# Vinyl Cutter NEWBIE STUPID QUESTIONS: Refine MH721



## monsta imports

Hello,

Well I got my vinyl cutter/plotter I bought a Refine MH721 which apart from sounding like an airoplane is taking of in my office is not to bad from what I have read on reviews and testing for the price I paid for it.

My questions are as follows.

How to install the blades?
Which way should they go?
Pointing a specific way?
I undertsand pressureand so forth and know I will stuff up a whole lot of vinyl until I get it right but I thought I would ask for some tips 1st.

I have had a go as it gives a test pattern to cut but it seems to catch on the knife and almost tear so i thought I would check up wit you guys if anyone has had experience with the Refine MH721 or some handy tips.

Daniel


----------



## Rodney

*Re: Vinyl Cutter NEWBIE STUPID QUESTIONS*



> How to install the blades?
> Which way should they go?
> Pointing a specific way?
> I undertsand pressureand so forth and know I will stuff up a whole lot of vinyl until I get it right but I thought I would ask for some tips 1st.


I haven't heard of the refine cutter, but if it's anything like my roland cutter, it didn't matter which way the blade was pointing when I installed.

Your cutter should come with instructions on how to install the blade into the blade holder?


----------



## monsta imports

Thats my main problem that it has very limited chinese made instructions which really make no real sense.

OK after a bit of playing around I got it functioning and cutting but still no real success as it grabs the material and yanks it or cuts to heavy and then I turn it down and it hardly cuts I feel like a real looser.

Dan


----------



## CoolTech

monsta imports said:


> Thats my main problem that it has very limited chinese made instructions which really make no real sense.
> 
> OK after a bit of playing around I got it functioning and cutting but still no real success as it grabs the material and yanks it or cuts to heavy and then I turn it down and it hardly cuts I feel like a real looser.
> 
> Dan


Make sure your rollers are on the rolling device. Most cutters have a "gutter off to the right side (facing the cutter), and a spacer somewhere on down the line. If you set your rollers on one of those, it will grab every time.

If you are starting your cut at the very edge of the vinyl it has a tendency to grab. If your blade is set too deep it has a tendency to grab.

When you turn it down, you may have to reset the impact of the head. Mine is currently set to 190g of force and I could run my finger over the blade and barely feel it.

Adjust your rollers, adjust the depth of the blade, adjust the force of impact, don't cut at the very edge, and don't begin your cut outside of the roller feeds.

These things should get you up and cutting a little faster.


----------



## monsta imports

Ok now we are making progress.
Everything seems to be going well.
Now when I cut the text or image what is meant to cut and what is not?
The backing is left intact and the top is cut correct so that you can weed?
If to much pressure then the whole lot is cut and to less then the top not cut enough to weed?
Am I getting this right?

Dan


----------



## CoolTech

monsta imports said:


> Ok now we are making progress.
> Everything seems to be going well.
> Now when I cut the text or image what is meant to cut and what is not?
> The backing is left intact and the top is cut correct so that you can weed?
> If to much pressure then the whole lot is cut and to less then the top not cut enough to weed?
> Am I getting this right?
> 
> Dan


Ok, here's the trick... you tell your cutter to leave a weed border around your image, or text. It doesn't have to be a big box around your cutting, just enough so you can isolate the cutting. Weed that out first and guess what... you will know exactly where to weed (trust me).

If this is sign vinyl, the backing protects the "sticky" side from sticking to everything. If this is shirt vinyl and you cut the "dull" side (that is actually the glue side), and you will weed it off the backing.

vinyl is actually very thin, on shirt vinyl, the backing is thicker than the vinyl. On sign vinyl it is easier for the blade to go through the backing (you should cut to where you can just feel the extrusion from the blade) That is for sign vinyl. You will not feel the extrusion on the backing of shirt vinyl, but shirt vinyl is generally thinner than sign vinyl. 

So, yes, you are getting this right. It is always easier to cut out words for your first attempt. If this is shirt vinyl, remember to "mirror" your cut so you can press it to a shirt and not have to stand in front of a mirror to read it.


----------



## monsta imports

Awesome I will have another play with it today and see what I come up with.

I am currently using the crappy software that came with it what do people suggest that is quite easy and straight forward to use?

Dan


----------



## monsta imports

Hey guys just a few more questions before I stop bothering you all

#1 I do my test cut and how do I know I have done it correctly how hard is it to weed? Should I be able to lift it with my finger nail?

#2 Can a stencil be cut with a vinyl cutter? If so what type of material should be used?

