J.r.

[JR]

I am new to this and I need a little help. I have been using calendar vinyl and it has been cutting fine. I just bought some cast vinyl and everytime I cut it is lifts up on the corners ever so slightly also the edge has a very very fine jagged look. I have replaced the blade, reset the pressure to 60 and slowed the machine to as slow as it will cut. I have a 24in cutter and the cast material is only 6 inches wide. I only need narrow width vinyl because the bulk of what I do is car tags. Can anyone give me some advice on what else to try. Thank you

 

[Gino]

Possibly change brands.

By the way... Welcome to :signs101: from PA.

 

[JR]

It is 3m cast vinyl, is this not a very good brand, do you have sugestions of some good brands of vinyl.

 

[Just Another Sign Guy]

how big is are the pieces you are trying to cut...the only time i have had this problem is 1 using to much pressure, 2 cutting too fast 3 cutting letters or vector images that the detail is too small.

you are using a good brand although not my favorite there is nothing wrong with that material imo

 

[JR]

I am using 3 inch to 6 inch wide about 12 inches long. I was cutting letters about 3 to 5 inches high. I do not need wide vinyl a tag is only 12 x 6 so we waste alot when I use the 24 inch wide stuff. I made sure the vinyl was not slidding around under the rollers. I have palyed witht he pressure and lowered the speed as slow as it will go. I though maybe I had some bad vinyl, since it was an e-bay thing, but it was from a site recomended on this forum...thanks jr

 

[Just Another Sign Guy]

another thing to check is the cutting strip if that is gouged up the blade with sometimes make deeper cuts

 

[imaSIGNr]

I'd try lowering your speed and lower the offset also,and probably check your blade depth. I also find that calandered vinyl cuts better than cast....

 

[Gino]

The brand is perfect.

Is the letter style very fancy ??

Are you sure you put the new blade in and not the old one by mistake ??

 

[Fred Weiss]

3M ScotchCal is a great brand of cast vinyl. It does, however, come in different versions. One of the versions comes on a white 90 pound liner and has very little grab between the adhesive and the liner. This gives it a tendency to burr up on sharp corners ... particularly inside corners ... instead of cutting cleanly.

I would suggest you look for a cut that is regularly giving you the problem and, with a new blade, try changing your various adjustments until you get a clean cut. Slowing down the plotter may actually be working against you but a worn blade and too much exposed blade depth are you most likely causes of the problem. Check the liner after cutting to see if you are leaving anything deeper than a faint impression of the cutpaths, which would be a sign of too much blade depth and/or too much downforce.

 

[JR]

Thanks guys you have all been very helpful. I will try playing with it again today. I will check everything step by step. It is a brand new cutter, new cutter strip, and new blade. It is the heavy white liner on the backing and it does seem to lift off very easily. Thanks for all the info. J.R.

 

[The Big Squeegee]

Welcome from Oklahoma!

:Welcome: to :signs101:​

Some other things to check;
Is the substrate clean(the plates)?
Are you using application tape? (I know, dumb question but when I have had this problem it was from touching the glued surface with my fingers...)
do your fingers touch the edges of the glue surface?
What cleaner do you use on the plates? Does it leave residue or oily surface?

Good luck!​

 

[JR]

Thanks for all the help. I made some adjustments and things seem to be working very well now. I appreciate all the help......

 

[PMG]

ALSO check to make sure it is not double cutting,i have had art work come in with 2 layers of the same image,and it double cut it,the first cut was fine,as soon as the second started it would lift,also make sure your settings are set to 1 cut!!!