# Problems with Spectra Cut II



## levelbest (Mar 12, 2007)

Hey All:

Finally got a chance to use my Roland GX-24 to cut out some t-shirt transfers out of Spectra Cut II - and of course it was for a rush job for a client so nothing went right.

The logo to go on the front was a left chest design - all letters - about 4.5 inches square.

I followed the directions from imprintables.com and after trying to press the grapic to the shirt for 10-15 seconds at 302 degrees, I lifted the press and the graphic clung to the top of the press. 

Well, on the second press, I put teflon on there and it held to the shirt - but the COLD peel away is a royal pain in the butt! The design is lettering only and while not super thin, has detail. Seems like the spectra backing sticks pretty hard to the lettering and at times wants to pull the lettering up with it. On a few of the shirts, it did just that. Most we had to repress after taking the backing off.

What am I doing wrong? Is detail work out of the question with heat press vinyl?

Even with a much larger design, I had similar problems in that the design wanted to come up with the backing. I have tried more pressure, less pressure, pressing longer and shorter and nothing seems to help.

Am I missing something? I honestly didn't expect it to be this difficult. We have heat pressed stuff from transfer express without any issues in the past. 

Any help you can lend would be great.


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## james tees (Apr 21, 2007)

It sounds like your cutting the vinyl too deep. Back off on your cutting pressure. You just want to cut through the vinyl not the backing. When you cut too deep the adhesive will stick to the backing making it very difficult to peel off.

JT


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## levelbest (Mar 12, 2007)

james tees said:


> It sounds like your cutting the vinyl too deep. Back off on your cutting pressure. You just want to cut through the vinyl not the backing. When you cut too deep the adhesive will stick to the backing making it very difficult to peel off.
> 
> JT


JT - thanks for the advice. I'll back it off tonite and see how it goes!


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## theflowerboxx (Mar 26, 2007)

Just wondering is it white that you're trying to do? They are having problems with their white, but all other colors are working great for me.


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## levelbest (Mar 12, 2007)

theflowerboxx said:


> Just wondering is it white that you're trying to do? They are having problems with their white, but all other colors are working great for me.


Yep - indeed it is white... what kind of problems?


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## theflowerboxx (Mar 26, 2007)

Those exact problems you are having. I've had the same problems you are experiencing and called 'em up and they told me they was aware of the problem and trying to rectify it with the supplier. 

Their new instructions say to press at 312 degrees, but what I have found to work the best (don't laugh here) is after I press it onto the garment, put it in the freezer for about 5 minutes. I own a flower shop and I use our flower coolers. White is the only color to give those problems.

Hope this helps.


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## rusty (Feb 9, 2007)

theflowerboxx said:


> what I have found to work the best (don't laugh here) is after I press it onto the garment, put it in the freezer for about 5 minutes.


Sorry, I did laugh a little .

What I've found works best is to take the Spectra Cut design, and position it on the shirt. Then before pressing, take it off the shirt, and drop it into the nearby trash receptacle, and grab a roll of Thermoflex. 

 Just kidding! Just kidding! Nobody get upset, just joking. I was just trying to top David's idea....


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## levelbest (Mar 12, 2007)

rusty said:


> Sorry, I did laugh a little .
> 
> What I've found works best is to take the Spectra Cut design, and position it on the shirt. Then before pressing, take it off the shirt, and drop it into the nearby trash receptacle, and grab a roll of Thermoflex.
> 
> Just kidding! Just kidding! Nobody get upset, just joking. I was just trying to top David's idea....


Ok, in all seriousness - I am new to this - any pros or cons using one versus the other?


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## rusty (Feb 9, 2007)

levelbest said:


> Ok, in all seriousness - I am new to this - any pros or cons using one versus the other?


A lot of people love Spectra Cut II. I am not one of them. A lot of people have trouble getting it to stick to the material. There are a lot of previous discussions you can read through about it. ThermoFlex is considerably more expensive, but is about as idiot-proof as it comes. I guess that's why I like it .


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## rusty (Feb 9, 2007)

I just read through your initial post again and I experienced most of the same problems you are with SpectraCut II. I almost gave up on heat pressing vinyl before I realized there was other stuff out there to try. I've tried ThermoFlex and SportsFilm from TwillUSA and have had no problems with either of them. I personally think the ThermoFlex is better for smaller details because you can peel it hot/warm and the small areas stick better to the shirt. When I've tried to use small detail areas with SCII, it oftens pull them off the shirt when I peel the backing off. That's been my experience. But some others seem to have had better success with SCII. The main "pro" for SCII is that it's quite a bit cheaper than ThermoFlex.


