Plotter Cutting Curves Jagged

[PinkPrintingPixie]

Hoping the hive mind can help me out with a persistent but annoying plotter issue. For the last week or so (that I've noticed) - my HP Latex 64 Plotter has been giving me the wonkiest O's C's and S's you've ever seen. The straight cuts seem fine, and I have already tried cleaning the blade, putting a drop of oil into the carriage, and adjusting and testing the depth. Obviously the smaller the letter the worse it seems. The tip of the blade looks fine?

Has anyone encountered this issue and how did you solve it? Am I possibly just dealing with a dull blade? Or could this be a software issue? This happens with barcode cuts as well as cuts straight from files.

Cutter - HP Latex 64 Plotter
Blade Angle- 45 degree
File Type - Illustrator AI file, spot color stroke
Software - Flexi Print & Cut

 

[DL Signs]

Bunch of possibilities... Doubtful it's software to me.

I'd start with a fresh blade, when you put it in the holder make sure it spins freely, if not replace the holder, they do go bad, oiling them won't help very long if the bearing is bad. Make sure the blade isn't sticking out too far, that can cause it to bind and not spin on contours, especially tight ones.

If the cutting strip is chewed up or worn bad, that'll cause problems on tight contours too, that's another standard maintenance part that affects contours more than straight cuts, if it's bad, replace it. While you're checking all this make sure grit rollers are clean, they'll do good on straight cuts, but slip on contours if they're dirty or the rubber rollers are getting worn.

The 60 degree blade is better for heavier material, a 45 degree (I think HP uses a 36 degree instead of the 45 like everyone else) works better for standard vinyls and for fine detail cutting. Make sure the offset is correct on the machine for whatever blade you're using.

The faster you run it, the more chance the blade has to skip, and it gets worse as blades wear. for fine detail cutting don't run it too fast.

 

[Excel]

Hoping the hive mind can help me out with a persistent but annoying plotter issue. For the last week or so (that I've noticed) - my HP Latex 64 Plotter has been giving me the wonkiest O's C's and S's you've ever seen. The straight cuts seem fine, and I have already tried cleaning the blade, putting a drop of oil into the carriage, and adjusting and testing the depth. Obviously the smaller the letter the worse it seems. The tip of the blade looks fine?

Has anyone encountered this issue and how did you solve it? Am I possibly just dealing with a dull blade? Or could this be a software issue? This happens with barcode cuts as well as cuts straight from files.

Cutter - HP Latex 64 Plotter
Blade Angle- 45 degree
File Type - Illustrator AI file, spot color stroke
Software - Flexi Print & Cut

I had similar issues very difficult to weed, tried a few new blades, turned out It was the blade holder.

 

[PinkPrintingPixie]

Bunch of possibilities... Doubtful it's software to me.

I'd start with a fresh blade, when you put it in the holder make sure it spins freely, if not replace the holder, they do go bad, oiling them won't help very long if the bearing is bad. Make sure the blade isn't sticking out too far, that can cause it to bind and not spin on contours, especially tight ones.

If the cutting strip is chewed up or worn bad, that'll cause problems on tight contours too, that's another standard maintenance part that affects contours more than straight cuts, if it's bad, replace it. While you're checking all this make sure grit rollers are clean, they'll do good on straight cuts, but slip on contours if they're dirty or the rubber rollers are getting worn.

The 60 degree blade is better for heavier material, a 45 degree (I think HP uses a 36 degree instead of the 45 like everyone else) works better for standard vinyls and for fine detail cutting. Make sure the offset is correct on the machine for whatever blade you're using.

The faster you run it, the more chance the blade has to skip, and it gets worse as blades wear. for fine detail cutting don't run it too fast.

Thank you! Let me try all this. Do you have any advice on cleaning grit rollers? Those lil buggers raze down every rag I try on it. A stiff brush??

I ordered some blades, will readjust the next to be further into the carriage, slow her down, and if all else fails will try getting a replacement holder.

