why is my mimaki not cutting correctly?

[Marcella Ross]

could it be needing calibrated Andy?

[Andrew Boyle]

slowed it right down and it’s leveled off……..got some new blades coming as I was cutting a heavy laminate.

Cheers……will also calibrate it Monday when I work out how to do it 😀

[Robert Lambie]

it maybe the blade carriage that has slackened off Andrew. the part that holds the blade holder, that is attached to the gantry. we had this issue with our Roland years ago… a small star screw driver and a few twists and all was working again.
over time through excessive use it can become a little loose and create irregular cuts in the vinyl.

[David Rowland]

yep. the carriage.. . take off the front carriage, two screws hold it to the back plate. Tighten them up. Should be that

[Andrew Boyle]

took the front carriage of and looked at it……….then I closed it again, there was lots of stuff behind there 😀

[David Rowland]

it will feel loose by hand if it is

[Robert Lambie]

in that case…
have a look at your knurled rollers that the pinches run over andrew.
this is the rough bar that the pinches snap onto and the vinyl runs between.
two things can happen here…

1, the knurls on the bar have worn and aren’t gripping the vinyl as they should. this causing a slippage.
2, with no vinyl in the machine. put your hand on the knurled bar on the left and on the far right. now gentle move/rock your hands in opposite directions and see if you can detect a "very slight" bit of play in the bar.
this would explain a consistent misalignment of the letters being cut.
remember though, it will only be ever so slight but enough to show miss-cut letters.

many folk think the bar running through a vinyl cutter is solid, but that is not always the case. hence why play between the two can happen over time.

[Andrew Boyle]

Cheers Dave…………will try on Monday 😀

[Andrew Boyle]

Think I’ll try Dave’s option first 😀 😀 😀 if it doesn’t work I’ll re read your message and try and work out what your on about 😀
………Appreciate it…….loads of 12mm text to cut
😥

[Robert Lambie]

quote Andrew Boyle:

if it doesn’t work I’ll re read your message and try and work out what your on about

its Friday, thought we all spoke in code? :lol1:

[Andrew Boyle]

HUP HUP HUP 7-eeleven 😀

[Robert Lambie]

:lol1: :lol1: :lol1: squelch… damn dawg!

[Andrew Boyle]

exhausted all options….turns out the warranty does not cover the plotter.

Can anyone give me the number of the independent guy that covers Scotland fixing plotters or is there no such person……….

I appreciate the help….Cheers

[John Childs]

Andrew,

A long shot, but I once had a similar thing with a Roland where only certain letters were cut wrongly, but it was consistently the same ones.

I cannot for the life of me explain why, but it turned out to be the cutting strip. We replaced that and everything worked properly.

[Chris Wool]

i normally get jumped on for this but as i think its the vinyl warping as its being cut.
give the top a polish with mr sheen where the vinyl slides in and out and over the cutting strip, some backing papers tend not to slip as well as others.

chris

[Andrew Boyle]

Tried most things Chris and the machine is very clean…….

everything seems tight and correct

Cheers

[Chris Wool]

quote :

and the machine is very clean…….

try it 😉

[Tim Painter]

Andrew out of curiosity.

Do the e’s cut poorly if they are cut landscape & portrait?
Are they being sent as type or as curves?
Have you checked that all the grub screws on the motor / drive spindle are all tight? Also any grub screws on the knurled drive bar that the pinch wheel press onto where it’s driven at the end.
Also the pinch wheels, they have very small bearings in them do they feel smooth when rotated?

What Chris says does help with friction against the bed any silicon based polish or a pure silicon spray. Make sure you don’t get it on the pinch wheels. Easiest to spray a rag then wipe it on.

Just thinking aloud here really.

[Andrew Boyle]

Tried it Chris no joy……..

Tim……All letters are dodgy landscape or portrait…..if I slow it down to 20 it’s not as bad but still not really acceptable…..Every screw is tight…only ones I have not done yet are on the knurled drive small alan key type fixings….will try that tomorrow…..

Thanks Again 😀

[Tim Painter]

Andrew does the Mimaki have a built in test cut, just wondered if this gets the same results?

[Andrew Boyle]

Tim……it does with the same results…

Cheers