Print and Cut Question

[mmhockeyfan]

Hi All,

Print and Cut question for the forum. So I re-calibrated my print and cut settings, adjusted my settings as necessary, and tested with a rectangle. All good until I attempted to cut a sheet of 1" squares. As shown in the attached pictures, my cuts seem to have shifted if you look at the printed line on the left side of the squares. I cut 48 1" squares on 8.50" X 11" copy paper with f=10 and v=800. I set my blade (origin) over the No. 3 registration dot and the mat in SCAL 5 Pro is set to 8.50" X 11". Mat clean, support tables flat, (clean) grit wheels in the correct position.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!

[Gigi]

Would you like to send me the file and I can try it? A few times it has been a difference in printers - why I don't know. But happy to try and see if I get the same results. If you have a second printer, try that too - just in case. And maybe try a lightweight card stock (something inexpensive ) to see if any of that makes a difference - one thing at a time.

[mmhockeyfan]

Sure! I'll send the file.
I only have one printer: HP OfficeJet Pro 7740
I'll try with lightweight card stock.
Thanks!

[Gigi]

OK - let me know. Sometimes the littlest thing that seems like it shouldnt make a difference, does. Fingers crossed!

[mmhockeyfan]

Hi Gigi,
I tried setting the origin by placing the laser point over Registration Mark No. 3 and print & cutting light weight card stock. Neither improved results. I'm going to try the X- and Y-resolution calibration next.
Thanks

[Gigi]

Ok - forgive the pics of my dirty mat. I know - I am not setting a good example! One of the many things I need to do is clean my mats! I got a really clean result. I cleaned up your file as you had a lot of duplicate layers that did not belong there - they had no purpose. And for some reason you had registration marks printed on your print and cut so I deleted those and let my machine put the registration marks on or you would have had two sets. Not sure why you had the registration marks as part of the cut file.

I hope you can see how basically clean the squares are. I will upload the file cleaned up (I forgot that the forum won't accept the scut files) so will convert to svg and send to you. Try it and see if it makes a difference. Not sure if that was it, or if it is your printer. Those are my best guesses at the moment since your cuts are not off in an exact way.

[mmhockeyfan]

Hi Gigi,
Re: mats, LOL!
Thanks for testing. This is really odd. I created the file in SCAL Pro 5, but saved as an *.* svg at 72 dpi to send it to you. I included the registration marks you could see what my printer prints out.
What speed did you use?
Thanks

[Gigi]

Speed was 750. What you sent me showed the registration marks really close. I would pull them back. I have mine closer than the default, but not as close as yours. Not sure - just grasping at straws. I used Cougar card stock that I have had around forever - it is a medium weight card stock and I use it for sample cutting and all sorts of things!

Honestly I have seen issues occasionally with the way the printer prints. Maybe fool around with the calibration and adjust a few things I suggested and see if that makes a difference. Good luck.

[mmhockeyfan]

Hi Gigi,

So here's what I've done and the results were marginally improved:

Recalibrated X- and Y-resolution-surprisingly, these were a tad off so new numbers are X-resolution: .998 and Y-resolution: .995
Recalibrated Print and Cut numbers
Print and Cut 4 arrows using copy paper Speed 250 and f 10 **250 seems kinda slow and it doesn't make sense that SB couldn't knock this out at 800**
Removed masking tape from sides of mat-this was to keep the rollers clean; masking tape was even on all four sides
Set origin by placing laser dot on Registration Mark No. 3-Is this correct for SB or should I place the blade over Registration Mark No. 3?
Other settings: .200 cm mark offset around design (What are your settings? You mentioned mine were too close?)

If you look in the attached picture, none of the arrows match but they are close enough where I think I may not need to adjust my print and cut calibration numbers. I defer to you if you think I should.
1 & 2 are close enough; but 1 & 2 are different from 3 & 4. I could be wrong, but I think something happens when the machine moves the mat forward to cut shapes in the back (Yikes I hope that makes sense!). This is why I removed the masking tape thinking the rollers might not have been tightly gripping the mat.

