Help with Gerber GS-15 Plus

[jfiscus]

One thing not mentioned here yet is the little springs that hold down the bailing arms. They can weaken over time and those don't apply enough pressure.

 

[Nfire86]

First off, your equipment is not junk. The software may be a little dated, but it's still very much relevant to the trade. I'm running Omega 6, and it essentially does the same thing as your Omega 4 when it comes to vector creation and cutting. Stay the course.

I'm also a stone engraver and I run a GS15 Plus. I've cut a lot of rubber over the past 18 years, and there should be absolutely no reason to have to double cut anything....period. And, it should be extremely easy to weed. Slow down your speed....especially with Hartco material. They add PVC to their rubber and it doesn't cut like "real" rubber.

Based on your photos, I'm willing to bet good money that I understand your problem. It appears the stencil is getting hung up on the cam bar as the material cycles back through the plotter (the cam bar is the shaft that "reciprocates" to raise and lower the knife).

This is usually because there isn't sufficient powder on the rubber stencil. Always unroll your material on a table and wipe well with a coarse terry cloth rag (BEFORE you load the material into your plotter). You need to make sure there are no glossy or tacky areas. If it needs a little extra powder, use unscented cornstarch baby powder. Regular corn starch will work also...it's just a little tough to sprinkle out of a box. ALSO: make sure to clean off any adhesive residue on the cam bar, and on the top deck of the machine, both front and back (the black surfaces). Adhesive residue will cause the material to grab.

Now, with that said, DO NOT powder it like you're powdering a baby's bum. Your only goal here is to eliminate the tackiness of the material. Done correctly, you should NEVER be getting powder on the plotter. In my opinion, Gerber should have really made the cam bar with a roller sleeve so that it allows the material to pass through without friction, but that's for another discussion.

(Side Note: On second thought, I don't believe Hartco material comes with any powder on their stencil material. When you use powder, make sure to wipe it off after plotting using a damp cloth, and dry it well BEFORE weeding. It MUST be wiped off for the transfer tape to adhere).

Even with a rough drum like you show, you should still get fairly good results because of the heavy backer used in monument stencil.

Important: Do you see drag marks from the knife blade across the stencil? This is another easily solved issue, let me know.



With all that said, I use ACAD along with SignLab and Gerber Omega, Illy and Corel. They don't always work well with other, so try to do as much as possible in your cutting program.

I also tile big jobs, and sometimes I need to cut across an image or make extremely unusual shaped pieces to tile together. This is where AutoCAD really shines.

For the tiled project shown below, the layout was done in Omega. I used AutoCAD to do the tile borders, and for the vector work around where the lettering intersects the tree trunk. This design wasn't majorly complex, since some of our tiles tend to resemble funky jigsaw puzzle pieces.

I normally use Anchor 116 material, but this was done during the time they were literally under water a few years back, and only 3M was available. My, how the tables have turned.

The recessed panel in this stone was entirely hand worked using only an angle grinder and chisels.

JB

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This is before it was cleaned up....there's still a little adhesive residue left on the stone.

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I'm just getting back to this thread I thought it would notify me when I got any messages. This is so very helpful thanks for the response. I don't mean to knock anyone's profession I was just extremely frustrated on this day.

Found the book for the software and am slowing leaning to do the graphics fully in Gerber.

have not been using baby powder tried it out and it worked like a dream as far as the feeding went. I also had a hard time keeping the powder of the machine but air blasted it out after use.

Got my boss to get a replacement drum though I'm not to confident in how to install it.

I still have to triple cut things at about a 3 or 4 on the blade pressure for easy weeding. Could this be an old blade issue? How often should you change the blade?
If I do a single pass with this force they often have to use a knife to get it weeded.

Also if I could pick your brain some more is there anyway to salvage a cut after a jamb. Is there some sort of reset point you can create . I would also like to use the pen feature to preview the cut first then have the blade go back over it.

Do you leave the material on the roll holder? I have had trouble with it either pulling in the holder or bunching up and have been just measure and cutting strips as needed.

Sorry for all the questions you guys have been allot help already

 

[Nfire86]

One thing not mentioned here yet is the little springs that hold down the bailing arms. They can weaken over time and those don't apply enough pressure.

Thank you this make sense I'll add it to the list of parts I'm going to order

 

[brdesign]

You may want to check with http://www.theplotterdoctor.com/ if you are still having issues with it.

 

[kritze66]

One thing oi noticed in my experience with our gerber plotters about hartco stencil is the gerber punched pattern for our machines doesn't quite match up at the beginning and ending 2-3 feet of stencil. the it goes off track or falls off the machine. That's the way it's been for the past few months. However the latest roll has a pretty good punch pattern. I was able to use the beginning of the roll. Maybe Hartco is getting their $hit together. Still don't like it. Eats blades to quickly.

 

[Nfire86]

I used to think this too we had a paper backed material we used to use and it would easily rip. We only use the plastic backed ones now

 

[Vassago]

So if I set the tool force between one and two it works fine on a brand new blade. And as I was instructed as the blade dies you increase the tool force. I've never cut all the way through the mask. Also everything has to be double cut because the guy's out in the shop are pre Madonnas. And if it's not easily weedable they throw a fit. So I double cut everything another issue I have is when it comes over to do the second pass it gets caught up in the previous cut

Lol.. As the blade dies you replace the blade.. Increasing pressure will just make it more lightly to cut into the drum covering.

Clean the sprockets to stop the jumping and probably get the drum recovered..

Of course.. Its an OLD machine that's not had much love over its life - might be worth trying to find another one to cannibalise for parts is the boss really won't buy a new plotter

 

[Signsfyi]

Have Gerber 4.0 and only option at the moment is Acad and the Gerber software. Have Corel draw but have had trouble getting it to connect to plotter. Used to have Adobe illustrator boss doesn't want to pay for it because " the last guy didn't use it" funny thing is the last guy told me he is leaving because everything In here is from the 90s ( computers, software tools) and the boss had everything done the hard way because he didn't want to buy new equipment

You can import your Corel and Ilustrator files into Omega and cut from there. Again, your software is fine. I use mine daily and believe I make some pretty nice stuff. I also use Omega to design vector files for my cnc. Vcarve just is not that good compared to Omega when designing, at least until you need to 3D model, then I use Rhino. I suggest that you start as I said before. Clean and lubricate everything, replace worn parts and learn Omega inside and out. Until you get into printing or cnc work, Omega is pretty solid.