# Anybody owne a USCutter LaserPoint



## VBGrafx (Mar 4, 2008)

I am having a very bad experience with the USCutter LaserPoint 36". I am wondering if it is a software issue or a cutter issue.

This is NOT my first cutter. I bought it as a temp cutter till I get my big printer/cutter. It LOOKS and feels great! I can't seem to get it to act like a real cutter.

Way too much BS to get this turd to cut...? It don't tile, it don't check the size of the vinyl...? I e-mailed the company and they said I need to "GUESS"....the size, What?

I am wondering if anyone knows if this is a good cutter with bad software. If so I will buy Flexi...? 

Someone give me some feedback.


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## taricp35 (Dec 10, 2008)

I have this cutter and have had it about 2 months now. When I first got it I called tech support, he remote accessed my computer, set up my cutter to the software I was currently using, and did a test cut. I did not use the included software I am using signcut pro. (did not have time to learn a new software so I stayed with signcut) I cut everything from sign vinyl, t-shirt vinyl, to flock with no problems. Once you get tech support they will usually get it solved, try calling them instead of emailing.
I got this cutter as a second cutter for my office, it was inexpensive but in another week or so it will have paid for itself.


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## Nick Horvath (Feb 26, 2010)

VBGrafx said:


> I am having a very bad experience with the USCutter LaserPoint 36". I am wondering if it is a software issue or a cutter issue.
> 
> This is NOT my first cutter. I bought it as a temp cutter till I get my big printer/cutter. It LOOKS and feels great! I can't seem to get it to act like a real cutter.
> 
> ...


Our experience with the Laserpoint 24" was similar in that I does not measure the material width. You have to input the data if you want the machine to stop cutting at the edges of your material. 

Better software will definately help you with functionality, however this is a pretty basic cutter that has a laser mounted on it so that you are able to line up the blade to perform contour cutting. 

Pretty good for a backup, someone just starting up or on a budget in my opinion, but this cutter is not perfect. For the price, you can't go wrong, though.


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## markityourself (Feb 24, 2010)

Hi all,

I'm new to the whole shirt thing, so please bear with me. Will a vinyl cutter work with the opaque transfer paper? Is that what most of you use if you're not using self-weeding transfers? (I'm using inkjet, and I don't believe there's a self-weeding transfer for inkjet yet).


Thanks,
Jon


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## Nvr2Old (Oct 14, 2009)

markityourself said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I'm new to the whole shirt thing, so please bear with me. Will a vinyl cutter work with the opaque transfer paper? Is that what most of you use if you're not using self-weeding transfers? (I'm using inkjet, and I don't believe there's a self-weeding transfer for inkjet yet).
> 
> ...


Your right, there is no self weeding paper for inkjet, however, there is a inkjet version of imageclip that is self weeding, but will involve both inkjet and laser printers for it to work.
Yes, many people use an optic eye or laser pointing cutter to contour cut opaque paper. It will involve printing registration marks on your transfer image, then aligning marks on the cutter, and using cutting software that allows for contour cutting.


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## VBGrafx (Mar 4, 2008)

Nick Horvath said:


> Our experience with the Laserpoint 24" was similar in that I does not measure the material width. You have to input the data if you want the machine to stop cutting at the edges of your material.
> 
> Better software will definately help you with functionality, however this is a pretty basic cutter that has a laser mounted on it so that you are able to line up the blade to perform contour cutting.
> 
> Pretty good for a backup, someone just starting up or on a budget in my opinion, but this cutter is not perfect. For the price, you can't go wrong, though.


Once I make a cut I have to close the program if I want to make another cut...?

I am running the SignCut Pro that came with it...

USCutter needs to step up and help me with some or admit that this is junk & take it back.


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## bigwebman (Jan 27, 2010)

Vic, I had the same problem with Signcut Pro. Make sure that you have the latest version. I upgraded to the newest version, and it solved alot of problems. I don't really like Signcut though, so I bought a copy of Flexi-sign Starter off e-bay for 99 bucks. Much better for me. I can design in corel or photoshop, then open in Flexi, then cut. So, instead of paying the 99 bucks to renew a Signcut subscription, I just bought Flexi-starter, with dongle, now I am all set, don't miss SignCut a bit. Make sure it is compatible with your cutter first, before you buy it though.


