[sjidohair]

Ok, I have been asked to start this thread for First time Vinyl Cutters,
I know we are all so excited to get this machine , but scared also.
There that box sits,, and is still sitting there, You want to unpack it, but if you do, what if you cant get it to work,
ok, take a deep breath and unpack that thing,, It doesnt matter what kind it is or how big or small,
You can do it,, there are so many helpful poeple on this forum to help, you will get your answer , if there is a answer out there.
I just set my cutter up , last week. I looked at the box for 2 days, scared to death,, what the heck did i do,, buying this unit,, but I needed to offer this service instead of farming it out.
So fri night i opened the box, got the stand together, and plugged in the unit,, I was hooking up a uscutter mh-871,
to my dismay i have a new computer and relized that the new computers dont have extra serial ports, so i was forced to hook it up usb,, 64 bit vista..
now, you can buy a extra serial port card to slip into our new computers if need be,,

I figured out what a blade holder is, that is the lil round black thing, that the blade goes into. i had read to leave a very small amount of the blade out so you can hardly feel it on your finger as you run it across your finger,, and inserted it in the back slot for the holder, I have been told the front holder is for plotting with the pen.
I turned my cutter on and pressed test
for a test cut,
oh my goodness, it cut,, yahooooo
it went thru the vinyl, i had, but it cut,, so i adjusted my force, and speed
went to speed of 17
and force of 70,
test cut again, i thought it did not cut, i took it off and actually it cut perfect.
yahooo now i know my cutter worked,,,

 

[sjidohair]

Now you need to get your design out of your program for design and into the software of choice, to do a cut you make,,,in EPS
My program, signblazer,, shows all the files i have in Eps, when i go into import,,,
But when you first hook your cutter up, it asks for your machine, type, and port,, you need to put those in, to let the machines talk to each other.
I use usb, so i choose, Mh-721, the closest to my machine, and usb port,
then when i go to my settings,i pick usb, and i am set.
Anybody else with different machines please post,, for other machines for new users....
This has to be the most frustrating part and scarey part of trying to get your machine going,

then go to the import area and see what shows up in there for you to cut,
YOu need to export all files to eps form.

Any one with exprierence exporting files to eps form, for different programs, please share that also.
I use xara extreme, and from jpg, i export to ai, eps, and then it shows up in sign blazer for me,
so here is a start,,
Unpack those cutters and lets get em humming, and I do mean humming, it is music to my ears, to hear them work,, all i hear is dollars dropping out of a slot machine when my cutter is cutting,,
so lets help each other.

 

[ambitious]

It's amazing what these cheapy cutters can do, I have my Seiki still kicking butt, and running at least 6 hours per day 5 day's a week. Congratulation's on your purchase sjidohair, now is time to make your ROI. Goodluck.

Nick

 

[sjidohair]

Nick or anyone else,
can anyone telll me,, If you have a jpg image and want to covert it to EPS,
Explain how you do it, it what ever program you use,
I use vector magic sometimes, but I do the design and send it thru vector magic, and it seem the jpg (bitmap) does not conform to eps, but the other elements do, show i run the jpg, part thru vector magic first?
and then put together, or make it a giff or something first?
Bitmap means not vectorized right?

somethings seem to get exported great to eps, and some are buggers, or boogers,, lol

 

[T-BOT]

well, here is what you do.

you trace the entire graphoc with a sharpie by hand and scan it as a EPS. ...just kiddin.

Corel quick trace works good. Then export it as a EPS.



:

 

[ambitious]

The way i do is i turn my jpeg into bitmap, then i open up my bitmap in adobe illustrator and vectorize it using the live trace feature, then i save as AI or EPS, then open it up in my cutter program which is SignCutX2, Oh, and bitmaps are not vector yet until vectorized. Hope this help's.

 

[sjidohair]

Nick do you l like sign cut better than signblazer..?
what system are you running and cutter?

