding pulling to lower left but then im right handed. its easier this way because the right hand side of most leatters are open, so less catches.
having said that.. there is nothing to stop you doing it any other way if you can do it faster and easier.. 😉

blades should last you months mate. just make sure your not cutting with too much pressure and you will be using that one same blade at christmas 😉

[Phill Fenton]

The vinyl you use has a big effect on the speed you can weed. I have used vinyls in the past that are a real nightmare so it’s worth trying a few different brands until you find one you like. I use Oracal 751 series which I find has excellent properties allowing you to rip away the excess very quickly without lifting the lettering away from the backing paper. Old vinyl (e.g offcuts that have been lying about for some time) can become very loosely attached to the backing paper and because of this become very difficult to weed quickly. Time is money and I have always maintained that its better to use a better quality vinyl than use a cheaper material as the better vinyls tend to have better weeding characteristics.

I always run my machine flat out – slowing it down doesn’t appear to imrove anything for me, and the blades last for ages anyway.

[Joe McNamara]

I NEED MORE POWER CAPTAIN DEWI…….
Run all the time at full speed ahead.
I started cutting 2 complete vans to be fitted tommorrow at 5pm and I was leaving the workshop at 7.15 with the two complete van kits ready for fitting at customers premises.
I only slow the cutter right down for very small intricate stuff!
GET YER FOOT DOWN MAN!…..full speed ahead.
As for the costs of blades plotters etc, it’s negligable…………..if I could keep my plotter running all day every day at full speed churning out work, and it exploded after 1 year, I’d still be happy!
they’re only a couple of grand new now for a good 610 wide cutter…
try and find an employee who’ll be that dependable for 12 months for a couple of grand wages!
It is best not to worry about the cost of things like blades or any other “consumables” – I used to when I started, but now I’ll happily cut a job in reflective with a new blade and bin the blade after 1 job if it dulls it.
As someone else on the boards said recently….I don’t pay for consumables, the customer does……
Cheers
Joe

[Andy Gorman]

I suppose when you first see a modern plotter running at full speed it can be a bit frightening. They don’t half shift.

I agree with Phil, finding and paying for decent vinyls pays for itself in the long run with the time you can save on weeding. This is time that I have neglected to allow for in the past and time is definitely money.

I do tend to slow things down for reflective and polyester as I have found that the blade can sometimes ‘float’ along the surface on polyester and not cut quite deep enough.

[Bill Dewison]

Thanks guys. Thats cleared more than a few questions up 😀 😀

I’m using Oracal 751 and 651 atm, I really like it (though I have only tried Hexis as an alternative so maybe I should try a few more)

Anyway, I’ll bump the speed up tomorrow. I’ve seen one running at about 40ish, it was a tad scary. I’ll try a nice steady 30 and work my way up, ease myself into those hair raising speeds 😉

Blimey, you can really tell I’m a newbie at times though 😳 The blade issue I wasn’t that worried about, it was mainly making the plotter last. I don’t like wasting things (I picked the wrong business for that didn’t I 😉 ) so I was trying to take care of my precious plastic picker, but after seeing the replies here, I’d rather get my work done quicker and be across the road in the local pub 😉

As I say, much appreciated help as always 😀

Cheers, Dewi

P.S. Beam me up Lieutenant Joe! 😉