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## VBGrafx (Mar 4, 2008)

bigwebman said:


> Vic, I had the same problem with Signcut Pro. Make sure that you have the latest version. I upgraded to the newest version, and it solved alot of problems. I don't really like Signcut though, so I bought a copy of Flexi-sign Starter off e-bay for 99 bucks. Much better for me. I can design in corel or photoshop, then open in Flexi, then cut. So, instead of paying the 99 bucks to renew a Signcut subscription, I just bought Flexi-starter, with dongle, now I am all set, don't miss SignCut a bit. Make sure it is compatible with your cutter first, before you buy it though.


Good to know. I am just so frustrated because I'm not a fool. I been around cutters before...

I'll see if I can get my hands on Flexi. 

I will buy my own version of Flexi. But, what if I know someone with Flexi, could I bring the cutter and see if it works with the software?


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## bigwebman (Jan 27, 2010)

Vic, I am sure that would work, If the driver is there, he could create a setup in production manager with your cutter. Production manager works in tadem with Flexisign, after you create a flile to cut, when you go to cut it, production manager opens which shows what device you are using. It also controls the cut methods such as weed lines, size, mirror, other options. But I feel your pain on the Signcut. I acually re-formatted my hard drive thinking I had a bad install. I kept getting blue screens, lockups, I would cut one image, then I would have to close the software to cut another. Real Pain... On top of that, It only allows a certain amount of installs, and I am at my limit cause of this nonsense. Signcut also is not really a great design program, so I was only really using it for cutting, so why not go with Flexistarter, I figured.


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## VBGrafx (Mar 4, 2008)

bigwebman said:


> Vic, I am sure that would work, If the driver is there, he could create a setup in production manager with your cutter. Production manager works in tadem with Flexisign, after you create a flile to cut, when you go to cut it, production manager opens which shows what device you are using. It also controls the cut methods such as weed lines, size, mirror, other options. But I feel your pain on the Signcut. I acually re-formatted my hard drive thinking I had a bad install. I kept getting blue screens, lockups, I would cut one image, then I would have to close the software to cut another. Real Pain... On top of that, It only allows a certain amount of installs, and I am at my limit cause of this nonsense. Signcut also is not really a great design program, so I was only really using it for cutting, so why not go with Flexistarter, I figured.


 
I design and produce 99% out of CorelDraw. So I wasn't looking for a design program at all. I was looking to simply cut with this plotter. 

If this doesn't work USCutter.com is going to have a lifelong shun from me and my company. SignCut already does... the only thing that can help them is if the cutter turns out to be worth a toot! 

I ain't going to hold my breath....

Thanks Dude....


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## Nvr2Old (Oct 14, 2009)

VBGrafx said:


> I am having a very bad experience with the USCutter LaserPoint 36". I am wondering if it is a software issue or a cutter issue.
> 
> I am wondering if anyone knows if this is a good cutter with bad software. If so I will buy Flexi...?
> 
> Someone give me some feedback.


Hey Vic,
Before you shell out 100 bucks for a new cutting program, try opening Signcut Pro, go to the help menu, then choose "check for updates"
That will get you the latest version and might hold you over for a while.


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## Nick Horvath (Feb 26, 2010)

Our Laserpoint 24" shipped with SignBlazer Elements. We did not have any lockup issues, so I would agree that it sounds like it is the Signcut Pro you have. Ask USCutters for SignBlazer Elements, they are offering it free with cutter purchases as far as I know.

SignBlazer Elements isnt the greatest, but if you can get them to send you a free copy it will work allot better for your cutter model.


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## VBGrafx (Mar 4, 2008)

SIgnCut says it is up to date.

SignBlazer came with it and it gives me the same problems, so I uninstalled it.

It is like the software they provided is not compatible with my whole system or something.


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## Nvr2Old (Oct 14, 2009)

VBGrafx said:


> SIgnCut says it is up to date.
> 
> SignBlazer came with it and it gives me the same problems, so I uninstalled it.
> 
> It is like the software they provided is not compatible with my whole system or something.