You mentioned other settings I should try and I think I missed them? Thanks very much!

[Gigi]

As far as setting the origin for print and cut - it used to matter that the laser light had to be slightly outside of #3 but that is no longer the case. What matters is where you set the laser for #1, 2 and 3. But you know that.

Maybe my brain is tired, but I dont understand when you say you recalibrated x and y and then recalibrated print and cut. When you recalibrate print and cut you are calibrating x and y. Do you mean that you manually changed the numbers after you did the print and cut calibration?? Not getting that. Have a headache so blame it on that!!

Not sure why you are cutting so slow. I know you are testing, but there is no reason to go that slow unless for some reason you are having trouble with the copy paper. I am not a fan of the copy paper for test cutting. If you have some scraps of cardstock or some inexpensive cardstock, use that. It is just more stable and I think it will help you see the results better. That's just my preference and opinion - no right or wrong there!

Your arrow cuts look pretty good to me. I don't think I would adjust unless you have other issues.

Not sure what you mean about the mat - so let me just ask questions. Is it clean? Are your pinch wheels clean and over the grit shaft firmly? Again this is basic stuff that I know you know - but sometimes it is the easy stuff that we all miss. I know that happens to me at times.


My offset is .635 - closer than the default but further out than yours. When I saw where yours were it seemed really close to me. I don't know that it would make a difference one way or the other, but was looking at every little thing.

[mmhockeyfan]

Hi Gigi,
Thanks. After I recalibrated the X-resolution and Y-resolution (Cutter Settings ---> Settings), I went through the laser calibration process again (the process where the machine marks a "+" and you have to set the laser in the middle of the "+".). I didn't change the calibration values and cut the four arrows. Sorry if I wasn't careful with my terminology.

Yes the mat was clean. I gave it a nice scrub with some Dawn liquid soap. The pinch wheels are clean and over the shaft. I'll check once more though. You are so right about missing the easy stuff! Happens to me quite often.
I think you might be right about the copy paper and I'll try again with card stock. What you say makes a lot of sense because I otherwise wouldn't use copy paper for crafting. I'll change the offset to as you recommended as well.
Feel better soon! Thanks for sticking with me.

[Gigi]

Happy to stick with you. Hope your results continue to improve.

Thanks for the wishes - I am fine. It is just unusually humid here on the coast (we are spoiled in southern CA) - it's hot and humid and I just don't do well in it. The humidity is supposed to break in a couple of days. I am a wimp!! I know others have it much worse in other areas of the country. We just don't usually get it here...... ugh!!

Good luck.

[mmhockeyfan]

Hi Gigi,

Hope you're feeling better! Here is tonight's report.

Cleaned the rollers and the grit shafts. They weren't especially dirty, but some debris came off when I cleaned them. So your suggestion to double check was a good one!
I changed the offset to .3 because .50 or higher placed the No. 3 registration mark outside my printer's print boundaries. I used Neenah 65# paper, cut at f=55, and v=800. Using card stock was definitely the way to go! Thank you!

I paid careful attention to how I was placing the mat in the machine. In researching our forum and others, some commenters reported that it was important to square the mat with the machine. I think that was one of my problems. I lined up horizontally to the Plexiglass table edge (added cream-colored masking tape so I could see it.). I figured if I got it right horizontally, I should be ok vertically. I would think the Plexiglass edge would be straight since they're machine manufactured? If I'm way off, let me know and I'll make myself a little tool.

If you look at the picture though, the bottoms of some of the squares look wonky. I also observed that the upper right hand corner of some squares were a little rounded. I think this means I might not have set my blade offset correctly. Since I can't remember the offset for this blade , I'll put in a fresh one (doesn't hurt anyway!) and try again tomorrow. I'll also double check my vertical placement too. Figured it can only improve my situation.

Until next time...

[Gigi]

They look great to me! Not seeing the rounded edges.

