So is this as good as it gets?

[FrankieTeardrop]

Well, I meant it wasn't completely cutting through the vinyl & I couldn't weed it. I always heard that the blade should just barely score the backing paper without cutting though the top layer of it. It's doing that now but it's skipping & not cleanly cutting.

 

[Stephenedwardgraphic]

I have this same cutter. Looks something similar to what I have had problems with.

My problem turned out to be static.

When you plot listen for little crackling noises. The vinyl gets so charged up that it doesn't advance correctly under the rollers and you get something like this. You'll also see where the ends of the cuts don't line up exactly.

The solution was to buy some static wipes that are safe for electronic equipment. Wipe the machine down when you start. Wipe it in the front and the back-- where ever the vinly touches as it passes in and out of the machine.

Your force setting sounds fine. I use 130 for matte oracal vinyl and 150 for the Oracal 651 outdoor grade.

 

[signmeup]

Static?

Hey... maybe it's outgassing.

 

[bmendes]

Some things for you to try if you are still having issues.
1. Check cutting strip/pad. If it has cuts and scratches on it you can get problems similar to what you have. This will probably be damaged if you have cut on a high pressure with a new blade. When you do a test cut you should be able to easily weed the circle and the square from each other while only leaving a slight tracing in the backing paper.
2. Blade holder has a bearing in it that may not be allowing the blade to turn freely, this can cause the blade to skip along the material - remove the end cap and clean the bearing, light spray with WD40 or similar.
3. If the tip of the blade is missing or chipped you will not get smooth cutting.
4. Make sure the pen force slider on the front is set to "0"
5. You should only have a small amount of blade extending from the blade holder approx 1/2mm to 1mm. Also if not enough blade is out, the blade hold end cap can bounce around on the material.
6. Offset for the type of blade you are using will need to be correct, otherwise you will get rounded/torn corners. Standard blade should be 0.250.

regards
Brett

 

[Custom_Grafx]

Now I do believe that it's haunted.

 

[wwpro]

Think is my first post here, and since I'm new to Rolands, just bought a cx300, I had a grounding issue with other cutters. Make sure you attach a wire to one of the screws in the "body" of the cutter and another one to another screw on the stand.

Also, I don't know what software are you using (if any right now) but graphtecs have problems with the commands if you're cutting from flexi or illustrator if not set properly, HPGL from felxi and GPGL from Illustrator.

I'm probably wrong, but throwing a couple things out there, so the more experienced ones can elaborate more if any of my "theories" makes sense.

Hope you get this fixed man, it sucks to buy a brand name machine to fight it like if it were a chinese POS

 

[signmeup]

Hope you get this fixed man, it sucks to buy a brand name machine to fight it like if it were a chinese POS

But... my Chinese POS cuts beautifully. I should think he'd be quite pleased if it cut as well as my Chinese POS.

Where are Rolands made?

 

[andy]

What file extension are you using for your plotter files?

If you're using DXF's then choppy lines & stepped corners are par for the course.

 

[signmeup]

I cut some Avery flat black 2 mil vinyl yesterday at 65 grams downforce. It cut clean through the liner in a few places. My point is, maybe Roland is having trouble with the solenoids it uses for downforce. Maybe there was a bad batch and you got one.

Intermittant cutting (stitching) and requireing excessive downforce to cut through Oracal 651 seems suspicious. 651 cuts and weeds about as good as it gets. Sounds like time to get your money back.

The only other thing I can think of is to hook a known good plotter up to your computer and see what it does on the same file. If both plotters mess up it's your computer... if only the Roland messes up... it's the Roland.

 

[signmeup]

Another thought... maybe you got a bad batch of blades? 130 grams of downforce would cut clean through any vinyl I have ever run through my plotter except blast mask. What are you using for blades?

 

[FrankieTeardrop]

Well, this is all about to be behind me! Roland has offered to upgrade me to a GX-300 for free! I really think this is above & beyond good customer service. I still don't know what the issue is with this GX-24 though. The local service rep came out & reported that I was trying to do high end work with a low end plotter. Not sure what that means, I know from other users that this thing is capable of cutting well so I dunno... Not sure that cutting primarily intermediate vinyl is considered high end either?? It's still a mystery. I'll report back when I get the new plotter. I think it's awesome that they were considering my satisfaction enough with their product that they would offer me this upgrade to keep me as a client! All hail Roland!

 

[signmeup]

That's great! Let us know how the new one works.

 

[FrankieTeardrop]

Will do! I'm thinking of calling Chevy & tell them how dissatisfied I've been with my Silverado!

 

[Bigdawg]

Just want to add my 2 cents too...

Roland really stepped up to the plate and got us going too. Thanks David Hawkes for paying attention to our posts over here and helping make sure we were taken care of...

and I still think Lizette needs a raise!!!!

 

[johnnywyoming]

I had a similar problem with my GX 24... turned out that I had the wrong type of blade. I don't remember the blade parameters and I am at home so cannot look it up but, once I got the other type of blade and installed it the problem went away.