Dan


----------



## mystere2

Dan, 

I have an old Roland Stika, but I think these are kind of generic questions. On the Stika I set it to make sure it gets a good clean cut on the vinyl without cutting or marking the backing material at all. That's tough to do, and I don't usually have any problems if it is just barely marking the backing material. 

Cutting stencils depends on the cutter. With a stencil you want to cut completely through the material. If I did that with mine it would damage the strip that the vinyl rides on as it is moving through the machine. I haven't seen your machine to know what it does. 

Hope this helps, 

E


----------



## MotoskinGraphix

There are films and acitates for stencils but you will need to use a backing sheet because of the blade cutting through the stencil material. There is also paint mask and sand blast mask available for plotters. Essentially everytime you cut sign vinyl you are actually creating a stencil..instead of weeding the negative and leaving a positive you weed the positive and create the negative. The problem with stencils are areas of a design that float with no attached lines. These floating areas need to be connected with lines in the case of hard stencils. With vinyl you can cut the stencil and transfer it to what ever substrate using transfer tape and never worry about the floating elements of the design.


----------



## monsta imports

Thanks guys that answers the stencil question.

I however still need some info on how do I know if the cut is deep enough?
How easy is it to weed? I mean does it come of like a sticker of the backing?
Do I need to really grip and pull? Is it quite easy?

Help appreciated.

Daniel


----------



## MotoskinGraphix

Sign vinyl when cut correctly weeds easily. Simply lift an edge and peel diagonally. Heatpress vinyl like thermoflex plus with the sticky mylar backing is much tougher to weed. You can literally grip and rip...the nice thing is evevn intricate letters usually stay in place. What out for small dotted eyes and periods or extremely small design details.

The blade depth is correct when the vinyl (any type) weeds correctly and there is little to no scoring of the carrier material.


----------



## monsta imports

OK will see how I go over the weekend I have been so busy.

Thankyou for all your help.

Daniel


----------



## woodinthe909

I have a refine Us Cutter MH721 and had it for about a month now, all of a sudden the machine wil cut everywhere where its not suppose to. It just like goes wacko on me. I was curious if anyone knows what may possible be hapening? If so, if they can give me the info. on what I can do I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks


----------



## uscutter

Has the issue been resolved? Give us a call during normal business hours at 425-284-2282. Or email [email protected]. It may be a hardware fualt, in which case, we will repair under warranty.



woodinthe909 said:


> I have a refine Us Cutter MH721 and had it for about a month now, all of a sudden the machine wil cut everywhere where its not suppose to. It just like goes wacko on me. I was curious if anyone knows what may possible be hapening? If so, if they can give me the info. on what I can do I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks


----------



## TomandBunny

uscutter said:


> Has the issue been resolved? Give us a call during normal business hours at 425-284-2282. Or email [email protected]. It may be a hardware fualt, in which case, we will repair under warranty.


I have to say, I got my cutter, was a little frustrated trying to get it to work all night the evening I got it, I called the number I found here and their business hours were from 9am to 4pm and I think I called at 4:30pm thinking I had a 1/2 an hour! 

Well after being frustrated all night and pulling my hair waiting until 9am I called at 9:10am (wanted to give them time to get in and turn on the lights) and the guy I spoke to had me up and running in 5 minutes and cutting! he was really a cool guy on the phone and I even had to call back to ask questions about the software which I knew wasn't theirs but he also walked me through that just as easy and where I thought I was looking in the software for something was actually on the cutter! so it was a good thing I called back.

Anyway, for an inexpensive cutter to get your business going this thing is kicking *** and I have no problems with it at all.

I just wanted to thank the guy from US Cutter for all his help, sorry I don't remember his name (being the problem was fixed so quick I didn't remember his name)

Thanks
Tom


----------



## theflowerboxx

I own a US Cutter and I can tell you that for an inexpensive machine it works like a champ. I did 130 shirts this past week and it didn't miss a beat. Also their website forum is the best technical forum for a company I have ever seen. I mean any type of business.


----------



## latitude42

I also own a USCutter (P-Cut), for the price it is great, I've owned mine a couple of months and I'm running it about six hours a day with no problems!!! 
The software that came with it is Sign Blazer, once you get used to switching from a screen printing software (photoshop) to a vinyl cutting software, it's actually a really good product. I upgraded to the Pro version and I am amazed at the results I'm getting, I've done things that I only thought you could get with printed vinyl.
Ocasionally mine will eat some vinyl, it's usuall because I switched from a brand of one roll to a brand of another and didn't change the cutter pressure, i.e. Avery I cut at 139, oracal I cut at 156.
Have fun with it though. 
I even use the vinyl for screen printing instead of exposing a screen for short runs, just stick the vinyl to the screen and print like you would with emulsion.
Larry C


