Discuss the various aspects of heat pressed vinyl transfers. Popular and new types of vinyl media, suppliers, vinyl cutters /plotters, press times, quality, how to instructions and more can be found in this heat press sub forum.
Well, I just got a new GX-24 and set it up the other day and ran in to a question for you guys. When installing the blade in the blade holder, the manual says to set it up where it is extended 1mm out of the blade holder. The instructions said that 1 full turn of the cap on the holder should extend the blade .5mm. So I figured if I take it in to where you can't see it and give it 2 full turns, I should be right at 1mm. I just have no way of knowing how far out 1mm is. I PM'd Rodney asking if this sounded about right and he mentioned seeing a post where someone said that it should be extended out about the thickness of a credit card. I used the blade that came with the cutter in the box which I'm guessing is a 45 degree blade.
The reason I'm concerned about this is that I've tested my new cutter with the test material that came with it as well as some Oracal vinyl that came in yesterday. It looks like I have to set the force up around 120 to 140gf to cut through this and get the impression in the backing paper like it says in the manual and like I've seen on the videos from Josh that came with the cutter. I was expecting to have it set around 60 or 70g. I noticed in one of my catalogs that this Oracal material should cut at around 65/80g. So it appears that I have the force set much higher than I expected to need to. Is this normal. Am I missing something?
Well, I just got a new GX-24 and set it up the other day and ran in to a question for you guys. When installing the blade in the blade holder, the manual says to set it up where it is extended 1mm out of the blade holder. The instructions said that 1 full turn of the cap on the holder should extend the blade .5mm. So I figured if I take it in to where you can't see it and give it 2 full turns, I should be right at 1mm. I just have no way of knowing how far out 1mm is. I PM'd Rodney asking if this sounded about right and he mentioned seeing a post where someone said that it should be extended out about the thickness of a credit card. I used the blade that came with the cutter in the box which I'm guessing is a 45 degree blade.
The reason I'm concerned about this is that I've tested my new cutter with the test material that came with it as well as some Oracal vinyl that came in yesterday. It looks like I have to set the force up around 120 to 140gf to cut through this and get the impression in the backing paper like it says in the manual and like I've seen on the videos from Josh that came with the cutter. I was expecting to have it set around 60 or 70g. I noticed in one of my catalogs that this Oracal material should cut at around 65/80g. So it appears that I have the force set much higher than I expected to need to. Is this normal. Am I missing something?
tryplecrown,
There are a couple of theories on blade extension. Some people like the blade all the way extended, others like the credit card method that Rodney talked about. I only have the blade sticking out as much as the thickness of the material that I'm cutting.
I've found that 100 to 140 is optimal for all kinds of vinyl, particularly 2-3 mil. You should be fine at those settings, if you start to approach 160, your blade may be getting dull or the tip might have chipped off. Carbide blades, while very sharp, are also very brittle and the tips have a tendency to break off during drag-knife cutting. From what you've described, I think you'll be alright with what you're doing.
Wow. 200 seems a LOT of downforce! Are you talking about ThermoFilm? I know that material is much thicker, but for ThermoFlex Plus and Spectra Eco-Film, on the Roland we're working with right now we can get by with about 80-90g downforce, and on our Graphtec we typically use 120g for everything.
I haven't cut Oracal vinyl on this plotter yet, but I'll give that a try in the tests that I'm running and see what we come up with.
Chani is pretty much on the money. Here is what I use (and I have to note that sometimes, the difference in pressure may be a plotter manufacturer thing, or more specifically, the type of blade used. I use a GCC plotter and genuine Roland or Clean Cut blades for most of my cutting).
For Stahls Thermo-Film Force at 130-145 g. (color and material age dependent), speed 30 cm/sec 45 degree blade.
For (Joto) Multicut Force at 80-95 g. Speed 30 cm/sec 45 degree blade
for (Joto) Glitter Force at 100-110 g. Speed 30 cm/sec 45 degree blade
For all other brands of heat applied vinyl, Force at 80-110 gms, Speed at 30 cms. Again, 45 degree blade.
NOTE: When doing very detailed small work (like logos with graphics and lettering, less than 1.5 inch long and less than 1 inch high), I slow the speed down to 12 cm/sec. Yes, I do very small detailed heat transfer stuff, but not in Stahls, that is too thick to do detail small stuff, easily.
For PS Tackle Twill, Force 130-180 gms, Speed 9 cm/sec 60 degree blade.
For all makes of (medium to high grades) of sign vinyl, Force at 80 gm. Speed = or > 30 cms. 45 degree blade.
Wow. 200 seems a LOT of downforce! Are you talking about ThermoFilm? I know that material is much thicker, but for ThermoFlex Plus and Spectra Eco-Film, on the Roland we're working with right now we can get by with about 80-90g downforce, and on our Graphtec we typically use 120g for everything.
I haven't cut Oracal vinyl on this plotter yet, but I'll give that a try in the tests that I'm running and see what we come up with.
that 200 is Stahls Gorilla Grip.....we can go 160 on Thermo film....It's wierd because our Roland rep says he's seen downforce vary alot in different machines...thats why he says experiment then write it down.
__________________ The Shirt Shak-TSS Grafx-TSS Sporting Goods...Gettin it done since 2001
that 200 is Stahls Gorilla Grip.....we can go 160 on Thermo film....It's wierd because our Roland rep says he's seen downforce vary alot in different machines...thats why he says experiment then write it down.
Thanks for all of the info everyone! I really appreciate it. This may answer my question. I was concerned that my machine might be out of whack if it was requiring 140 on vinyl that most people cut at 70. I'm going to work with it some more today and see if I can get more comfortable with it.
Your very welcome...after we talked about that he looked me straight in the eye and said..."If it was all so perfect...and everything the same....why would Roland put a TEST button on the front?"....kinda made sense...LOL
__________________ The Shirt Shak-TSS Grafx-TSS Sporting Goods...Gettin it done since 2001
Your very welcome...after we talked about that he looked me straight in the eye and said..."If it was all so perfect...and everything the same....why would Roland put a TEST button on the front?"....kinda made sense...LOL
Ha! That's great. Guess it does make sense huh.
Well, I ran some more test jobs today. Actually ran some Spectra ECO on it and it appeared as if it cut well at 120g. Then I ended up finding that the Oracal 651 that I was also trying to cut seemed to work best at the same force.
And by the way, I pressed my first two shirts today as a test, and man, I love the way the ECO feels. Soooo much softer than I expected.
One more note. If your blade is worn (not as sharp as when it was new), then you will use more downward pressure to achieve the same cutting effects than when the blade was new.
So, try replacing the blade with a new one and test using less pressure.
I know I must be missing something simple here, but my Graphtec only wants to go up to a max of 30 pressure. I am trying to cut themoflex and I am just not getting any cuts It's weird cause the recomendations for pressure are only like 14. I did test and get the little triangle when I first started, but now I'm not even getting that....my machine is brand new so surely its not the blade unless I just got a bad one.
I know I must be missing something simple here, but my Graphtec only wants to go up to a max of 30 pressure. I am trying to cut themoflex and I am just not getting any cuts It's weird cause the recomendations for pressure are only like 14. I did test and get the little triangle when I first started, but now I'm not even getting that....my machine is brand new so surely its not the blade unless I just got a bad one.
I would suggest reading the manual if you have not already and also create a new post with your question if you have not already...
This post is on a Roland cutter and is four years old....
GX-24 Blade Setup / extension and force 
It's weird cause the recomendations for pressure are only like 14. I did test and get the little triangle when I first started, but now I'm not even getting that....my machine is brand new so surely its not the blade unless I just got a bad one.
