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BN2-20 Cuts are inconsistent

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btheodore

New Member
Hello all!
I am very new here, 1st post and I hope this is not covered in another area. I have looked around in the forums and I have not see anything on this topic. If I am incorrect, please let me know and I will be happy to remove the post and move along.

By trade I work in the video games industry and I am a commissioned illustrator as my side hustle. I draw peoples cars in a cartoon style and I make stickers for them from that illustration. I like to die cut the stickers and was using a Cricut and Brother to cuts my stickers...God forgive me...and was always asked for bulk orders. Doing anything bulk on those machines is pain ( I could complain about that for days ) so with business picking up I decided to take a leap and bought a BN2-20. What a jump!
As I said above, I like to die cut my stickers...so cutting all the way through aka perf cut and not a kiss or contour cut.

I was really enjoying cutting like this but every now and then I get inconsistent cuts. By that I mean the area closest to the print head cuts like a dream, all the way through and the stickers are easy to pop out. The middle is kind of a mixed bag. Kinda easy to pop out, but met with a good bit of resistance but still workable. And then the area furthest away from the print head is a kiss cut. Doesnt even come close to touching the backing. I have the same perf cut settings in Versa Works set all the same so no multiple cut lines with different settings or anything like that. I was cutting at about 110grams of force and it was working great. I got those bad results so I tried to up the cut force, same results.
For my stickers, I am using the Roland cal vinyl.

Of course I do a cut test on the media I am using, and its awesome...but then once I do that job...not good. I have NO idea what I am doing wrong. I have only had the machine for a few weeks and have not done that much on it in terms of jobs. Could it be my blade is already dull? I did cut a small amount on the Roland glossy paper for a bit. Perhaps that killed my blade?

Any help or advice would be so incredibly appreciated. I am beyond frustrated. I appreciate everyone's time.
 
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damonCA21

New Member
A couple of basic things to check. First look at the cutting strip. These will often wear inconsistently so you can have grooves in some parts and not others. It should be smooth all the way across with no deep grooves or lumps or bumps. Also check the blade is spinning freely in the blade holder. The bearing can get sticky, so try oiling that.

9/10 this will fix any cutting problems.

To be honest, the machine is designed to contour cut, not die cut. Die cutting is possible, but will kill blades and cutting strips pretty quickly. Contour cut shouldn't make any difference to your customers as in the end all they are doing is peeling a decal off a backing sheet.
 
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btheodore

New Member
damonCA21 said:
A couple of basic things to check. First look at the cutting strip. These will often wear inconsistently so you can have grooves in some parts and not others. It should be smooth all the way across with no deep grooves or lumps or bumps. Also check the blade is spinning freely in the blade holder. The bearing can get sticky, so try oiling that.

9/10 this will fix any cutting problems.

To be honest, the machine is designed to contour cut, not die cut. Die cutting is possible, but will kill blades and cutting strips pretty quickly. Contour cut shouldn't make any difference to your customers as in the end all they are doing is peeling a decal off a backing sheet.
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Thank you so much for responding. I will check those things and report back! Very much appreciate your help.
Side question....what machine is good for die cutting? I see a lot of people using these really massive Roland machines (SG3-300) and they do die cut stickers but now that I have the information you just shared, I am going to assume that they replace blades and cut strips constantly?
 
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damonCA21

New Member
The larger machines are better for die cutting. The BN20 is good, but is more of a hobby machine than an industrial printer. They would also replace the strips and blades a lot more often if the machines are putting out thousands of decals
 
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LiqueColor

New Member
The Vulcan flat bed cutters are awesome for die cutting and contour cutting. From magentic material to box material to vinyl, the do not disappoint. They also sell the BN2-20 and might be able to give you some direction. The Vulcans are ultra accurate, reliable and built like a tank. Look at UScutter.com
 
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btheodore

New Member
LiqueColor said:
The Vulcan flat bed cutters are awesome for die cutting and contour cutting. From magentic material to box material to vinyl, the do not disappoint. They also sell the BN2-20 and might be able to give you some direction. The Vulcans are ultra accurate, reliable and built like a tank. Look at UScutter.com
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Thank you so much! I am at the hobby level for sure with my bn2-20 so I suppose I am asking the hardware to do more than it was designed to do which is unfortunate...for me. Those Vulcan's look awesome. Too bad I spent most of my saved up money on that bn2-20. However, I wanted the ability to print in a large format so I guess its still a good purchase? It is what it is, time to adapt. One day...I shall have something like the Vulcan!
 
