by 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.
Go Vols!