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Whats up with my cutter?

skyhigh

New Member
I know I have seen this problem addressed before on the forum, but my search turned up nothing. Perhaps I'm at a loss for the proper search words?

Anyways, my plotter is not making perfect cuts lately. At first it seemed that it was mostly on the smaller 1" type letters that would have an inner circle ....."O"'s, "8"'s, "6"'s....ext. But now they are actually getting distorted. The other picture shows the larger 2" letters that cut pretty well....the "O"'s seem to be the only ones with a ever so slight "nick" where the blade didn't seem to hit perfectly.

The picture with the distorted O,8 & 6 are slightly over 1/2" in height. I will mention, they weed out perfect without any hangups, but look like crap.

So where to look first? The friction wheels? This cut was 23.4" on a 24" roll, and I only used the 2 outer wheels (far left and far right), but didn't have the center one engaged.....which leads me to a possible theory, that the material has room to move around in the center, as I only have it pinched at the extreme ends of the roll???? Maybe?

To be honest, I've had this cutter for over 10 years, and have had to do "ZERO" maintaince, with the exception of a dozen or so new blades. It has been a tank. That being said, where to start to look?
Pinch wheels wear-out? ....belt?.... over extending the pinch wheels?

Thanks for looking.
 

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signage

New Member
Have you tried a pen to see if it draw the same as it is cutting?
Have you checked your cutting strip?
Have you tried to clean and relube the blade holder?
Have you removed the cover at the head to see if it is dirty?
Have you used the search feature of this forum?;)
 

SignosaurusRex

Active Member
Not familiar with that model, but the other Brian has a few valid questions with trying the pen (drawing), checking the blade holder (could be a shot bearing), etc. Check your carriage for loose screws etc. The cuts are consistently off in the same x/y movements so I'd rule out carriage belt, rail, etc.
 

skyhigh

New Member
Just did Brian.
It was definately the blade holder. After we spoke last night and ruled out a couple things, I was sure you had hit the problem on the nose. So that was the first thing I checked....cleaned and lubed.

Here is the difference between yesterday and today. Check out how distorted the "8" was (in the 15825 pic) compared to a a test cut just now.


Wow, I guess that tube of lube I have is good for a bunch of stuff. :ROFLMAO: (I'm jk)
 

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