 

[ambitious]

I downloaded the 30 day trial of sign blazer a while back and didn't like it at all (not very user friendly) in my opinion. So far i love SignCutX2 and find it very user friendly running it on my SeikiTech 870.

 

[sjidohair]

ok, Now i am wondering,,, when you want to cut out jpss on this, for example,,
I have ran it thru the printer, and now want to cut out the graphic,, do you put clear mask, like on vinyl on it, as when you cut the jpss you cut all the way thru right? If you dont use some kind of mask, you will have pieces of your graphics,,,letters ect,,,
but if you have it attached to something,, to keep it to heat press, you will be ready to press right,, or am I way off on this..
Thanks

 

[ambitious]

Honestly, i never tried cutting jpss paper on this because my cutter doesn't have the contour cutting capabilities, but Theflowerboxx has the exact same cutter that you have and read a couple of his post stating he has successfully contour cutted with good results, you might want to send him a PM to see if he can share some more of that info. Sorry i couldn't be of much help. Nick

 

[sjidohair]

Nick thanks,, Dave are you out there to answer my Questions,,
Thanks

 

[stevenconn]

I also bought a new Cutter Plotter from a guy that said it is new right out of the box. The software is Artcut 2005 but the disk is cracked. Can anyone help me to try and get the "NEW" China cutter plotter working??? Thanks Steve

 

[sjidohair]

what brand is it

 

[theflowerboxx]

Sorry Sandy I just seen your post, I can contour cut with my refine using FLEXI PRO, it has to be the PRO edition to be able to contour cut with it.

There's actually a post over at us cutter's forum someone posted about contour cutting with any program and cutter you may want to check out.

 

[sjidohair]

DAvid,
I am getting ready to load Flexi 8.5 into my computer will that interfer with my sign blazer or my sign blazer driver,,?
Will i be able to run which ever program, and have then not interfer with each other?
thanks,,, I am loving this cutter

 

[theflowerboxx]

You should be able too. I had signblazer loaded for a short time and flexi ran fine with it installed. I just didn't like signblazer at all.

 

[gp1305]

I just got my vinyl Cutter today (24" us cutter PCUT). I dont have any vinyl in it so I used a pen and boy I tell you what.. This thing is neat!! My uncle (who is a retired skilled tradesman from GM) was even impressed with how it worked! Best $175 I ever spent!!

 

[DTFuqua]

Hi y'all. I'm kinda excited. Today, the check cleared and I ordered my cutter. From uscutter, I ordered the graphtec CE5000-60. I hope to have it soon and start playing with it the day it gets here. Look out world. I'll be in business (in a small way) soon and the wifes cast should come off in time to try setting up at the local larger flea market in time for christmass. I have a problem maybe y'all can help with. I got started gathering stuff for this endeavor during warm weather and planed on doing T-shirts and added magnetic signs, banners, and car/truck/window lettering and decals after I decided I needed a better way to decorate shirts. Well, cooler weather just about says " NO T-SHIRTS" and that was to be my main draw at the markets. What do I do now?I have a 16X20 heat press, an epson 1400 printer for larger size prints and soon, a graphtec cutter for conture cutting opaque transfers and heat press vinyl as well as signs and decals.I also have rhinestones I can add to transfers but won't be making elaborate transfers with the rhinestones for now. I guess I might just wait till spring but it sure would be nice to recoup some of my money now (as soon as my cutter gets here and I figure it out). I will sure appreciate any advice/ideas I can get. I also just had to brag to someone about my new toy so thank you Rodney for this forum that has been a wealth of help and information and all the friends I have made here too. Good luck with all your endeavors and thank you.
Terry

 

[sjidohair]

Terry,, Just let us know,, when you need help, we will be here for you,,,

 

[charles95405]

Terry...are you running XP or Vista...there is another thread at http://www.t-shirtforums.com/vinyl-cutters-plotters-transfers/t19954.html that discusses problems with the CE500-60 and vista OS there may be some help there