Working with Chipboard....frustrated

[schoofj]

Ok, my machine arrived yesterday. I primarily bought this machine because we want to make chipboard word albums. We have wasted A LOT of chipboard and need help.

Everything that I have read on the forums give the same trouble shooting tips, but they are not working for us. We need help with settings too...which I haven't been able to find.

1. We know that humidity can affect the board. I'm in Ohio, air conditioning on...what do you do if the weather affects your media. Are there recommendations/cheat sheets to let you know what to change settings too based on the different types of climates? I can't change my weather, but I can change the settings on the machine. LOL (not meant to be sarcastic)

2. We know that all chipboards are different. Are there cheat sheets/recommendations for settings based on the different types? I've seen people explain the types of board they are using, but none of the responses have suggested settings. I do have the recommended settings from Penny Duncan, but we are using thicker chipboard than she has listed. We are using Graffix brand chipboard 0.057". We have some in "kraft" which is more pithy and we have black which is not quite so pithy...a little more smooth texture. Suggested settings please

3. We are taping the chipboard to the mat with painters tape.

4. We were supposed to get the tables with the cutter, but she only sent me the side things....not the tables. I need to contact her (original owner) to see if she will send to me.

5. We have tried forces from 150 to 200 and speeds from slow...to way to fast (This baby has some speed)

6. We are using a brayer to make sure the chipboard is secure to the mat.

7. We used the "cd" technique for setting the blade.

I think we have tried everything that has been suggested on the forum. I've noticed not many people use chipboard with their SB, but any suggestions for settings or anything would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Jane

[Thyme]

Are you using a new 60plus blade? If not then you need to do so.
You may need to do multiple passes.
Keep all four pinchwheels down.
Speed I would suggest no more than 50.
I cannot give you settings, chipboard is generally recycled media and so varies tremendously but I would suggest a cutting force of no more than 170, after that if it does not cut through use multiple passes

[Gigi]

As always, Dawn gave excellent advice on all fronts.

The only thing(s) I might add is a gentle reminder that you JUST got your machine. I would recommend that you play around test cut your patterns on card stock of varying weights just to get a feel for how it will cut, how much pressure, speed etc rather than keep wasting chipboard. And then when you try the chipboard again, start with simple shapes while practicing so you can get a lot of "test cuts" out of your sheet. Speaking of which, are you using the test button. That will also help save your chipboard and define your settings. I would go from test cut to simple shapes to word books and not until I felt really confident with the settings. That's just me.

I think there are probably a lot of us who cut chipboard but maybe just don't talk about it if there aren't issues! I don't do it weekly, but I do cut it.

One other thought - not sure if you are creating word book files or have purchased them. If you are creating them from fonts, check your file and be sure the "word text" does not need cleaning up. If you have too many nodes, that will make your machine work harder when it doesn't have to and often impede the cut.

Not sure any of this helps - just throwing a few other thoughts out there.

Take it slow and work up to it - it will save a lot of frustration -

[schoofj]

Thanks for your advise.

We are using the 60plus blade, and we are using the multiple pass option...we've tried 2, 3, even 4 pasess...4 was def too many because it "shredded" the corners of the chipboard.

We've cut cardstock with it...started with that. It cuts very nice.

We've used the test button, however, we can't figure out how to "repeat" the test in same exact spot to determine how many passes we need to get it to cut all the way through.

We were able to get a flower to cut (smaller object), but once we put the word album page in to cut, it wouldn't cut through.

The word album is a purchased album through SVG.com.

I can certainly keep trying on the cardstock, but I need to figure out the settings for the heavy stuff.

I'll just keep trying.
Thanks
Jane

[schoofj]

Oh, and we have the pinwheels down.

Again, thanks for you responses!
Greatly appreciated!

Jane

[Gigi]

Do you mean svgcuts.com? If there, those are quality files. Just another thing - not all files are created well. So it doesn't hurt to look at the nodes just to be sure it is not overloaded with nodes.

The test cut automatically advances. A way around that is to just make a small rectangle in the software multicut it 2,3, 4 times at different pressures to get what works best, given your chipboard.