----------



## InkThreadable

monsta imports said:


> Hello,
> 
> Well I got my vinyl cutter/plotter I bought a Refine MH721 which apart from sounding like an airoplane is taking of in my office is not to bad from what I have read on reviews and testing for the price I paid for it.
> 
> My questions are as follows.
> 
> How to install the blades?
> Which way should they go?
> Pointing a specific way?
> I undertsand pressureand so forth and know I will stuff up a whole lot of vinyl until I get it right but I thought I would ask for some tips 1st.
> 
> I have had a go as it gives a test pattern to cut but it seems to catch on the knife and almost tear so i thought I would check up wit you guys if anyone has had experience with the Refine MH721 or some handy tips.
> 
> Daniel


Hey, I have the same cutter but no driver! would you be able to email me the driver please? info[USER=148482]@InkThreadable[/USER].co.uk


----------



## Inkblot

My refine MH721 goes wacky when I use the USB port. From what I have read, these cutters are not real reliable communicating via USB. If you are on USB, try switching to a serial port. I had to add a cheap add on serial card to my PC. It solved that problem for me.


----------



## Inkblot

I should add though that other than that one hiccup, for the money, you can't beat this cutter. I use it every day.


----------



## InkThreadable

Inkblot said:


> My refine MH721 goes wacky when I use the USB port. From what I have read, these cutters are not real reliable communicating via USB. If you are on USB, try switching to a serial port. I had to add a cheap add on serial card to my PC. It solved that problem for me.



You don't happen to have the driver available to email me do you ?

Thanks for the help,
I will try it asap


----------



## HouseHauler

I have found the best way to adjust the blade is to take the blade holder by hand & press hard on what vinyl i am cutting . I adjust until it barely makes a mark in the backing paper . Then i adjust with pressre until as soon as I get an edge up with a pick etc , the vinyl comes out with no snagging .


----------



## theflowerboxx

HouseHauler thanks for the "thanks" but A LOT of things changed over the last 4 yrs, including the "tech support" forum. It's now basically a gossip board where people talked about those who can't defend themselves 

As for the refine cutters themselves, they have changed their manufacturing and they are not near as reliable as the older ones. I recommend buying a Graphtec or Roland, but if you can't afford those machines the GCC Expert is becoming "the" sub $500.00 cutter.


----------



## HouseHauler

Like Rodney said at the beginning of this thread , the blade does not need to be adjusted as far as direction.. just the sharp end down  .. it pivots each time it touches down on the vinyl . Check inside the holder often as bits of vinyl get in there & can stop the blade from rotating freely .


----------



## dakotasden

InkThreadable said:


> You don't happen to have the driver available to email me do you ?
> 
> Thanks for the help,
> I will try it asap


the drives can be found here

Knowledgebase - Powered by Kayako Fusion Help Desk Software


----------



## tinels

I had this Refine MH721 cutter for quite some time. Never had a problem. My problem now is that my computer crashed, and now I want to use it with my laptop. Now this is where the problems start. The cutter was installed on my pc with a driver called Corel driver ( it has nothing to do with Corel Draw). The software that came with the cutter, the name I cannot remember now! The cd's of this program got lost with a house robbery. My question now is the following: 
1. Can somebody tell me the name of this software (it was 2 cd's and Chinese). Can I get a copy of this software from somebody, or where can I buy this.
2. Will this cutter work on my laptop.
3. Can somebody help me with this Corel drivers, or with more info on this.
4. Is there other drivers available for this cutter.

Thank you
Elna (RSA)


----------



## djque

tinels said:


> I had this Refine MH721 cutter for quite some time. Never had a problem. My problem now is that my computer crashed, and now I want to use it with my laptop. Now this is where the problems start. The cutter was installed on my pc with a driver called Corel driver ( it has nothing to do with Corel Draw). The software that came with the cutter, the name I cannot remember now! The cd's of this program got lost with a house robbery. My question now is the following:
> 1. Can somebody tell me the name of this software (it was 2 cd's and Chinese). Can I get a copy of this software from somebody, or where can I buy this.
> 2. Will this cutter work on my laptop.
> 3. Can somebody help me with this Corel drivers, or with more info on this.
> 4. Is there other drivers available for this cutter.
> 
> Thank you
> Elna (RSA)


 have you tried clicking the post above yours. everything you need is there and the software could of been surecuts alot


----------



## tinels

Thanx
Just unsure about this: Is the Refine mh721 the same cutter as the us cutter mh721?

Oh yes and the software I'm looking for is , ARTCUT.
Thanx for the help.
Elna


----------

