Silver Bullet Cutters Forum

I am pretty certain that the blades are being damaged.
Pushing the blade in the way you describe will have damaged the tip, the polish or metal filings you mention being pushed out is probably what was the tip of the blade.
If you position the detail blade correctly it fits through the brass part with no resistance at all.

I called Sherri and left a message. Hopefully she can get back to me soon.

-HiPresto.

Thyme:

While I could see that might be true for the detail blade, it wouldn't explain the sudden problem with the regular blade...as the the edge never goes through the holder at all. The resistance on the regular blade was there to begin with, and the magnet doesn't seem to hold very much (though I'm not sure how much it's supposed to.)

Even so, the fact that the problem occurred from one cut to another, without changing blade or cardstock, indicates that there is a problem beyond blade damage. (And, under very high magnification, the tip of the blade is perfectly sharp with no damage.)

The detail blade cuts, but only under high force (see notes above)...I will test the regular blade under the same setting as well. Does it not make sense, that if all blades and holders suddenly require double the force that there is some other problem?

Thanks for your input. I'm really struggling here.

-HiPresto.

It is possible there is another problem, but the most likely cause of having to increase pressure drastically is damaged blades.

OK. Well, I talked to Sherri, and she's sending me out a new blade and holder...so we shall see.

I'll keep everyone informed. Thank you so much for your help.

-HiPresto.

Thanks Dawn for your help. Much appreciated.

Just received the blade and holder from the mailman.

I'll let you know how we get on together!

-HiPresto.

Ok - great service on Sherri's part!

Very much!

-HiPresto.

So, we have success - so far at least! I loaded the new blade in the new holder, and did a test cut of the paper at 85 force, 200mm...and it cut cleanly and all the way through!

Later tonight, when I get back, I will attempt a cut of the actual pattern. But I am confident that the blade holder was the culprit. I will keep you posted.

Thank you, everyone, for your input, your quick responses, and for staying with this over the weekend. I will post a picture of the final invitation when I am done with everything.

-HiPresto.

Glad to hear it. Feel free to up your velocity. The cuts are even better the faster it goes as long as the material is not too dense or the design too intricate. You can test it on a lighter weight paper to see how it handles at a faster speed, but I have found that most designs cut even cleaner at a higher speed.

As previously noted, the stardream card stock is tricky and some of the colors are harder to cut than others. See what works for you, but I know Sherri suggested as I did, that you use the text weight for detailed work when you can. It cuts like butter and handles the most detailed of files.

Good luck.

Well... things were good for a while. Halfway through a sheet, it stopped cutting all the way through. Looking through a high-power Loupe, I see the very tip end is blunted. I compared it to the other blade, and the other blade looks fine.

I can start another thread, if anyone thinks I should. Now that the blade holder is fine, why would a blade lose the very, very tip cutting through this stock? I'm using 85 force, and barely even grazing the cutting mat that I can see.

I'm stymied.

-HiPresto.

The blades usually last a very long time unless you are cutting plastics or other materials that can wear them down.

My guess is that you accidentally hit it on the mat rolling in and out or something like that. That is a very easy way to chip a tip (hitting the edge of the mat) and you might not have even realized that happened.

Well, I don't think it did, but I can't be sure.

Weird that it would have cut at all well then for two whole pages worth. I don't roll the blade out to the side between pages, as I think this would increase the likelihood that I would snag the blade on the way back in. I'm also super careful about reloading the mat, making sure that everything is nice and flat.

Sigh. This could get expensive.

-HiPresto.

I cannot see what you are doing but it is really unusual for the blades to break so quickly. The most common way for new users especially to break them is from hitting the edge of the mat. (or cutting into the mat or cutting something that is not meant for the machine to cut, etc). With careful use, the blades typically last a very long time. They are made of tungsten carbide and are a much higher quality than is normally on the market.

It would be so nice if I could show someone knowledgeable my technique. Barring that, I guess it's trial and error. Since I seem to have all the boxes ticked (not cutting too deeply, not hitting the edge of the mat, well-adhered stock, cutting stock neither too hard nor too thick), I really haven't a clue. Though most machines need finesse, I have never encountered one that seemed so touchy.

A thorough read through the forum showed a couple of people who seemed to have unexplained blade problems - specifically, it seems, with the 60 degree blade. Is there anything to that observation?

