14MIL Stencil Material

[citygirl]

Has anyone successfully cut 14MIL stencil material on their SB? I ask because I pretty much wasted an entire $100 roll. I have bumped the pressure all the way up, then down, multicut 2, 3, 4, even 5 times. Tried every setting/technique I could find online and here in the forum. I am using the standard holder with the 60 long shaft blade. Tried several different blades in case it had a chip. Pulled the blade in, pushed the blade way out. Everything in my head that might work. Nothing, nada. I am not new to the SB, nor cutting machines in general. I am just very frustrated and trying to get products out to my customers.

So, I am coming here so you guys can let me know if I need to give up, that it won't cut 14MIL.

I am using SCAL5 Pro on an iMac. I am cutting simple buffalo plaid and plain plaid stencils, so just rectangles and squares albeit a lot of them. Another thing I noticed is the pattern will not cut evenly over the mat. I have broken the pattern up into 8 different cuts because when I was cutting it in one piece (12x24) it would get 1/3 of the way through and the carrier would have a seizure. It starts shaking like crazy and digs into the material while heading back to home base. It does this as the SCAL blue bar is ending to pop up the OK button that it finished sending all info to the machine. Breaking up the pattern seemed to stop this behavior. But within those 8 cuts I will pause the machine and check to make sure it's cutting through. The first few cuts are fine so I let it finish and spend the next hour going through the 8 of them. Only to peel off the material and just the first and last few actually cut through. It seems that the blade isn't doing its job in the middle of the mat. BTW, it's a brand new mat and it not warped. I only have the pinch wheels on the first and last grit roller on my 24" machine.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[pigtailpat]

I have cut stencil before but I do not remember if it were 14 mil heavyweight stencil (it was the quilter's stencil stuff not exactly sure of thickness). When I cut anything on my cougar, I use ALL of my pinch rollers to stabilize material. I even bought an extra pinch roller just to better stabilize my media. I remain a firm believer is using as many pinch rollers as I have. There are many who disagree with me. I only know ever since I added that pinch roller, my cuts on my cougar have been flawless. The only time there are failures is because of my own user error. I cut sporadically now, and 3/4 of the times I forget what I'm supposed to be doing. Have you tried using ALL of your pinch rollers? It seems to me, you are saying with the last line of your post, that you are only using the pinch rollers at the extreme edges of your media.

[citygirl]

I have cut stencil before but I do not remember if it were 14 mil heavyweight stencil (it was the quilter's stencil stuff not exactly sure of thickness). When I cut anything on my cougar, I use ALL of my pinch rollers to stabilize material. I even bought an extra pinch roller just to better stabilize my media. I remain a firm believer is using as many pinch rollers as I have. There are many who disagree with me. I only know ever since I added that pinch roller, my cuts on my cougar have been flawless. The only time there are failures is because of my own user error. I cut sporadically now, and 3/4 of the times I forget what I'm supposed to be doing. Have you tried using ALL of your pinch rollers? It seems to me, you are saying with the last line of your post, that you are only using the pinch rollers at the extreme edges of your media.

At first, I used all of the pinch rollers. Then when I was doing a bunch of testing with different settings, I lifted all the rollers except for the two on the outer edges of the material. Neither made a difference.

[Gigi]

Becki -

We can assure that our machines will cut 7 MIL stencil material without issue. Anything beyond that would have to be tested. But you are trying to cut double the thickness that we claim we can cut and I just spoke with Sherri so I would not be making an inaccurate statement. She said there is no machine out there, including laser, that will cut 14 MIL (laser may cut but it will melt the edges). If you back down to a 7 ML stencil material which is still considered a good weight, you will have no problem. But you are trying to make the machine cut something it simply is not designed to cut.

If you have further questions, please contact Sherri at sherri@silverbulletcutters.com or you can contact me at gigi@silverbulletcutters.com.

[citygirl]

She said there is no machine out there, including laser, that will cut 14 MIL (laser may cut but it will melt the edges). If you back down to a 7 ML stencil material which is still considered a good weight, you will have no problem. But you are trying to make the machine cut something it simply is not designed to cut.

Thanks, Gigi. That's what I figured. It was too thick for the machine. I got one simple stencil out of it last year (after a lot of hand trimming) that I can use, so I guess it's not a total loss. I need heavier stuff since I am airbrushing. The 5 and 7 MIL blow around and lift, ruining my designs. I can't use any tack because it will pull up the material coating. That's why I was trying to cut the 14. Since I am out of the 14MIl roll now, I'll purchase the thinner stuff. I appreciate everyone's help.

[Gigi]

Sorry you had to go through all of that frustration, not to mention the expense. But glad you can convert most of it to a more user friendly material. I know people use a variety of thinner materials for both air brushing and etching with much success. Perhaps they can chime in I have very successfully etched with something as simple as contact paper and other media (it has been a while) with clean designs emerging. Hopefully you can find something you will like even better.

Let us know what works for you when you find it - that is how we all learn. Good luck.

[citygirl]

Sorry you had to go through all of that frustration, not to mention the expense. But glad you can convert most of it to a more user friendly material. I know people use a variety of thinner materials for both air brushing and etching with much success. Perhaps they can chime in I have very successfully etched with something as simple as contact paper and other media (it has been a while) with clean designs emerging. Hopefully you can find something you will like even better.

Let us know what works for you when you find it - that is how we all learn. Good luck.

Thank you. I tried the 10 MIL today because, like I said, I need heavier material to stencil my leather notebooks. It cut perfectly. I did mess up the first try. It seems my left roller slipped off the grit and caused the mat to skew. It ticked me off but I was so happy it cut. Haha

Thank you for all your help.

[Gigi]

Glad you are having success. Yes be sure that you keep those pinch wheels over the grit mat or it will definitely skew. Frustrating for sure, but easy fix!