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## theflowerboxx (Mar 26, 2007)

That's one thing I love about SCII is the price. You get 20 inch wide compared to 15 and I do alot of 9 inch wide cuts so I can get 2 out of the same piece of vinyl compared to only one with Thermoflex. 

Also I am serious about the freezer part, try it and see how it works. I "think" it must freeze the glue and it peels off fairly easy compared to how it normally peels or should I say don't peel. Thermoflex is by far alot easier to peel off, but since I've got a few coolers close by I will continue to use the SCII.


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## levelbest (Mar 12, 2007)

Where to find the best pricing on Thermoflex - I'd at least like to order a small amount and give it a try.

I did have better results setting the cutter to cut less deep on the spectracut II though I still felt like I was going to pull the small letters right off the shirt....


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## theflowerboxx (Mar 26, 2007)

Dunno where you're from but here's a thread that may help you. http://www.t-shirtforums.com/vinyl-cutters-plotters-transfers/t18107.html

I get mine locally from a small distributor.


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## John S (Sep 9, 2006)

Here are a few tips for Spectracut II

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/vinyl-cutters-plotters-transfers/t14877.html#post94798

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/vinyl-cutters-plotters-transfers/t16799.html#post104465

Hope this helps, keep posting your questions.


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## Robin (Aug 28, 2006)

an odd little difference I have found in using spectra cut and spectra cut II. After pressing the shirt, I lay it pressed side down on my glass table top. That way the glass pulls the heat right out of the shirt, and cools it very quickly....and keeps it cool. 

After moving my heatpress central into my attic, this is when I found I was having all the trouble with spectra cut. I hadnt realized until just this past week what a difference that glass table made. Small, but big on the non-irritation scale. (yes I was using the same vinyl I was having trouble....the exact same roll)

David, I had actually thought of putting them in the fridge to cool off more at one point. How cool that you actually have a fridge/freezer big enough!!


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## theflowerboxx (Mar 26, 2007)

Being in the flower business, the wife has some coolers that would hold my whole wardrobe and then some.  I put them in a cooler that gets down to around 40 degrees and it works great. Only need to do that with white onto the garmet directly, if I use white on another color it pulls right off and any other color I've tried they pull right off too.


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## levelbest (Mar 12, 2007)

Well, finished up my job and came to the conclusion, no matter what I did - that there is something definately different about the white Spectra Cut II. Part of this design had orange spectra cut and the backing came off clean with no issues applied at the same pressure, heat and at the same time as the white.

So - I guess I will try thermoflex and see how it goes at least when I am doing White designs. 

I wish someone from Imprintables would comment on this issue...


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## treadhead (Jul 26, 2006)

levelbest said:


> I wish someone from Imprintables would comment on this issue...


Perhaps Josh will chime in and give us an update on this issue.......

We are going to be doing a bunch of shirts for our church's new marketing campaign which will be colored shirts with the new website in white lettering across the chest and the church's new logo and the sleeve. I am deciding between using plastisol transfers, Spectra Cut II or Thermoflex...trading off cost vs. ease of use vs. ability to quickly respond to reorders.

My concern is going with Spectra Cut II for the cost savings and spending all that time cutting and weeding hundreds of designs only to struggle with these issues which not only take up additional time but would probably erase any cost advantage it had over ThermoFlex.


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## jberte (Mar 25, 2007)

john, try the multi-cut at ::: Welcome to Joto Paper ::: you'll be pleased with it!


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## harley53 (Mar 19, 2007)

Hey everyone,

I just bought a roll of spectra cut II white about three weeks ago. I did two shirts with it last week. No problems at all. I pressed at 316 degrees for 16 seconds. Took it off the press, let cool and peeled like a dream. Just thought I'd let everyone know what setting I have found to work the best for me, using white.

Thanks,

Greg


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## theflowerboxx (Mar 26, 2007)

Listen to Jberte (Jan), with mulitcut you get the best of both worlds, it peels like thermoflex and is wider then SCII.


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## treadhead (Jul 26, 2006)

jberte said:


> john, try the multi-cut at ::: Welcome to Joto Paper ::: you'll be pleased with it!


Thanks Jan...I've read quite a few positive posts on it and checked out the website. I think I will order a roll and give it a try.

Sound like it basically works / feels the same as ThermoFlex but is a bit cheaper??


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## jberte (Mar 25, 2007)

i've been paying $39 for the multicut - 20" x 5 yds and for thermoflex $37 for 15" x 5 yds, so yes, it's a little bit less expensive, but for me the the kicker is the added width and it's performance - looks, cuts, weeds & feels every bit as good as the thermoflex.


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