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Cutting reflective vinyl

coyote

New Member
Hi all: another question about my CE5000....I have a lot of 3M reflective vinyl to cut-I keep setting the pressure higher on the blade-is it pressure or is it blade depth that I should be fooling with? I'm getting a cut, just really difficult to weed-and don't want to cut too deep into the substrate. It seems a bit arbitrary the way you set the blade depth on this plotter. Mind you, I'm coming from a Gerber 4B where you just keep stacking weights on the blade carrier as you go til it gets that "sounds right" sound. (pretty pathetic, huh?)

thanks again, Carol
 

gvgraphics

New Member
I leave my depth alone on the blade and have my cutter set at 0 offset, 26 force, 20 speed, and quality 2. Cuts fine on reflective for me. Hope this helps.
 

coyote

New Member
Thanks folks: we use 60degree blade for sign blast tape-haven't tried cutting that yet on this cutter. tried the new settings and worked like a charm w/the 45. I just have to keep a list of settings so I know what to do. I just got this plotter a few weeks ago and haven't bought the extra doodads that I'll be needing, like extra blades, pens etc.

Carol
 

woolly

New Member
Thanks folks: we use 60degree blade for sign blast tape-haven't tried cutting that yet on this cutter. tried the new settings and worked like a charm w/the 45. I just have to keep a list of settings so I know what to do. I just got this plotter a few weeks ago and haven't bought the extra doodads that I'll be needing, like extra blades, pens etc.

Carol


don't leave getting spare blades to long always have at least 1 new in stock.

have a look at the conditions feature as you set up a condition for each type of material,

woolly
 

Replicator

New Member
Are you using A 60 degree blade?? a 45 degree wont work?? or wont work well

I only use 45 degree blades and all is perfect.

I keep blades around that are used just for cutting reflective

and I up my force to perfect the cutting process without a hitch.
 

coyote

New Member
Thanks for the info. I'll be ordering stuff before the end of the year to get on the books before Jan 1-blades & a new scanner (grumble.... I had a really good one but it's old and incompatible w/ our system),

Love this small Graphtec plotter, but I miss sprocket feed accuracy. Have to load just so or it goes off track.

Ken-I bookmarked the blade site. Thanks.
Carol
 

baxter gamble

New Member
A blade with a sharper angle will give you a better cut. Don't mess with the depth. You might also stack the job on top of itself so it will cut two times, or you might be able to set "double cut" in your output.
 

nxtremesign

New Member
I only use 45 degree blades and all is perfect.
well i said that because when i use the 45 blades they seam to dull very fast or wont cut 2 mil or 3 mil vinyl after words, and the 60 blade i have for reflective i have been using for 8 months , and thats all that blade does, it don't cut anything else
 

d fleming

Premium Subscriber
Love this small Graphtec plotter, but I miss sprocket feed accuracy. Have to load just so or it goes off track.



Try holding the roll of vinyl so it will not spin and giving a tug to set the roll. The rollers holding your vinyl roll should be at 90 degree angle to machine, this gives you a good start for long runs.
 
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