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mvpro

New Member
damonCA21 said:
The larger machines are better for die cutting. The BN20 is good, but is more of a hobby machine than an industrial printer. They would also replace the strips and blades a lot more often if the machines are putting out thousands of decals
Click to expand...
The OP is using BN2-20 not BN-20. BN2 has same cutting mechanism as larger SG2 machines. SG2 is not a hobby level and should have no problems with perf cuts.
 
adamfromayr

adamfromayr

New Member
Its a good system ive had the VP-540, 2 x BN20, 1 LEC-3330 UV, And now have 2 x XC-540 Im not a printing guy im a refurbish guy so no expert with running them but have good knowledge of the build and parts etc

My advice is keep any printer on 24/7 needs to be used at least every 48 hours to keep the pipes running free and if going on a big well deserved holiday? try to get someone to maybe keep it moving
 
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btheodore

New Member
mghtrk said:
Any update on this? I am considering this machine. Thank you,.
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Yeah! I have decided to cut my stickers the way the machine was really designed, which is Contour Cut or "kiss cut" AKA, the blade not going all the way through the vinyl and the backing. Saves on blades, and cut strips. Fun fact, the BN2-20 is so new that they don't have cut strip replacements as of yet and since you cant replace them and I don't want my sticker business to grind to a halt...time to change up the way I cut! I have to say that I love the new approach. I make a sticker sheet with the contour cut sticker in the middle and all the customer has to do is to peel off the sticker from the sheet and apply it. It actually works out better for people who may have joint issues to get the sticker off easier rather than when it was a die cut and the edge was so hard to get started. The cost may be a bit more per sticker, but what I save in cut strips and blades...I feel is worth it. Also, peace of mind knowing I'm not destroying my machine with every cut.

I was having issues with inconsistent cuts, but I think it was because I was doing perf cut ( cutting all the way through the vinyl and backing ) as DamonCA21 so rightfully and thankfully pointed out. Once I stopped doing that, works like a dream every time. Seriously nice to run a job of 50 stickers and it comes out perfect. Every cut is spot on. I love the BN2-20 personally. I use it maybe every other day...maybe 3 and have had no issues with it. It turns its self on and cleans the lines...very rare that it does this but I'm glad it does for my down days.

Its kind of big, to me coming from a Cricut and Brother machine and its kind of loud when running as it has fans to suck the media down to help hold it in place as well. Not super loud or mind numbing, just like a fan on full blast. So if you need quiet where you put the machine, I would personally move it away. Just personal preference. So far its great on ink. I'm still on my first cartages, about 1/4 used up and I have done a good amount of printing. Even made 2 large banners, full color!
I have only had to manually clean it once so far, and that was super easy. The software shows you what to do...super simple. Just make sure to order more cleaning swabs!

Flexi Designer is great and all, but I just use it to define cut lines on my illustrations and then I kick out a PDF and then into VersaWorks. Super simple, super fast honestly. Just make sure your images have a little room on all sides or Versa Works wont see the cut lines you make in Flexi Designer or Illustrator.

It will come on a pallet and in a huge box. Make sure you have someone there to help you get it in where you are gonna put it. Also, put it on a sturdy table. It weights 137 lbs and when it gets to printing, it can shake if its on a weak table. You will have to have an ethernet cable attached to it with your computer or laptop when you are running it so consider that as well in terms of placement or a really long ethernet cord.

I love it, its great for me. If you want to do die cut only, then I don't feel this is the best option and I'm sure others will agree. But they can speak to all that as I am very new to all this. But if you want to print and kiss cut to make stickers, decals, signs, or large banners...so much more too...I say do it. I don't regret getting mine at all!
 
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