I can tell you that once you get that perfect setting for you - you will be thrilled! Most of us have been down the road of experimenting and struggling with the perfect settings, and when you get them, all of the trials are worth it! I don't have that brand of chipboard so can't give advice on that specifically - but it seems like you are following all of the correct steps. And as tedious as trial and error can be, It is really the best way to attain success.

[Thyme]

You don't mention if it is a new blade. If you tried cutting chipboard fast then you may have chipped the blade. I suggest you try new blade to make sure this is not the case

[Suzan]

Also, Chipboard comes in many thicknesses and fiberous types. I know this would be a pain, but have you thought of trying different chipboard. How thick is the media you are using.

[Angel135612]

Since there really isn't any settings that would work for every one on each media, ALL of us have to go through some trial and error when figuring out settings for each new media we have to cut. Even if you got another package of the same chipboard, your settings may change because the media could be slightly different than the last package you got. The biggest issue most new people have is they try to do too much to quickly, before they really get to know the machine.

As Gigi suggested, start with a small rectangle similar to the test cut, and see how many passes you need to get through your chipboard. When you get a good cut with that, go to a SMALL little bit more detailed shape, and keep working on that until you get a good cut. (The reason for small, is so you don't waste too much chipboard before you get your settings) Just keep increasing the detail in your shape as you get good cuts and adjusting things to keep getting those good cuts.

A lot of new people (me included) try what they think is a simple shape, and really it is not so simple, for a first cut, and get disappointed when it doesn't cut well. Also, because you are cutting something thicker than cardstock, you really need to make sure you don't have any "sharp" points in your design. Because of the thickness of the chipboard, the blade can not make a "sharp" turn, so you need to really zoom in on your design and smooth out any sharp turns. You won't be able to see the difference once your design is cut.

If you still have some of the "wasted" chipboard, (you didn't crumple it up and toss it out) use that for your test cuts. Make your design small enough to fit in a space that you have from the waste. There is nothing that says you have to use a "fresh" sheet of your media each time. We use bits and pieces left over from other projects all the time. But ALWAYS buy more media than you need, as you should always do tests to get things right with each project, since your blade may be a bit more "worn" or something else may have changed to make your settings not be "perfect" that day.

Most importantly, keep working at it. It is frustrating to not get good cuts, and if you are doing this as a "business" you may not have the luxury of taking a lot of time to work things out. But if you do take the time you need to find those perfect for you settings, you will learn so much about your machine, and will get to the point that you will know just what you need to do to get that perfect cut. I always do a small test cut first if I'm using a new media, or I haven't done any cutting for some time just to make sure I have the right settings. I would rather waste a little bit of media, and time to make sure everything is right, than to waste a little bit of time and a LOT of media because I was in too much of a hurry to get something cut and my setting were off.

[Elizabeth]

All good advice. I have some Graphix chipboard at home that is really thick. I'll try to find some time to play with it tonight to see if I can come up with a place for you to start, setting wise. I love the process of test cutting. Weird but true! I just wish I had more time to do it.

[pigtailpat]

Jane - exactly which machine do you have? Did you buy the original cougar, or a silver bullet?

[I gather you got the machine used - but not sure which you are using].

If you are using the cougar, that machine comes with 3 pinch wheels. I purchased an extra 4th wheel and it makes alot of difference. When I come up for air (working on a quilt), I hope to even purchase a 5th wheel - to me it's worth it.

Pat

[Gigi]

She has a barely used Silver Bullet.

[schoofj]

Update: My sister and I played ALL weekend with the SB. I absolutely loved how it cut cardstock...and so fast!

We were able to find just the right settings for thin chipboard and we cut out 6 chipboard word albums total. Chipboard was cereal box thickness.

We still never found the right settings for the thick chipboard we were hoping to cut, and finally gave up after dulling the first blade and some use with the 2nd blade I bought. So we moved on to the thin chipboard before we were out 2 blades. I've seen the video showing how it cut the thick stuff, my guess is that our chipboard is not compatible with the machine. Humph. I ordered more blades so we could continue to cut more albums from the thin stuff.

Once I recover from the initial expense from the machine purchase and all the blades...we may take an adventure with different chipboard. I just don't want to keep spending money and it not work.

I do think this is an amazing machine!!!

