My cut is lopsided

[solovoyager]

I'm off to a very bumpy start, I'm trying hard not to pull any hairs out, **sigh, been ruining a lot of cardstock and I'm sure my blades are not doing well either. Anyhow, I'm trying to cut a box from SCAL but it's coming out lopsided...I swear I will master this, I just need help!

[Elizabeth]

My first thought is to have you check to make sure that your pinch wheels are placed under the red rectangles above them. If they are not, it can easily cause misaligned cuts. If you check this and are still getting lopsided cuts, maybe you could PM me the file and I will try it for you.

This is a good time to use up your "ugly" paper! Or cut cheap copy paper until you get it sorted out.

[solovoyager]

I don't have red rectangles and have white instead, nevertheless, as best as I could tell I have the pinch wheels placed above them or else I think my mat would not be feeding properly (which I learned earlier on while playing with the machine). I do notice that when I cut or use the pen to draw an image, the height of an image is correct but the width does not correspond to the scal figure so I'm thinking thats why its making my cut lopsided because the image width-wise gets scrunched, if that makes sense...I'm not having a good day, I wish I can make this work, my car also decided to go funky on me...I'm about ready to cry

[kim]

Sorry I can't help you with SCAL but I can empathize with you on the day going wrong! I had one of those days the other day. Best thing to do is walk away and wait til you have a day that things will go right. Just too frustrating when everything is going wrong.

[Suzan]

Lorie, I promise it will be alright. Can you post the file and let us try and cut it and see if some thing is weird with it. I know how you are feeling. Most of us at one point or another have wanted to scream and pull our hair out. And it turns out usually to be something simple. Honest. You are not going crazy.

[Fast_BladerZ]

I'm no expert but wouldn't it be a good idea to make a reset on the machine?

[Gigi]

Lorie -

I agree with Elizabeth and Suzan . If you can post the file so we can try it, that might be helpful.

Just out of curiosity, which version of SCAL are you using?

[solovoyager]

Ok, so I went to the settings and changed the x,y back to default, it seemed to do the trick. I tried it with the pen first and looked ok, so i tried to cut it, I was able to somehow partly successfully cut the box (partly only because the scoring was too deep) so I tried to redo the cut again with a different setting on the blade offset and after that, they're all failures, I don't know for the life of me how to cut that box again but with better scoring...I'm giving up for the night.

[solovoyager]

I'm using SCAL 3, I'm hoping to make something this weekend for admin prof day next week, I think I might have to do other crafty gifts without using the Lynx, I'm running out of time.

[Thyme]

If it is cutting the wrong dimensions do a factory reset on the Lynx.

Blade offset will only affect the shape of cuts at corners, not the depth. To change the depth of the cut you need to change the cutting pressure.

[Gigi]

Lorie -
I know you are using SCAL 3 but which version? Some of us have had issues with the latest release - that is why I am asking.

Are the lines that you are scoring a different layer so you "cut" them at a lighter pressure and then go back and raise the pressure and cut out the box? If you do it that way, you will have to cut WYSIWYG so the scoring lines line up with the cutting lines of the box, but you can move the image down to the bottom right of the screen mat and that way you can set the origin at the bottom right of the paper and not lose room I hope that made sense. I am just wondering if you are trying to score and cut at the same time

And if you have been fooling around with the x and y numbers, a reset is a great idea just to get things back to square 1.

We will get you cutting happily. It's always harder if you are trying to learn the machine and master a project at the same time. But I think you are getting close!

[rachellann]

Could the paper of shifted on the mat?

[Suzan]

When scoring, I lower my pressure to like a 3 or 4. I would rather have to go back and crease it better with a brayer or bone folder that have it ruined (Ask me how I know this)

[Elizabeth]

For me, it depends on what kind of score lines my file has. I prefer dashed score lines, which I typically cut with the base layer. If it is a solid line, I will separate it and cut it at a reduced force.

If it is just straight lines, like for cards and simple boxes, I prefer to use my scoring board.

[Gigi]

I am with you on the scoring board, Elizabeth, if it's just one fold. Sometimes that is just quicker!

I forget about the dashed line - good idea!

[Angel135612]

I'm with Elizabeth, if the score lines are dashed, I just cut them out all at once. I know some people don't like the look of that on their finished project, but it doesn't bother me. If it is something simple, I just use a scoreboard. I don't think I have done anything where I score using a lighter pressure, but you could also remove the blade and use the embossing tool to "score".. not sure how well that will work, but it won't cut through your paper. I may have to do some experimenting with that this weekend... if I have time between actually making things... LOL

[Elizabeth]

The engraving tool also works to score paper. I had forgotten about that.

[PennyDuncan]

Me too....I always you dashed or dotted lines to do my scoring...that way I can do it all in one fail swoop!!!

[solovoyager]

Thanks for all the good advice. I'm just using the pen tool right now to play around with the machine and just using copy paper, I was able to print out two good boxes and then it started going wonky again. My suspicion is that I need to clean the pinch wheels and the grit shaft looks like it has adhesive on it because it grinds when rolling but not all the time. Unfortunately, I can't make a shopping run for adhesive cleaners because the car is somewhat out of commission and needs to be brought to the mechanic tomorrow. Guess I'll have to attend to my other crafting projects. Making another topiary for a coworker.

[LisaH]

very pretty!