 

[DL Signs]

Do you have any advice on cleaning grit rollers?

I use alcohol to clean them, and detail brushes... They're shaped like a tooth brush, so they can get into tight areas but a lot stiffer, and they're chemical resistent. They have them in nylon, brass, and stainless bristles, places like Harbor Freight & hardware stores sell them, you can get a set of all three for a couple bucks. Handiest things to have around. Once you get everything loosened up with the brush & alcohol you can just use a rag to pat them dry.

 

[JBurton]

Do a quick test with a pen to see if it's mechanical.
Not sure if the hp is rebranded graphtec or summa, but graphtec has steps beyond 1016/in if you're using gpgl, but this looks more like the vinyl kindly lifted and shifted on the backer as it was cutting. Dial the force down to something that won't cut through the material and see if the circles look better. if so, you'll need a better film for such small letters.

 

[PinkPrintingPixie]

Do a quick test with a pen to see if it's mechanical.
Not sure if the hp is rebranded graphtec or summa, but graphtec has steps beyond 1016/in if you're using gpgl, but this looks more like the vinyl kindly lifted and shifted on the backer as it was cutting. Dial the force down to something that won't cut through the material and see if the circles look better. if so, you'll need a better film for such small letters.

I didn't even think about that. This is why you guys are great! I'll do a plot test. You may be right about the vinyl lifting on curves. It seemed to improve earlier when I slowed it down which would make sense.

 

[Z SIGNS]

I had that problem once.
When I copy/pasted into my cutting software all the nodes in the round letters somehow got turned into lines instead of curves.
Zoom in on your letters and make sure they look ok

 

[PHILJOHNSON]

If you are in fact using a 45 degree blade with your HP cutter(rebranded SummaCut or S1 D Series), that is likely your issue. The 45 degree blades are only available for the Summa tangential models, not the drag knife models, so you're going to want to either use a 36 degree blade for materials up to 10 mil max, or the 55 degree blade for materials 10-30 mil. I am guessing this is some sort of third party blade(clean cut maybe?). Try switching to the default blade and blade holder and you should get a lot better results.

Best regards,

Phil Johnson
Airmark Corporation
(800)527-7778, ext. 112
philj@airmark.com

 

[PinkPrintingPixie]

If you are in fact using a 45 degree blade with your HP cutter(rebranded SummaCut or S1 D Series), that is likely your issue. The 45 degree blades are only available for the Summa tangential models, not the drag knife models, so you're going to want to either use a 36 degree blade for materials up to 10 mil max, or the 55 degree blade for materials 10-30 mil. I am guessing this is some sort of third party blade(clean cut maybe?). Try switching to the default blade and blade holder and you should get a lot better results.

Best regards,

Phil Johnson
Airmark Corporation
(800)527-7778, ext. 112
philj@airmark.com

That is.... news to me! I took over this position around a year ago and the guy who was here had already left! I'll look into those other blades!

 

[Baptiste repro]

I had this problem once and I calibrated my tangential blade and those issues gone. You can do it from the menu on Summa S2, probably also on other models.

 

[Shred_signs]

My issue was one of the wheels had been knocked off/askew on the rail. After about 2 weeks of fighting a similar issue, i glanced over and saw it was off the track.
not sure how I would have found it otherwise. all my test came out fine, just had wobbly cuts

 

[cornholio]

Thank you! Let me try all this. Do you have any advice on cleaning grit rollers? Those lil buggers raze down every rag I try on it. A stiff brush??

I ordered some blades, will readjust the next to be further into the carriage, slow her down, and if all else fails will try getting a replacement holder.

I use a tooth brush with alcohol, where I shortened the bristlesl. Don't use a metal brush, as it will destroy the micro sprockets on the rollers. Take care not to spray alcohol into the bearing blocks.
36deg. Is standard for Summa/HP cutters. Offset is 0.43.
RTFM as well...