SP-540V Cutting tolerance

[Goatshaver]

Not really sure if it's something I can fix, but it drives me crazy. I do a lot of smaller sized round labels. (1.5inches)
It's kinda hit or miss when I do print and cut because I'll get some the are great and others the cut is off more than I think it should be. For instance I did 2 sheets this morning. Same setup, one came out fine and the other I had to trash half of the sheet because the cuts were too far off.

 

[CanuckSigns]

There are adjustments you can do that will help, however a print/cut machine will never be as accurate as a.stand alone cutter.

Also, on the Roland machines, I've always felt the 4 registration marks are not adequate, our graphtec prints marks every 18" along a print and reads them all before cutting, I can cut graphics without any bleed up to 12 feet long with no issues at all.

 

[IsItFasst]

Depending on how old your machine is it may be time for new pinch rollers. I fought similar problems for years and when I changed my rollers accuracy increased by 1000%. Still not perfect on long runs but at least cuts aren't off by an 1/8 of an inch like they were sometimes before. But as CanuckSigns said, Roland P/C machine will never be as accurate as a dedicated cut machine.

 

[binki]

Yeah, we have that issue to with our Versacamm. This is one trick but it will waste a lot of material.

 

[Goatshaver]

There are adjustments you can do that will help, however a print/cut machine will never be as accurate as a.stand alone cutter.

Also, on the Roland machines, I've always felt the 4 registration marks are not adequate, our graphtec prints marks every 18" along a print and reads them all before cutting, I can cut graphics without any bleed up to 12 feet long with no issues at all.

I've adjusted it as much as possible. That's my thought as well it should have more marks to increase the accuracy. Maybe I'll look into that as it would increase productivity as well.

Depending on how old your machine is it may be time for new pinch rollers. I fought similar problems for years and when I changed my rollers accuracy increased by 1000%. Still not perfect on long runs but at least cuts aren't off by an 1/8 of an inch like they were sometimes before. But as CanuckSigns said, Roland P/C machine will never be as accurate as a dedicated cut machine.

I might actually have to think about that. It's a first gen machine and I'm not sure if the rollers have ever been replaced.

 

[Chriswagner92]

You can try to fix it all you want, but those machines never cut accurately. I used one for 4 years and maybe got a handful of good cuts out of it. The best you could do it keep the encoder strip clean and run the decals in as small of a run as feasible.

 

[Nismoasfuh]

Are you making sure to lign up the registration marks as well as you can? Make sure your reg marks are lined up to the “cutting strip” and when you clamp down make sure it didn’t move (hold your hand in the middle of the vinyl while clamping) and as mentioned, no matter what a print & cut is going to skew, if I’m doing a lot of stickers I’ll actually do it in batches to prevent this, tedious but that’s what’s necessary when you don’t have a dedicated cutting machine. Also are you leaving slack? If your laminated print is sent to cut and is on a roll there’s definitely more chance for error as the motors have to actually pull the vinyl off the “roll”

 

[Goatshaver]

Are you making sure to lign up the registration marks as well as you can? Make sure your reg marks are lined up to the “cutting strip” and when you clamp down make sure it didn’t move (hold your hand in the middle of the vinyl while clamping) and as mentioned, no matter what a print & cut is going to skew, if I’m doing a lot of stickers I’ll actually do it in batches to prevent this, tedious but that’s what’s necessary when you don’t have a dedicated cutting machine. Also are you leaving slack? If your laminated print is sent to cut and is on a roll there’s definitely more chance for error as the motors have to actually pull the vinyl off the “roll”

Yeah I do make sure I get it lined up before I start. I usually try to keep my sheets to no longer than 24" in length and it it laminated and cut to prevent that but it's seems to be hit or miss. Guess it's just something to live with until I can get a dedicated cutter.