What am I doing wrong? BN-20

[liannef]

Hi
Been testing out designs on some new products we are working on and I still seem to have problems when it comes to the weeding and masking. When I'm peeling the excess vinyl away parts of the designs lift up and start to come with it so have to push them back down. Is this suppose to happen? I try to be careful and go slow but it's hard to see what you are doing. I tried increasing the cutting force and did a test cut and seemed fine like it did the time before on a lower cutting force but it still did it but this time in a couple of places it cut right through! How can it cut right through in places and not others?

re masking, I cut the sheet up into say A3 size pieces and then try and peel the mask backing off without creasing it and then slightly fold it and put down in middle and carefully work my way outwards and then use squeegee to get out any air bubble but if you happen to get a crease in it then it's a mess!

I ran out of vinyl and started to panic on what was going to happen when it got to the end and was quite surprised that it actually stopped and went and cut what I did so the vinyl wasn't wasted.

Can you run off say 2m of designs in one go or is it best to do smaller runs so it doesn't hit the floor?

Thanks
Lianne

[Justin]

I don't have this machine but if this happened on a cutter I would look at the design rather than the pressure. This can happen if lines don't join/cross. On some cutters you can select weld to join everything. Can you cut a basic test shape for comparison?

[Paul]

What vinyl have you used?
Some vinyls need to dry for few hours., otherwise will be buggers to weed and mask.

[liannef]

I added hairline outlines to the designs so am assuming they are continuous lines? I'm no expect when it comes to coreldraw though! Some designs have text so just added an outline and others were vectors so added a boundary and I've been using http://www.grafityp.co.uk/t-shirt-print ... nt-pu.html which says it's instant drying as the one I wanted to use said 4 hours drying time and want to get orders out same day where possible. I did the circle / square test cut before starting and seemed fine, each bit came off easy and couldn't feel anything on the back.

[mr-gobby]

C print pu is good stuff as it is quite an elastic vinyl and pretty thin but as a result can be tricky to weed on small letters and tight turns, the vinyl can stretch and oil in tiny amounts when being cut so try those designs on a different stiffer vinyl to prove if it's that. Coraldraw knowledge can enable you to curve every angled cut enough to help the blade travel more smoothly and you can outline cut areas so you can weed in several smaller amounts at a time, pulling large areas carries risks you mention. Lifting can occur I use my weeding tool to hold down the tricky bits when weeding but it can happen with client pu for the reasons I mentioned. You can do metres at a time but only when your happy the designs weed well but if you run out, the vinyl slips or you have any problem like these then you've lost the job so is a cost. If your printing while you work you can run batches of jobs, just wind the vinyl back between runs to save on waste. If your cutting through then you will blunt the blade so it then won't perform well at the correct cutting pressures which are supposed in the data sheets and should work although each new blade should be tested starting below these pressures and work up to where it just the vinyl nut hardly marks the backing. I use smart knives which aren't cheap but I like them because they are preset in their holders and last well.
Mark

[liannef]

Coraldraw knowledge can enable you to curve every angled cut enough to help the blade travel more smoothly and you can outline cut areas so you can weed in several smaller amounts at a time, pulling large areas carries risks you mention.

... What do I need to google to be able to make it easier for the blade to travel better around the lines? I think I have the force up too high as I can see my design etched into the backing so will bring that back down. Ah so you mean put in a second cutline say a rectangle around the more detailed designs so I just work on each one at a time rather than pulling the whole lot off!

How do you know when you need a new blade? I think I have most of the print and cut vinyls from Grafityp which one would you suggest I try?

[mr-gobby]

Yes more cut line boxes around sections of the design so you can weed them separately. If you have them then easytransfer, inkblock PU, textprint all should weed more easily. Learning coreldraws various features yes youtube but also coreldraw presentations are good, saw one at P&P this year, they may hold workshops. Blades blunt easily and to varying degrees if they touch something they shouldn't though they can continue to cut with more pressure, blade material qualities vary some wear fast some slow, some buy lots of cheaper ones and change more often it's a preference thing I guess but this is a useful read http://www.edwardmathias.com/bladelife1.html personally i think if your dialing up the pressure it can put the machine under more strain and may cause wear or other issues, for what blades cost i'd start with a new one and go from there.

Mark

[Paul]

Yes, this vinyl will work nicely for basic shapes but other, more advanced turns will be more difficult to weed.
I found it much easier to weed day after print.

[froggy]

+1 For Edward Matthais, smart knives have the offset for your particular machine set for that particular blade. Check your offset angle, and as has been said, change to a new blade and start again. The cutting pressure required needs to be checked every day really as ambiant temperature etc can affect the pressure needed for a clean cut, also when you change to a different media. Also check your cutting strip.

[liannef]

Hi Thanks, What do you mean by check your cutting strip please?