Discussion new blades

[Geneva Olson]

Nothing feels better when you put a new blade in your machine after it's way past time. The feeling of pulling that vinyl up and watching it pick up so smoothly there's not even a dot on an i missing. Life is good!

 

[ewded]

If it feels good then you're doing it wrong. As cuts gets worse I gradually increase pressure and use the knife for months without issues, when I install fresh ones I have to reset the pressures - which I hate

 

[ikarasu]

If it feels good then you're doing it wrong. As cuts gets worse I gradually increase pressure and use the knife for months without issues, when I install fresh ones I have to reset the pressures - which I hate

We never increase the pressures...our conditions are set and once it starts cutting bad we just replace it right away. Blades are cheap!

 

[ewded]

Well, I add 5 extra grams pressure and can use it for another 3 months, I pay about $25 for a knife, I wouldn't call it very cheap.

 

[James Burke]

Nothing feels better when you put a new blade in your machine after it's way past time. The feeling of pulling that vinyl up and watching it pick up so smoothly there's not even a dot on an i missing. Life is good!

The same feeling holds true with new socks and new underwear.


JB

 

[Black Star]

What blades does everyone use? I've tried the blades that Fellers sells but I always have issues with them. I have a Mimaki plotter and usually just purchase Mimaki blades. They cost quite a bit but they work well.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

I use the oem mimaki blades. They last forever. Used to use chinese blades and had to change them out all of the time.

 

[Geneva Olson]

I have a roland plotter and I was using roland blades. But then, I purchased the GSG blades. THOSE THINGS ARE AMAZING!

 

[netsol]

I use the oem mimaki blades. They last forever. Used to use chinese blades and had to change them out all of the time.

it's like buying saw blades or drill bits from harbor freight. the chinese stuff doesn't have a high enough carbon content in the steel. on the bright side, you can throw away the worn out drill bit and the box it came in on the same day

 

[ikarasu]

Well, I add 5 extra grams pressure and can use it for another 3 months, I pay about $25 for a knife, I wouldn't call it very cheap.

How much money are you making with that $25 blade? I just did 6 rolls of 30" reflective without needing to change the blade.... About $7000 in Proffitt.... And likely won't need to change it for weeks. For me ... That's cheap, especially when you compare it to the income it brings in.

Also... If you have to keep adding pressure to all your cut conditions (we use 5-6 regularly for different vinyls) or spend an extra few minutes weeding here and there because you don't have a perfectly sharp blade, it likely adds up to more than $25 in labor!

If your blade is set right and you're only cutting the vinyl and not the paper, the blade should last a long time. Squeezing an extra few weeks or months isn't worth it for the headaches it costs.

 

[ikarasu]

What blades does everyone use? I've tried the blades that Fellers sells but I always have issues with them. I have a Mimaki plotter and usually just purchase Mimaki blades. They cost quite a bit but they work well.

Official graphtec blades for thicker materials... Then clean-cut blades for normal vinyl cutting .. and cheap Chinese blades for perf cutting since cutting through paper dulls a $50 blade just as fast as a .50 blade.