[nannie4]

Wow. I've not tried chipboard, nor anything other than cardstock yet, but when I do I'll come back to all of the advice offered here. You are all amazing with providing detailed suggestions, and you all build upon each other. Great stuff. Thanks

[SandieGeek]

Hi Jane - here I am five years later with my brand new SB in the same situation as yours using the same chipboard. Overall I am over the moon happy with this machine but I have been struggling got 3 days with cutting the same chipboard as yours. If you found the correct machine settings would you mind sharing? Thank you, Sandie

[SandieGeek]

All good advice. I have some Graphix chipboard at home that is really thick. I'll try to find some time to play with it tonight to see if I can come up with a place for you to start, setting wise. I love the process of test cutting. Weird but true! I just wish I had more time to do it.

Hi Elizabeth, were you able to find the recipe so that SB can cut this type of chipboard? Thank you, Sandie

[Gigi]

Can you share what you are using to cut the chipboard - blade, velocity, pressure? If you can share more details along with what you are trying to cut, I am sure we can all help.

[SandieGeek]

I am using the 60 plus blade and the blade sticks out to match the thickness of the chipboard. I have been testing cutting shapes of 0.5" x 2" with and against the grain and diagonally in both directions - and it cut perfectly at a speed of 700 and pressure of 165 for 5 passes. BUT... once I moved on to the shape I really wanted to cut it all went downhill lol and I realized that I need help and decided to rejoined the beginners line lol The shape only has 70 nodes, so not heavy in nodes at all. I wonder if maybe the speed is too high? Maybe I should try MUCH lower speed but leave the pressure at 165?

Also, another idea that just crossed my mind and I will test tomorrow. Maybe, I should cut using 2 layers? The first layer to be a dotted line with a dash of 20 and a gap of 5 for one pass. This maybe will give the knife the chance to cut more "jigsaw style" and break some of the chipboard dense fiber? The second layer will of course be the continuous line with multiple passes. To achieve this I will keep the same origin point for cutting the second layer. If this is a bad idea, I don't mind being told so

[Gigi]

So do you know the thickness of your chipboard? Normally a thicker chipboard (like .030) can be cut at about 120 with two passes, but I definitely would recommend slowing the speed to about 400. When cutting a thicker material it is often better to go a little slower - increasing the force is not always the answer.

I understand your thought process on the dotted lines, but you shouldn't have to do that. I would try to slow it down first and you might be able to decrease the force and the number of passes. 5 seems like a lot, but all materials are different and that could be a denser material and more fibrous than others. I don't think I have any Grafix chipboard but will double check.

You talked about the number of nodes on what you are cutting but not about what it is. You seemed to have no problem cutting rectangles with sharp corners, so I am wondering is your chosen shape full of tight angles or intricate in any way? You said it all went downhill when you went to cut that, but didn't explain what that meant! I can assume that it is not cutting through, but what else is happening? Is the material shredding? Is some of it cutting through but not all? What exactly is happening? The more we know, the more we can try to help.

Be sure you are using the setting tool and not cutting into the mat as well as that will create issues! So much of cutting successfully is trial and error especially with thicker media.

[SandieGeek]

Hi Gigi,

Thank you so much for your support with this. I am attaching the SVG file I am trying to cut. It is exported at 72 DPI and created in SCAL. Actually, I made a typo, as the shape only has 55 nodes. Not sure why I had 70 in my head. As you can see it is not an intricate piece. The chipboard is 0.056 point thick which is approximately 1.42 mm. I have a friend with a different cutting machine and she was able to cut it with no issues using the same chipboard.

Indeed is not cutting through and a lot of shredding is happening after the second pass or so, which probably also causes the blade to not end up cutting through all the way and for the cutting line to also offset a little. I used all the recommendations and tricks and tips available, taped the chipboard down to the mat. I tested with all wheels down but also with no wheels on the chipboard, that did not make a difference. The mat and knife are brand new, I used the brayer. All the recommendations have been followed by the T, all I need is to find the correct speed, pressure and number of passes.

I see Dawn in this thread recommending a speed of 50 and pressure of 170, but I saw another forum thread where a high speed was recommended for thicker and denser materials. I think the thread discussion was about a magnet sheet. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I also took pics of the cut out piece. The inside rectangle, the bottom and one side cut but the rest... I tried this twice and twice with the same result. You can see how the cut lines also shifted around the bottle neck.