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Graphtec CE5000-60 not cutting precisely???

41K views 55 replies 20 participants last post by  webtrekker 
#1 ·
Hello everyone,
I have been having all sorts of problems cutting accurately with my CE-5000-60. Whenever I cut anything, I always have "hangnails" which cause my vinyl to get "stuck" when I am weeding any design.

I have tried changing the offset and I have tried using different blades, but I can never get anything to cut "perfectly". Essentially, where the cut begins, it doesn't end at the same point. It is off just a hair.

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated. It's making weeding very difficult and the final product is not of professional quality.

Thanks,

Kevin
 
#3 ·
Yes, The condition I have the cutter at is 09U and the offset is set at 0. I currently have a 45 degree blade installed.

I have actually gone into the Graphtec through the menu and completed a cut demo, which prints the word Graphtec. The 90 degree corners on the letters are never perfect and when I weed, it still catches.

I have also tried going through each of the offsets, 0 through -5 and 0 through + 5. I never get a perfect test with the triangle in the square.

I cut calendered vinyl and Siser shirt vinyl regularly, and have this hangnail issue with both types of media.

I am designing in CS3 and am cutting using the Cutting Master plugin.
 
#4 ·
I would contact Grabhtec tech support. Did the cutter ever cut right or is this a new cutter. If it's new, it could be in the cutter itself and no settings are going to help you. I have the same cutter and had to send my first one back because it was twisted somehow in shipping and would not track the vinyl evenly.
 
#6 ·
Now that I think of it, it has always done this. I have never successfully been able to get rid of the hangnail issue.

For a long time, I was only using the cutter for various little jobs for myself-practicing with it, etc. Now I'm actually doing larger runs of vinyl for customers and it's becoming a headache. I will try graphtec today.

*I have also tried tangential mode in the settings, but to no avail. Essentially the same problem.
 
#8 ·
Mine was delivered this week and I have never used a cutter before. I wasn't expecting it to be so big. I had a job to do which was cutting 1/2" letters out on sign vinyl to apply to water bottles. After 3 hours of wasting material trying to get it to cut properly (I was having hangnails too) I adjusted the depth of the blade and eventually found a depth that cut without the little snags. OMG shoot me if I ever offer to put 1/2" names on something again... It took 1 1/2 hours to weed 28 names!
 

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#11 ·
I did this sail boat for the America's Cup. The boat is only about 4" high. Talk about weeding !
I think I would've ended up in a rubber room for that one. Hopefully you only had to make one of them. That would have driven me nuts. I don't feel so bad now. Thanks for sharing that weeding nightmare with me.
 
#12 ·
I ended up doing around 30 shirts with 2 boats on each shirt. (see my avatar) It was for a consignment job. Other than loosing a little eyesight, not too bad. I don't recommend this for people with shaky hands. lol
 
#13 ·
i am having the same problems. I havent even gone beyond "test" cut at this point because i cant get even get a decent triangle. They look like this every time, no matter the offset. I have tried adjusting the force, speed, and every slight fraction of distance of the blade sticking out of the holder. Rotating the blade ever so slightly, different vinyls. always the same crappy triangle. This is a brand new machine purchased from Coastal Business Supply weeks ago.

any ideas?
 

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#14 ·
The other day I noticed the same thing on mine. Mainly when I do lettering. I did a prototype for a buddy of mine and EVERY letter had that little gap. Easy enough to yank and break but not ideal by any means.

Honestly, my experience with the cutter has been rather frustrating because there is ALWAYS something kooky.
 
#16 ·
update: though "test" cuts never yielded decent results, a simple cut of a few words produced rather acceptable results.....except....

the cut starts out great, working its way from the last word to the first (right to left as always) and about half way through the cut depth starts to decrease, being more and more shallow until the vinyl is not being cut at all (but the cutting head continues to "ghost cut".

has anyone heard of such a problem? I sent graphtec an email but something tells me not to expect much...
 
#18 ·
It sounds like your top and bottom rails are not lined up. If this is a new cutter, they should replace it. I have heard of others having this problem. It usualy because something happened in the shipping. If it is new, you have a 2 year warantee.
 
#22 ·
Dennis....that is a good idea. If you have cut through your strip like I have, lol, you will not get the cutting force on the right side. (home position) Thats where most of the cutting is with small jobs and if you cut through the material into the strip, you will have problems with wider jobs setting your cutting depth.
Look at your strip and see if it's scored. If it is than replace it. It is held on with double sided tape. Make sure that you clean the base good before putting the new strip on. I always have a spare. I forget to change settings when I change holders.
 
#26 · (Edited)
I hate to revive old threads but i'm having problems too.

It's cutting vinyl with a 45 and 60 degree blade just fine.

But when I cut cardstock with a 60d it's just not able to cut accurately. I'm doing a print and cut for hang tags so it's pretty straight forward, a rectangle and a circle to cut, the rectangle cuts ok, the circle comes out a wonky oblong shape! Although the rectangle is cutting right, at the end the blade seems to be dropping, not obvious, but I can tell.

I've also tried a trace cut and it doesn't cut 100% to the line, some are on the line some are off.

I've tried with the 45 and 60d both same outcome, the 45 is stock and 60 is a new replacement.

I've tried all of the above, multiple variations of downforce, offset, tangential (which seems to make no difference at all!), been thoroughly through the user guide, even cut it to vinyl perfectly, but card is giving me issues. It's 220/240gsm unlaminated card.

The cutting strip does have a bit of wear but vinyl seems to be fine, I bought the machine used 2 weeks ago and has been running otherwise perfect.

The "0" offset seems to be fine on test cuts.

Also been through the artwork, every cm of cut line and all is fine.

Any suggestions as to what I may or may not be doing that's causing this issue?

Advice would really, really be appreciated!

p.s. images added




Thanks,

Raj
 
#27 ·
I just had to do this and it was a nightmare. I had the exact same problem and went through weeks of graphtec trying to trouble shoot over the phone. Ryonet would not take it back , said it is a graphtec problem even though I wanted to buy the Roland from them. Graphtec put me through the works before letting me send it back for a replacement. Then I had to basically give them 2100 dollars on my credit card that took them over a month to refund only after several emails to them. They did replace the plotter but I will never buy another grqphtec product because of the process to replace a defective item .

Sent from my PC36100 using T-Shirt Forums
 
#34 ·
...hen I had to basically give them 2100 dollars on my credit card that took them over a month to refund only after several emails to them. They did replace the plotter but I will never buy another grqphtec product because of the process to replace a defective item .

Sent from my PC36100 using T-Shirt Forums
I'm not taking up for them as I have had my trials with Graphtec as well... but they did refund you you profit that Ryonet made... that means not only did they have to refund and lose that money they lost the money that Ryonet pocketed. I would be more frustrated with them and not buying from them again.

Graphtec isn't one of the major players because they are that bad. You just had a bad experience... it happens.
 
#28 ·
I don't like the sound of that 1 bit lol.

The previous owner had it for 3 yrs running no issues he claims.

Did you actually find out with graphtec what the problem is?


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