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I've been having a heck of a time working with vinyl and small details. I have searched the forum and found that other people are able to print fine details on Thermoflex and weed them without issue. I simply do not have that type of luck.
My design (.AI) file and a sample JPEG of what it would look like are located here:
I'm trying to plot this at 4 inches in height using Flexi Sign. The globe itself plots great except for the round outline which can easily be corrected.
My problem is the lettering simply wants to peel off the design no matter what settings I use. I replaced the blade on my plotter not too long ago. It is almost as if the letters arn't 100% cut.
So, I'm left thinking one of three things (or a combo)
1.) Thermoflex Plus is too difficult to weed such a small design but based on the posts of others here I think that it can infact do small detailed designs.
2.) My plotter is a POS, it is something that I got off eBay maybe 4 years about and has worked great on larger designs but seems to let me down on small details.
3.) Perhaps my design blows and when I converted the Text to Outline in Illustrator it doesn't create enough points.
I'm willing to pay someone by PaPal for the materials they use to assist me in confirming that my design will print on their plotter using their media. I just need to figure out what direction I need to go. If I need a better plotter then thats something I'll have to deal with. If it is a media problem I'll have to rethink how I'm going to print this design. And if it is a design issue I'm open to suggestions on how to fix it.
Re: Troubleshooting: Is it my plotter or my media?
theflowerboxx, Do you have a PayPal account, I'm happy to reimburse you for the cost of the Vinyl for helping me out!
I think that proves that my plotter is the cause. I'll change the blade, toy with the depth of the blade and down force and see if I can get it to cut properly.
If that fails I may need to contract out the plotting and pay for the materials/time and I'll weed it myself.
Anyone know of any free trial software that can plot an .AI file to see if maybe it is my version of Flexi, I think I have 7.5.
Re: Troubleshooting: Is it my plotter or my media?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Splash-X
theflowerboxx, Do you have a PayPal account, I'm happy to reimburse you for the cost of the Vinyl for helping me out!
I think that proves that my plotter is the cause. I'll change the blade, toy with the depth of the blade and down force and see if I can get it to cut properly.
If that fails I may need to contract out the plotting and pay for the materials/time and I'll weed it myself.
Anyone know of any free trial software that can plot an .AI file to see if maybe it is my version of Flexi, I think I have 7.5.
You don't owe me a penny. I'm glad to help out. Honestly I don't believe it's your software, I'd say it's your cutter. Try changing the blade and slow down the speed and see what happens.
Re: Troubleshooting: Is it my plotter or my media?
David,
That was the first thing In tried, slowed it down to 100MS (slow as she will go), cut it with 120G of force and the letters were all like 95% cut. I'll change the blade, try to increase the force and see what happens but I'm betting that this budget cutter just wasn't meant to cut such fine details.
Chris,
I would appreciate hearing any feedback you can give too. Thanks for the software info, I'll see what I can get.
I'm trying to explore all of my options before I jump in to a solution like buying a new cutter. I got the cutter on eBay new from a supplier probably in China for a really good price. It doesn't have a brand on it and came with Flexi Starter 7.5 Desay Edition. I've been very happy with it overall but when it comes to fine lettering it sucks. You get what you pay for I guess.
I have to wonder if a different budget cutter like a US Cutter might perform better even though it too is a budget cutter.
Re: Troubleshooting: Is it my plotter or my media?
i tried few letters and they cut ok.
you need to SLOW DOWN your cutting speed... and...
LIGHTEN the cutting pressure.....
i used USCutter laserpoint 24" (little dull blade)...
Re: Troubleshooting: Is it my plotter or my media?
Sam,
100MS is as slow as the cutter goes, which is VERY slow. As far as the cutting force, is there a suggestion on how much force to use? I'll try reducing the force to see if that improves things.
Re: Troubleshooting: Is it my plotter or my media?
hmm. I think its mainly pressure + speed. Thermoflex is thin, so I think it cuts small details well. Sometimes it may take a few tries before getting the right pressure/speed combo.
Re: Troubleshooting: Is it my plotter or my media?
I haven't had a chance to toy with it again. I sent the files to a friend who has a US Cutter and he hasn't gotten around to testing it either. I had a few larger orders that I was working on to clear them out and I hope to get back to my issue again tonight.
I'll try adjusting it so there is less force and see if that improves and then try switching the blade and varying the force.
Sk8ther4life, what brand/model cutter do you use?
Gerry, while this is possible wouldn't this also be affecting my other designs too? I have no problem plotting other designs just not very small designs. From my limited knowledge on the settings, those settings are configured on the software, correct?
I have a Master XY 300 plotter. Finding information is difficult on the settings and the manual is a joke.
Re: Troubleshooting: Is it my plotter or my media?
I have the same problems with small detail with thermoflex, If you can find those settings im sure would fix it.
yes it should be in the software or on your cutter.
Re: Troubleshooting: Is it my plotter or my media?
I'm still not having any luck. Changing the blade seemed to give me sharper cuts but the same issue remains with weeding. The letters are peeling off as if not fully cut.
There are no settings on the cutter itself, period.
I checked inside of Flexi Sign and there are some settings for the number of passes to perform. Setting this to "2" passes actually made things worse.
I've toyed with less downforce, more downforce, etc.
The cutter is a Master XY 380P. I'm using a 45* blade as suggested for use with this series cutter and Thermoflex.
Any other suggestions?
I'm considering switching to maybe a Graphtec CC330L-20 or CE5000-60. I have to wonder if the CC330L can handle the small details or if I need to larger CE5000.
Re: Troubleshooting: Is it my plotter or my media?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Splash-X
I'm still not having any luck. Changing the blade seemed to give me sharper cuts but the same issue remains with weeding. The letters are peeling off as if not fully cut.
There are no settings on the cutter itself, period.
I checked inside of Flexi Sign and there are some settings for the number of passes to perform. Setting this to "2" passes actually made things worse.
I've toyed with less downforce, more downforce, etc.
The cutter is a Master XY 380P. I'm using a 45* blade as suggested for use with this series cutter and Thermoflex.
Any other suggestions?
I'm considering switching to maybe a Graphtec CC330L-20 or CE5000-60. I have to wonder if the CC330L can handle the small details or if I need to larger CE5000.
I have a Master xy-380p with Flexi never had the problem you are having but I use a 60* blade and offset of .28 . I cut .25 letter's in thermoflex all the time but you have to choose certain fonts not all will cut smoothly. You might try converting stroke to outline then zooming in to see if the font is actually all one peice...some aren't. In Flexi 8.5 my offset is .20 with an overcut of .12 they overcut is very nice and I don't know if any other software has it.
Re: Troubleshooting: Is it my plotter or my media?
I'm using Flexi Starter 7.6. I'm not seeing the settings for "offset". There are no help files with my install (of course). A search on Goolge for Flexi 7.6 offset doesn't turn anything up that shows where the offset setting is.
Don't get me wrong, the plotter has treated me well for the jobs I've done (except when you send large files or large quantities, then it decides to slice through all of your work at its leisure).
Can you tell me where in Flexi 8 you're setting the offset and overcut? I'll see if I can find the same settings in my version.
This is a discussion about Troubleshooting: Is it my plotter or my media? that was posted in the Vinyl Cutters (Plotters) and Transfers section of the forums.
Troubleshooting: Is it my plotter or my media? 