I am glad some of the hints helped. When I put my mat in, I have always lined it up with the top or bottom of the cutting strip. I make sure that one of my lines on the mat is even along the cutting strip. I don't know if that is necessary, but I have done that for as long as I can remember. It's an easy way to get it straight for me.

The offset for the standard 45 and 60 degree is .25mm. Hope that helps.

[MeFlick]

For mat alignment, I have always done the same as Gigi. Used one of the lines on my mat to align it to the edge of the cutting strip. Easy to see that way.

[mmhockeyfan]

Hi All,

I think I might have figured out the problem. My back tray. The back tray is flat in the middle and not on the sides; the back fins have a lot of play; and back fins' curved sections are not flush to the machine. If I angle the back tray up (view: standing in front of the machine), the back tray appears flat. I cut my squares and I notice that the imperfections persist but are uniform throughout most of the squares. This is an "improvement" over previous attempts, which leads me to suspect the problem maybe the back tray.

I'm using the correct blade offset and aligning my mat correctly. Do I need to replace my back tray? My fins? Is there something else I'm missing? I'm determined to get this right.

Thanks

[mmhockeyfan]

Hi All,

Here is tonight's report. I tried cutting without the tables with my mat in landscape and portrait positions. Results were not good, but I think the size of the mat was a factor because I'm using an 18" mat. In fact, all of my tests have been with an 18" mat.

So I switched the tables (front table placed in the back and vice versa) in case I screwed something up and reinstalled them. Back table still looked the same as the pictures I sent yesterday. I angled the back table to achieve a somewhat flat position (see yesterday's post for details). I placed my mat in portrait position (mat was in the middle, flattest section of the tables), checked my mat alignment, and verified my pinch wheel placement.

I tested with one 4" square at v=800 and the results were the best I've achieved to date. I could tweak the settings a teensy bit (the right side was not in the middle of the stroke) and the results would be perfect. I realize with a 1mm contour cut, it would be nearly imperceptible. Yes I'm crazy

I have the original tables and fins so is it possible I have front fins in the back?? The front fins are fine because the front table is flat and the front fins are flush to the machine.
Here's another crazy thought: Is it possible that it's better to cut an 8.50"x11" sheet of stickers on a smaller mat? Maybe there's a natural drift because there's more shifting to move a larger mat in and out? In my research, I learned that a mat can drift due to constant moving, which causes friction. The research did not indicate that the issue was specific to a particular mat size.

I'm out of ideas and I won't give up! I'll sleep on it and see if anything else comes to mind.

Thanks

[Gigi]

It looks really good to me so I am not sure why you are putting yourself through this. I am a bit of a perfectionist, but you are taking it to another level. And no - it makes no difference if you cut a letter size piece of card stock on a small mat or a larger one. There should be no drift if the pinch wheels are clean and the mat is clean as well. I would call this all success and get back to having some fun with the machine!!

[mmhockeyfan]

Hi Gigi!

Thanks.

I’m trying to figure out why I can’t achieve an 8.5�x11 sheet of perfectly cut 1� squares. If you zoom in really close, you can see in my previous posts that the bottom right square looks great and doesn’t look like all the others. The blade drifts. My mat is clean and the pinch wheels are clean.

I know it’s not my calibration based on the pink square test. I think it could be my back tray and I wanted to see what others thought before I purchased new fins. I’ll even get some replacement wheels and change them out as there maybe a microscopic fault I’m not seeing.

Actually solving mysteries like this is fun to me LOL. I remember a poster had the same issue, but couldn’t resolve it. If the poster did resolve it, I didn’t see an update.

Thanks again.

[Bikeracer]

I don't think changing the wheels will make any difference becuse all they are doing is acting to put pressure on the grit rollers that are driven by the stepper motor.

It seems to me that once the material has passed under the cutting blade, the back supports are unlikely to have any influence on the cut.

Perhaps a final calibration fine tune to cut the line would help things because to me it does not look quite there yet.