Cutting Help on Versacamm...

[thesignguy1986]

Okay so I am new to Roland and always been a Mimaki user but am finding it difficult to get the Versacamm 540 I to cut correctly. I've read up a lot on the cut calibration and though I haven't done it yet is because my machine will cut just fine if I only do a line or 2 of items. Today I went to cut 60 stickers and once and it fit in a 50 x 50" area but is completely way off. I notice though my machine is tracking something awful and didn't know what I can do to fix it. Please shoot over ideas and thanks

 

[rjssigns]

Did you square your material prior to loading? Relying on the sheet cut function does not give a perfect 90 degree angle. Wife ruined a batch of decals figuring the sheet cut "trued" the material. Nope, it just cuts a straight line. Not a perpendicular line to the edge. I got out my big square and found the material 9/16" of an inch out after repeated passes.

Check your outer pinch rollers they could be worn. (they are beveled and have a left and right when replacing)
Outer pinch roller rubber may have come loose from the inner wheel.
Might be a bad headboard.
Could be a loose cable.
Clean the encoder strip(this tells the carriage where it is)

We have ours dialed in pretty well, but it still cuts like poo after about 4 feet. Print and cut it does quite well. Print/lam/cut well...it sucks. Anything over 4 feet you're asking way too much of it.
Take the time to look up the tracking specs you'll see what I mean. They are terrible at best.
Summa is in our future.

 

[thesignguy1986]

Encoder strip is good and everything is nicely plugged in. I did square up the material best I could to make sure since it did seem a little off. Much better cutting now though like you mentioned I am not doing much over 4 feet. I am looking myself at a Summa because of this situation but the whole reason I went with a roland and not a JV33 is because I wanted space in a all in one machine. We will see if it keeps cutting correct and if so great but if not I may be right behind you in line for a Summa or a Mimaki cutter.

 

[Bretly]

cutting

My cuts stayed more true after cleaning the knurled lower wheels and putting all of the wheels down when cutting. Also, new blades are key. I replace my blades quite a bit. You can watch them degrade by watching the pressure you are cutting at go up and up. There is also a better blade... We called Roland to try and discover the difference in the blades and the part number is the same on the bad ones as it is on the good ones but the good ones come in a red box and and say ZECU somewhere in the part number. You also have to make sure they are the ones that do not taper down towards the point.