SUMMA D140R - I need serious help.

[Joseph44708]

What does a bad strip look like? I don't even know what to look for. It looks fine to me, but I don't know what a bad one looks like.

If it has a cut groove where you have cut too deep it WILL throw your cut depth off.
Had the same problem with a Mutoh Kona cutter

 

[Goatshaver]

If it has a cut groove where you have cut too deep it WILL throw your cut depth off.
Had the same problem with a Mutoh Kona cutter

I don't feel any grooves. I see where the blade has touched it. Just looks like it's scuffed the surface but I don't feel any kind of grooves in it if I run my fingernails across it.

 

[FatCat]

It's brand new, about 2 months old. Summa cannot help me. I've emailed their tech support and they just tell me to contact the place I purchased it from.
Yes it's tight. I did have it lose one time but I make sure to tighten it up good. I'm waiting on new blades but I shouldn't have 3 dull blades after 2 months.

Phil Johnson is a member here and is a sales Manager for Summa. Contact him directly, unless there is something outside the normal, I can't see why Summa won't help you with your new machine?

 

[Goatshaver]

Phil Johnson is a member here and is a sales Manager for Summa. Contact him directly, unless there is something outside the normal, I can't see why Summa won't help you with your new machine?

"Thank you for providing the information.

Our goal at Summa America is to have all our dealers be proficient in our products. All our dealers have participated in our training sessions and have Summa Certified technicians."

That's what I got back from them. Even a rep from my dealer said that I can't talk to them directly.

 

[FatCat]

"Thank you for providing the information.

Our goal at Summa America is to have all our dealers be proficient in our products. All our dealers have participated in our training sessions and have Summa Certified technicians."

That's what I got back from them. Even a rep from my dealer said that I can't talk to them directly.

Hmm, that must be something new - honestly I would still reach out to Phil.

On the other hand, what did your dealer say?

 

[Goatshaver]

Hmm, that must be something new - honestly I would still reach out to Phil.

On the other hand, what did your dealer say?

They are going to open a ticket with Summa as of today to see if it can be resolved. They aren't sure why I'm having this problem with a new machine. Guess I'll just wait and see what they say.
I mean I never got hands-on training because of the virus stuff so maybe I'm missing something critical but I can't imagine what it would be if I've been making cuts for a couple months now. It's just been very inconsistent all around. Everyone had great things to say about Summa cutters which is why I went with them.

 

[Reveal1]

This might be a longshot, but do you have the blade holder in the bracket correctly? Easy to get wrong if new to Summa. The wide part of the holder should be completely in the middle of the recessed portion of the bracket. Its possible to set it in the bracket too high.

 

[Goatshaver]

This might be a longshot, but do you have the blade holder in the bracket correctly? Easy to get wrong if new to Summa. The wide part of the holder should be completely in the middle of the recessed portion of the bracket. Its possible to set it in the bracket too high.

I did a one time. I had started cutting a job and by the end of the sheet it was barely cutting at all and noticed the blade holder was not sitting deep enough. Don't think I had it tight enough and it pushed the holder up during cutting. I make sure the holder is all the way seated when I tighten the clamp now.

 

[PHILJOHNSON]

Hi Stephen,

I just sent you a PM with some information on how you can get some tech support from us(Airmark) so you can dial in your new Summa. Unfortunately a lot of Summa dealers are new and don't have the knowledge or experience to provide quality tech support on the Summa equipment. We have more experience, by far, than any other Summa dealer and we also are the only dealer who stocks all the parts necessary for repairs. The Summa cutters are real workhorses, provided you are trained properly on how to use them and we pride ourselves on providing excellent support.

If anyone else is considering a Summa cutter, keep Airmark in mind as a great alternative to larger dealers who sell many different brands and just don't have the same knowledge and experience with Summa equipment.

Best regards,

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

 

[Goatshaver]

According to Summa I've ruined 4 blades and my cutting strip in a matter of 2 months. They say my blade is extended too much and my pressures are too high. Any discoloration of the cutting strip means it need to be replaced.

So if you do one Flex Cut run and it scuffs up the strip it's bad?! If I'm correct Flex Cutting, the blade will touch the strip, because well you're cutting through.

 

[PHILJOHNSON]

What type of material is it that you are trying to flex cut and is it laminated? What is the total thickness? What are you flex and full pressure settings for the flex cut? Have you tried adjusting the full and flex lengths?

There are many adjustments that can be made to improve the flex cutting, but if this material is really thick or rigid you might be pushing the cutter harder than it is designed to handle for this type of work.

Let me know if there is anything that I might be able to do to help.

Best regards,

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

 

[Goatshaver]

Well with the blade pictured I was cutting Kiss cutting and flex cutting 3.4mil vinyl and of course through the backer. (I don't have a micrometer so I'm not sure of the thickness of the backer.) Most of what I cut is the 3.4mil with a 3mil vinyl. My Flex settings were 275/135grams (Full/Flex Pressure) I know it's high but if I had it lower it wouldn't cut well. Should I use the 55deg blade? When I'm cutting through laminated material my flex settings are 310/185grams (Full/Flex) again the tech said that's way too high. I've tried lots of flex lengths. I've seen other threads and went down to 1mm/.5mm, mostly I hover around 7mm/.7mm.

