I love my vp-540 but lately it has been a hit and miss when i have to print something then laminate it and then have the machine cut it out. Some times its a good cut then others its off by 1/8". I know its a printer first then a cutter second but how have your exeriences been after you laminate something then cut it out. Have they been good cuts? Is there any techniques or maybe how you set up versaworks to improve accuracy? I would really love to get it a little more accurate. Thanks Josh
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How well does your roland cut after laminated?
- Thread starter abadsvt
- Start date
SurfaceSigns
New Member
I haven't had that sort of problem with my VP, the cuts seem to be bang on, laminated or not. Perhaps the optical sensor that lines up the registration marks is malfunctioning or dirty?
Have you checked and calibrated the cutting head?
Have you checked and calibrated the cutting head?
FrankenSigns.biz
New Member
Works great for us. It's important that you have a good 45° blade and optimum blade pressure.
Replicator
New Member
My VP-540 is spot on every PC job that goes through it !
ProColorGraphics
New Member
I just cut out 4 items that were 16' long. All words being cut out. Was on within a 1/16th of an inch. There were solid colors so I left enough bleed. I think mine works great too.
Thats interesting. Some dead on and some not. I bought my VP540 used but it was in excellent condition. Is it easy to calibrate the head or do i need to have a tech come out? I thought about putting a piece of tape on the printer so that way i can line up the material everytime the same. It has those horizontil lines on the outfeed section so i figured if i put a vertical piece of tape and line the vinyl up with that it should have a better chance of getting a good cut. Does that sound silly or do you guys do that? It cuts perfect when i don't need to laminate anything and just print and cut. Its only after i laminate then reinsert does it sometimes get way off. Thanks
Josh
Josh
CentralSigns
New Member
Mine have been bang on. I spent a small fortune while learning. My best advice is not to laminate over the marks and start it on a dot. Hope that helps.
Last edited:
WestcoastSigns
New Member
I have a Roland SP300 and have had no problems with hundreds of half inch laminated decals. Maybe because my machine is slower that helps keep cuts accurate?
Always line it up straight with the bit of ridge on printer to keep straight and no problems with laminated registration marks. Knock on wood...
Always line it up straight with the bit of ridge on printer to keep straight and no problems with laminated registration marks. Knock on wood...
LittleSnakey
New Member
We found ours cut off more when the speed was fast, and also if you have too much pressure it will gradually cut more off through out the run in all directions.
On long runs it seems when going forward and backward it moves real fast and when it hits the ground the jams the vinyl causing it to only be off forward and back not side to side.
Helping the vinyl on the long runs so it does not hit the ground helps alot.
We bought a graphtec cause they were supposed to be great but we could never get it to find the crop marks consistantly so after returning that we got a Summa that works great and has catch baskets for the long runs. The only thing it would not read the crop marks on was chrome.
The Roland has never not found the crop marks on any type of material.
On long runs it seems when going forward and backward it moves real fast and when it hits the ground the jams the vinyl causing it to only be off forward and back not side to side.
Helping the vinyl on the long runs so it does not hit the ground helps alot.
We bought a graphtec cause they were supposed to be great but we could never get it to find the crop marks consistantly so after returning that we got a Summa that works great and has catch baskets for the long runs. The only thing it would not read the crop marks on was chrome.
The Roland has never not found the crop marks on any type of material.
B-RAD Graphics
New Member
I have kinda excepted that my VP-540 will be off in a longer run so add bleed if I can. Does not work on alot of applications but at least it does not look off. If I attempt anything longer that 6' its off.. I was told that is normal..is this not true??
anotherdog
New Member
Just a thought;
The backing paper of the material you are cutting...
When I run vehicle adhesive, the backing paper of the adhesive has a very slick surface. I find it is much more likely to "slip" than any of my other adhesives. I find slowing the cut speed helps.
I was also getting some cut problems with a badly scored cutting strip. You should check that too.
With the right pressure in the knife I have cut a thousand laminated decals in a single 12ft run (I know I should have split, It was a nail biter) and still had dead register.
The VP540 should be able to cut with the accuracy of any cutter out there, just not the speed.
The backing paper of the material you are cutting...
When I run vehicle adhesive, the backing paper of the adhesive has a very slick surface. I find it is much more likely to "slip" than any of my other adhesives. I find slowing the cut speed helps.
I was also getting some cut problems with a badly scored cutting strip. You should check that too.
With the right pressure in the knife I have cut a thousand laminated decals in a single 12ft run (I know I should have split, It was a nail biter) and still had dead register.
The VP540 should be able to cut with the accuracy of any cutter out there, just not the speed.
You guys have some great points and ideas for me to try. What settings do you normally cut stuff? I normally use these settings (i going from memory so they might be off a little)
offset: .250mm (default)
Pressure: 185 (this setting for 2mil vinyl laminated with 3 mil)
speed: 25
I have tried changing the offset to "0" but didn't notice a difference. I thought it was weird for the default to be set to .250mm which i know isn't much at all just thought it was wierd. Thanks
offset: .250mm (default)
Pressure: 185 (this setting for 2mil vinyl laminated with 3 mil)
speed: 25
I have tried changing the offset to "0" but didn't notice a difference. I thought it was weird for the default to be set to .250mm which i know isn't much at all just thought it was wierd. Thanks
B Snyder
New Member
cut off
I have a roland sp540v and have had some issues with my cut being off. Running slower speed helps, also make sure the heaters have been off for a little bit the heat kicks up the expansion/contraction and can make cut off. Cleaning the clear strip helped mine significantly and also going through the calibration process, there is even a cal. process in the service mode that is great, much better than the user one.
I do a lot of small decals and that is where the issues arise try to run them in smaller batches. One test is to do a print then cut w/o lam and that will tell you if calibration is off, get this corrected first then move onto the print/lam/cut process. If off then, it is either an alignment problem or the read calibration for scanning the registration marks.
I've gone round and round with my roland dealer and they keep telling me it is the pinch rollers binding. I have checked them and the bearings are smooth as glass. Also use more pinch rollers the more you have the easier it is for the vinyl to be pulled into the machine. On long cuts I try to use a table on each side of the machine so machine does not have to fight gravity so much and I help along to prevent it from getting shifted.
Try these things to see if it helps, I feel you pain on this and it waste a lot of vinyl and lam to get it on the money.
I have a roland sp540v and have had some issues with my cut being off. Running slower speed helps, also make sure the heaters have been off for a little bit the heat kicks up the expansion/contraction and can make cut off. Cleaning the clear strip helped mine significantly and also going through the calibration process, there is even a cal. process in the service mode that is great, much better than the user one.
I do a lot of small decals and that is where the issues arise try to run them in smaller batches. One test is to do a print then cut w/o lam and that will tell you if calibration is off, get this corrected first then move onto the print/lam/cut process. If off then, it is either an alignment problem or the read calibration for scanning the registration marks.
I've gone round and round with my roland dealer and they keep telling me it is the pinch rollers binding. I have checked them and the bearings are smooth as glass. Also use more pinch rollers the more you have the easier it is for the vinyl to be pulled into the machine. On long cuts I try to use a table on each side of the machine so machine does not have to fight gravity so much and I help along to prevent it from getting shifted.
Try these things to see if it helps, I feel you pain on this and it waste a lot of vinyl and lam to get it on the money.