mat

[Janet1137]

Hi there. This is my first time posting a question on this forum. I am relatively new to the Silver Bullet and it has definitely been a learning curve complete with frustration and tears. However, my question at this time is about the mat. I have the 12 x 24 mat and I think it is slightly warped causing my blade to cut where it should not cut. So I have ordered a new mat. My question is this … how can I help prevent my new mat from warping? and is there a trick to getting it completely flat once it has warped? I have stored it flat and have started putting heavy boxes on it between use in a attempt to help flatten it out. It does the trick but after a half dozen or so cuts it is beginning to curl up again. Any help you all can provide will be greatly appreciated.

[Gigi]

Hi Janet -

First of all , welcome. What you are experiencing is not unique to you and you can search the forum for a ton of "fixes" and Ideas for flattening a mat. I have been cutting with the Silver Bullet and don't have warped mats anymore - so there is a "cure" so to speak. When you cut, you want to be sure that your pinch wheels are not running in the same place all of the time because that will create little valleys in your mat and eventually warp it. You can also rotate your mat and that will also help keep your mat flat. The main thing is just don't cut in the same place all of the time. And since you have a larger machine, it is even easier for you to move your mat to keep it flat and maximize its lifespan! Your mat should not be so warped that your blade is cutting where it shouldn't. Be sure your material is well brayered onto the mat as well.

Many have put their mats in the sun for a while and then weighted them down with heavy books and others have lightly ironed the from the reverse side and again put heavy objects on top to flatten them. And there are other things you will find that have worked. But it's much easier to just keep rotating the mat to give it a chance to be used evenly and thus not warp. I beleive some of this information (how to use the mat) is in the learning center classroom so be sure to go through that as well and take your time. If you go slowly through the learning center, it will alleviate a lot of your frustration and tears. Yes there is a learning curve, but if you go slow and steady, it all starts to make sense and get easier and easier over time.

We are here for support if you need us. Good luck!

[Janet1137]

Thank you for your reply. I have not been rotating my mat so I will definitely begin to do that with my new one. In terms for the pinch wheels I thought they had to stay on the metal spots so the mat runs between the wheels and the metal plate? If the mat being slightly warped isn't causing the blade to drag and cut where it shouldn't what else could be causing that problem? I am using a brayer to make sure the vinyl is well adhered to the mat. Maybe the mat is not sticky enough? How would I recondition the mat? I am at a loss to figure that out. Thank you Gigi. Again any ideas will be greatly appreciated.

[MeFlick]

Hi Janet and welcome to the Forum. Let me try this again - I just typed out a detailed message and it "disappeared". Not sure why.

First, you need to understand that mats and blades are consumables with your cutter that do need to be replaced over time depending upon how much use and abuse they sustain. One recommendation is to have multiple mats so you can not only rotate the individual mat in the cutter, you can also rotate the usage of mats. This is really useful when you are cutting a lot and need to keep loading up and inserting a mat to cut.

You are right, the pinch wheels do need to stay on the "metal spots" or "grit shafts" that are on the bottom of the cutter. They are there to keep the mat from shifting and skewing in the cutter which will happen if the pinch wheels are not gripping on the grit shafts.

There are lots of things that can cause your blade to drag. If you have too much of it exposed, if you have it set too low in the blade holder, have the blade holder setting to low in the clamp, etc. any and all can cause your blade to drag. You will want to check each item one at time and then do some test cuttings to see if you can fix it. By doing it one at a time, you will determine which issue was causing your problem. If you do them all, you won't know which was the issue. As you noted, even though you are using a brayer to try to make sure that your vinyl is well adhered, doesn't mean that it is if the mat is not sticky enough. If I am using a mat on the "tail end" of its life span, I will use blue painters tape to tape the vinyl, card stock, or other media to the mat to help make sure it is being held in place well.

There are lots of options on how to resticky a mat. Probably as many as there are people using cutters - which is a lot. Probably the easiest way is to go to the SB store and buy the "Renu Kit" or Renu sheets that Sherri sells there. https://silverbulletcutters.com/re-nu-sheets.aspx Many people use them, I have even known people who did not have a SB who buy the Renu sheets to use on their mats with other cutters. Others start out gently washing their mats and seeing if that restores enough sticky to continue. Others, use Aliene's repositionable adhesive usually diluted 50/50 to apply on their mats. Repositionable glue sticks, etc. A quick search of the forum, or a google search should yield you plenty of ideas and information on how to do so.

Finally, as Gigi already noted, be sure to check out the Learning Center as it will have lots of information and I believe should have some of this information there. In addition, you can search the forum to find like discussions that have been had previously on different topics like this one. You can find that "search" feature in the top right side of the forum. Finally, if you need help - if you are getting frustrated and finding yourself in tears - walk away and start anew later. Often some rest and a fresh perspective can do wonders for us. I speak from experience there! Then, know that we are here to help if we can so never be afraid to come here and search for answers and if you cannot find them, ask for help. Someone will eventually come along and try to point you in the right direction!

[Gigi]

Funny Mel - similar thing happened to me . I thought I had posted my response only to see nothing there. And you did a better job anyway so Janet wins regardless!

A few other things. to reiterate - rotating the mat will definitely help with warping as all of the other things Mel mentioned. If you are only cutting vinyl are you cutting it off a roll? In that case you wouldn't need a mat at all. In fact even without a roll you can cut vinyl without a mat, but I would wait until you are MUCH more comfortable with the machine.

With a new machine and just cutting vinyl, there is no way it should not be sticky enough already. Sometimes (as in often) washing the mat with a dish soap and non-abrasive scrubbie will get any particles off that mat that might interfere with the stickiness and when it dries it will be magically sticky again. That works quite a few times before you need to use the Re-Nu sheets again.

Mel covered everything else so well. Just take a deep breath and give yourself time. Follow the learning center classroom, even if you don't think you need that section, and learn one thing at a time and get comfortable with it. If you take it slow and give yourself the time to learn the ins and outs of the machine, your frustrations will go way down. And let the little successes build into big successes. You will get there.

We are here to support as you need us - but do use all of the tools you have access to as well. Wishing you the best.