Question about blade dragging

[cbauer50]

I have been busy cutting vinyl. All of a sudden I am getting marks on my file where the blade is dragging when it moves from one area to the next. I am using the same settings, files, etc. as I had been using. This was with the original silver blade holder. Checked to make sure there were no little pieces of vinyl stuck. Took the blade out and re-inserted it. Didn't help.

I tried 2 different blade holders and didn't have the dragging problem.

Put in a new blade in the original silver blade holder and no more dragging.

I am just curious as what causes this? My mat isn't warped (I didn't have that problem with the other blade holders). It must be something with that blade because when I changed the blade, the problem was gone. Could it mean that the blade is getting dull (it's actually not very old - probably cut 60-70 small images with it).

Just curious - I know now that if I get the dragging blade in the future - to check to make sure there is nothing stuck on the blade or holder and then change the blade.

Thanks.

Carol

[Dana]

You need to put a cd or credit card under your blade before setting your target origin.

[Elizabeth]

Hi Carol, another suggestion is to check to make sure you have a really tight connection with your printer cable. I have had problems with loose cables, even with the keyspan adaptor. I have found that there are some really poorly made cables on the market.
I have been having the problem you are describing, and after changing out cables several times, I have finally found one that works almost all the time. I would be thrilled to find one that works 100% of the time, so I am going to "lift" one from one of the older printers at work to see if that does the trick. My boss uses his printer about once every six months, so it will be a while before he misses it, LOL.

[kim]

Also make sure that your blade holder is tightly screwed in. Sometimes I don't tighten mine enough and it starts to slip down.

[cbauer50]

You need to put a cd or credit card under your blade before setting your target origin.

Dana - I did have 2 credit cards under the blade. I am thinking something happened to the blade or it was "stuck" and didn't raise up properly when moving from the end of a cut to the start of another area. I could find any vinyl, etc. stuck in the holder and when I put in a different blade it was fine.

Carol

[Tyler]

To change blades, you had to take your blade holder out of the clamp and then put it back in. What is happening is your blade holder gets set just a tad lower than it was previously. This can lead to the cut marks. If that happens, just raise the blade holder up in the clamp a tiny bit.