What am I doing wrong?

What am I doing wrong?

Postby partyatyourdoor » April 21st, 2016, 10:35 pm

I have been working with my SB for about a month and am still struggling. Can someone tell me what I could possibly be doing wrong?! I know each machine is different, but only about 1% of my cuts come out clean, the rest have rough edges. I was trying to cut a sheet of 1 inch circles tonight, and have attached an image of what I was getting. I have a fresh blade, have checked my blade cartridge height, tried many different v and f, and am still not getting clean cuts. Suggestions?

p.s. If anyone lives in Austin, TX and is an experience SB user, I would pay you to come help me figure this out, I'm desperate!
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Re: What am I doing wrong?

Postby Gigi » April 22nd, 2016, 1:31 am

Are you brayering the card stock down on the mat. Even if feels sticky, be sure to brayer it so all of the card stock is adhering to the adhesive. Also, even though you have a new blade, check and be sure you have not accidentally nicked it. That is really easy to do and trust me, as new users we have all done it even by catching it on the mat. It happens. Check it under a magnifying glass. If it is humid where you are, that could affect your cuts as well.

You don't say how heavy your card stock is or what force you are using. Be sure you are using just enough and not cutting into the mat.

Do you have your overcut set properly? Are you doing test cuts first to be sure you have the best force?? Sorry for all the questions, but the more information you give us, the more we can help.
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Re: What am I doing wrong?

Postby MeFlick » April 22nd, 2016, 8:11 am

Like Gigi - rough edges would make me first check the blade its self to make sure that it was not broken, nicked, or had something caught up in the blade housing area. As Gigi noted, its not uncommon for a user to nick or break a new blade when learning to work with the machine (or when we get in a hurry.) On a rare occasion, a blade can also be defective from the get go so its always a good idea to check the blade carefully first when having issues. Also, as Gigi noted - humidity can cause issues with cutting. I noticed you indicate that you are in Austin, TX and I know that you all have been having a lot of rain in the area I believe. So you might try "crisping" up your paper before cutting. There are a couple of ways to do that, one is to turn your oven on low, let it heat up, turn it off and then put the paper in for a few minutes on a cookie sheet. Others use a hair dryer or a heat gun on low to dry out paper. Also, again tagging on to what Gigi said - if the paper is not well adhered to the mat and you have any lifting, you can get issues that cause bad cuts. Also, too much force can cause issues with tearing and lifting - especially if the blade is digging into the mat at all.

Finally, what type of paper was this? Some paper will not cut well. If we know what type of paper it is, we may be able to say - yes that one doesn't cut well, or it should, etc. As Gigi noted, the more "details" you can give about your specific settings, setup, file, etc. the more someone can help you to troubleshoot.
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Re: What am I doing wrong?

Postby partyatyourdoor » April 25th, 2016, 8:33 pm

Thanks you two! The brayer helped immensely, but I'm still having some rough cuts.

I have about 15 different brands of paper around here, so instead of me listing all the brands that I have, is there a list of papers that do cut well that I can reference? Or even a couple brands/types of paper you really like? That might be a faster way to go about this! I'll buy a few packs of the suggested paper and see if that helps.
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Re: What am I doing wrong?

Postby mmhockeyfan » April 25th, 2016, 11:23 pm

Would recommend checking your mat for stray bits of paper. I've notice that my cuts are a little rough when my mat isn't clean. I learned how to clean mats from the forum. Wash your mat with soap (I used Dawn) and warm water. After washing, the mat will be sticky again. My mats and my cuts looked much better. Good luck!
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Re: What am I doing wrong?

Postby Gigi » April 25th, 2016, 11:50 pm

Not knowing what paper you are cutting (color, weight etc) - I think that is hard to recommend. There are the inexpensive cardstock varieties like Georgia Pacific and Wausau (Target and Walmart) - that cut easily. Both are very lightweight white stock. The one brand that people consistently have a difficult time with is Bazzill - it can be finicky. Colors also can make a difference. But I find very few papers that I cannot cut well. Be sure your blade is smooth and not nicked and use your test cut to be sure you are using the right force for the weight.

Brayering well makes all of the difference in the world. Also I don't know what speed you are using, but most of the time the cuts will be at their best using a higher speed - 700-800. It is made to cut fast on most media (not the heavier weight things...)

And cleaning the mat is a great thing to remember. You can use a soft scrubbie on it to get the little remnants off - its so easy to do and makes a difference. Be sure you have enough adhesive on there - but washing the mat will restore a lot of the stickiness.
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