I've got new blades coming and I'm ordering a new strip.

I can't see that this is too thick for cutting but because I don't l know these machines well and never actually had a human here when I had everything installed, I'm just not sure anymore.

 

[rjssigns]

Well with the blade pictured I was cutting Kiss cutting and flex cutting 3.4mil vinyl and of course through the backer. (I don't have a micrometer so I'm not sure of the thickness of the backer.) Most of what I cut is the 3.4mil with a 3mil vinyl. My Flex settings were 275/135grams (Full/Flex Pressure) I know it's high but if I had it lower it wouldn't cut well. Should I use the 55deg blade? When I'm cutting through laminated material my flex settings are 310/185grams (Full/Flex) again the tech said that's way too high. I've tried lots of flex lengths. I've seen other threads and went down to 1mm/.5mm, mostly I hover around 7mm/.7mm.

I've got new blades coming and I'm ordering a new strip.

I can't see that this is too thick for cutting but because I don't l know these machines well and never actually had a human here when I had everything installed, I'm just not sure anymore.

Something is odd. I cut laminated wrap material at 150 with the standard issue blade. I don't need to add much to have it cut clean through. 10 or 15 grams maybe. Learned that early on when I was figuring out settings. Unlaminated 4 mil is about 130-135grams for nice clean cuts.

 

[Goatshaver]

Something is odd. I cut laminated wrap material at 150 with the standard issue blade. I don't need to add much to have it cut clean through. 10 or 15 grams maybe. Learned that early on when I was figuring out settings. Unlaminated 4 mil is about 130-135grams for nice clean cuts.

One reason I think is because they say the cut strip is damaged and I probably broke or dulled all my blades. Only one looks broken though. Getting new blades today, also I just think the way I'm used to setting up my sp540v is a little different than this machine.

I've seen several different ways to setup a blade. From taking scrap material that you'll be cutting and manually with your hand take the blade in the holder and drag it across the material until it just cuts through to set depth. The old half a credit card thickness way and then the way in the video below.

I just don't want to ruin any more blades.

Also is this the correct procedure for setting blade?. Setting the pressure all the way to 300?

 

[Goatshaver]

New blades installed. Reset my depth and pressures. Cutting through a 3.4mil with a 3mil laminate worked great for about 2 days and now back to the same place I was before. The cuts get lighter and the left side of the sheet is not cut as deep as the right. So my guess is that if I do flex cutting, I'll have to replace the blade every few days?!

Is there any way to stack cuts in onyx? Like having a contour cut on the top layer and the flex on the layer underneath it so it cuts both in one pass?

 

[Joseph44708]

Now it sounds like your material isn't laying flat against the cutting strip or your blade is too far out.
If this continues make the call

Phil Johnson
Airmark Corporation
(800)527-7778, ext 112

 

[Jburns]

What Phil said.... How many rollers are you running and how wide is the material?
Are you pulling straight off the roll or pre-rolling our the material to be cut?

 

[player]

Can you flip the cutting strip over?

 

[Goatshaver]

What Phil said.... How many rollers are you running and how wide is the material?
Are you pulling straight off the roll or pre-rolling our the material to be cut?

4 rollers. I can't add anymore they said to the SummaCut version. It was fine when I put the blade in. I kiss cut about 7k labels and did a bunch of flex cuts on the label sheets. I just have a feeling I should've gotten the S2 T version. Over the last 7 days I've cut 30k labels and stickers. I don't know if this is considered low volume or not really. Maybe it's just my volume and its wearing the blade faster.

Can you flip the cutting strip over?

I'm pretty sure that's a no on these. I'm ordering one to change it and see what happens.

 

[McLain]

I have a Summa cutter. It's an older model: D140 that I got close to 20 years ago. It's still working reasonably well after all these years and I've NEVER changed the cutting strip. However, I rarely (almost never) cut all the way through anything. I always kiss cut. So I would suspect that you're wearing out the cutting strips with the heavy volume of decals that you're cutting completely through. Probably the same is true with the blades. Cutting through the paper liner is tougher on the blade than cutting the vinyl.

I've been using Clean Cut Blades for the past 4-5 years without issue, so I don't think you're having an issue caused by not using Summa blades.

I don't know about the others here, but I would consider 30K decals in 7 days to be a high volume for a plotter to handle. If you do the math, you're cutting 9 DECALS PER MINUTE NON-STOP FOR 8 HOURS PER DAY.

I have an old school steel rule die cutting machine. For that kind of volume I would have a steel rule die made and cut the decals out on a die cutting machine.... or sub it out to a local die cutter. This assumes that you're making large quantities of identical decals. Just my opinion, but I don't think a roll fed plotter is the correct machine to be using to mass produce decals that are not just kiss cut.