I have bowed to the weight of the situation and timeline - I returned the Stardream cardstock and ordered the text weight. I am neither happy, nor convinced that it will be the end of my problems. But at least I can say that I faithfully took everyone's advice. I'll let you know how it cuts tomorrow.

And I still don't have the main piece cut out, which will be of marbled tissue adhered to a very light cardstock. I am beyond worried that this will not work at all.

-HiPresto

I do not understand why you think it won't work. You can see photo after photo of projects that people have completely successfully. I broke a blade once because I wasn't careful - and I have been cutting for over three years with THIS machine. I don't consider them touchy at all. There is a learning curve, but they respond beautifully.

I know you are familiar with other cutters and plotters, but perhaps it would be worth your time to watch the webinars on the forum and get more familiar with the machine. It is a workhorse and no - there is nothing inherently "wrong" with the 60 degree blade if that is what you are asking. Maybe you will have more success with the 45 degree. I started out with the 60 degree blade for probably the first year and then switched to the 45 degree and use it for almost everything. I just like it better. But for as many of us love the 45 degree there are just as many who love the 60 - user preference. Some switch their blades out a lot depending on the material - some don't. It is really user preference and getting the results that you want.

The Stardream text weight cuts like butter. I use it in almost everything that I make. I love the shimmer and I love the ease with which it cuts and the detail I can get from it.

One thing I didn't ask you when you were cutting the text because there were other issues, is if you had checked the nodes. Many fonts have way too many nodes to be "cut friendly" and that can create issues. It is easy to simplify a file, but not all fonts are created equal and some are much easier to cut than others. They can be cut of course, but most of them were not designed to be cut. If you were cutting something thick or dense, (I consider the Stardream card stock dense - not thick like chipboard) and you have too many nodes in a small space, there is always the chance that the tip of the blade could get caught trying to cut to each of those nodes and get stuck and break. I don't know what you were trying to cut when you realized the blade was chipped, but that is certainly a possibility. And if something is node intensive, the smaller you make it the harder it is for the blade to manipulate from node to node. Just a thought.......

Good luck - I am sure you will have excellent results. I love cutting that paper and have never ever had an issue.

Hello Original poster,

Thank you for asking this question, I found it helpful when this happened to me, I used the answers you got to help me trouble shoot my issues. I am a fairly new user to SB too (although I own 3 other cutting machines).

This is what I learned - I hope it helps.

In the process of trying to sort out a similar issue I watched all the Silver Bullets live videos and made many notes. Making lists of recommended cut settings etc. There are quite a few settings in those videos that helped me to have an idea of where to start. Then I started from those settings and tested similar materials to work out *my* machine.

A new blade did wonders but it was still skipping and shallowly cut in some areas. I noticed the white cutting strip looked uneven, it wasn't sitting flat and was bowed up in some areas. So I reseated this little white (nylon or Teflon?) plasticy strip. I took it out and rubbed all the adhesive off, and used a strip of double sided tape to stick it down - a full non broken line of 1/8th inch tape (so there were no breaks or lumps). (I tried using my ATG tape gun but it wasn't even enough). This fixed the shallow cutting and losing pressure issue for me.

However, these are the other things I learnt along the way that contributed to the quality of the cuts:

Use the machines settings, not the software's, this is imperative for the SB to work properly (I use SCAL4).

After testing I found my machine varies from the pressure suggestions by about 10 - 20.

My machine cuts better at 800 speed. (I thought this was counter intuitive.. but they were totally right.)

Trying other blades is a good idea - i have a glass top desk and I am sure I nicked one blade when I dropped it.

Testing and making sure the blade depth is right - how much blade is showing, how far the blade housing is etc really helps.

I didn't find it to be "plug and play". The whole process took me hours, but the subsequent cuts were worth the effort. I figured its a commercial grade machine that has limitless possibilities and isn't hindered by the specifics a "brand". I also feel confident using different sorts of materials and have a good idea as to where to start when I want to adjust my settings.

So, I would start with the videos, the scrappy dews guy is awesome. (He also has a SCAL tutorial series that I bought and that was brilliant). I would choose a variety of materials like they use and see what settings are right for your machine.

I hope I haven't confused things even more, or repeated others information, its just my experience and you sharing yours helped me so I figured I should share back

Anna Hamersely

(a.hamersley.studio@gmail.com)