I had a similar problem with my LP-24 with usb connection. This cutter is very finicky when using usb. I found a simple fix by adding a usb to serial cable adapter that cost about $25. Here is a link with more info if you want to try it. http://www.t-shirtforums.com/vinyl-signs-decals/t102454.html


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## markityourself (Feb 24, 2010)

Thanks, JV.

Do you have any experience or opinion on the "countour cutters" that do not have a laser? For example, there's a bunch on eBay that use FlexiStarter 8.6 to contour cut, but do not have laser/optical eye.

Thanks again,
Jon


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## Nvr2Old (Oct 14, 2009)

markityourself said:


> Thanks, JV.
> 
> Do you have any experience or opinion on the "countour cutters" that do not have a laser? For example, there's a bunch on eBay that use FlexiStarter 8.6 to contour cut, but do not have laser/optical eye.
> 
> ...


I don't have first hand knowledge of this, but from what I understand, with flexi you would create a contour cut file for your graphic image, then align the blade to a starting point on the image to contour cut it.


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## Nick Horvath (Feb 26, 2010)

VBGrafx said:


> SIgnCut says it is up to date.
> 
> SignBlazer came with it and it gives me the same problems, so I uninstalled it.
> 
> It is like the software they provided is not compatible with my whole system or something.


Do you have a serial port open to use?


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## markityourself (Feb 24, 2010)

Nvr2Old said:


> I don't have first hand knowledge of this, but from what I understand, with flexi you would create a contour cut file for your graphic image, then align the blade to a starting point on the image to contour cut it.


 
I think I may give it a shot...my budget is pretty tight and I can't seem to find a real contour cutter for the right price.

Thanks!


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## bigwebman (Jan 27, 2010)

JV, you are right about the updates on Signcut, once I did that, then I did not have to re-start the program to cut a second file. One other thing, is that there is a plugin to cut straight from Signcut from Corel Draw, but it never worked for me. It would lock up or cut some weird pattern. That is not to say that it does not work, just that "I" did not get it to work reliably, so I switched to Flexi. As for paying 100 for it, I would have had to pay the same for Signcut, EVERY YEAR, which I hated using. I can take the dongle from flexi, and install it on any pc I have, plus no subscription. This is just MY experience, so take it as that. Your results might be completely different than mine, and I am sure there are alot of satisfied Signcut users. Eric.....


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## VBGrafx (Mar 4, 2008)

Nick Horvath said:


> Do you have a serial port open to use?


No, I used it for my MONSTER monitor!

No, just USB ports. It is cutting small stuff. But when I send a big file the software locks-up after the cut...? _What-up with dad_?

The software guys just want to blame my PC. But, come on my PC is kick-*** for this very small plotter program. I do BIG TIME graphics with this dude....


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## VBGrafx (Mar 4, 2008)

taricp35 said:


> I have this cutter and have had it about 2 months now. When I first got it I called tech support, he remote accessed my computer, set up my cutter to the software I was currently using, and did a test cut. I did not use the included software I am using signcut pro. (did not have time to learn a new software so I stayed with signcut) I cut everything from sign vinyl, t-shirt vinyl, to flock with no problems. Once you get tech support they will usually get it solved, try calling them instead of emailing.
> I got this cutter as a second cutter for my office, it was inexpensive but in another week or so it will have paid for itself.


I called waited 10 min. it kicked me over to voicemail. 2-times. The Voicemail said they would get back to me within 4 hours...? I am still com. through e-mail. What is the bigest thing you can cut? 1' 6' 10' 25' ?


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## bigwebman (Jan 27, 2010)

Vic, I don't have the same cutter, but I did have some of the same problems you have with Signcut. My cutter is usb only, and when I first installed it, it would blue screen my computer. I got a newer driver, and that worked. It does sound like you might have a connection problem. Maybe try JV's idea with the usb to serial adapter, if you can free up the port for testing purposes. If that works, then you know that's the problem.


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## VBGrafx (Mar 4, 2008)

bigwebman said:


> Vic, I don't have the same cutter, but I did have some of the same problems you have with Signcut. My cutter is usb only, and when I first installed it, it would blue screen my computer. I got a newer driver, and that worked. It does sound like you might have a connection problem. Maybe try JV's idea with the usb to serial adapter, if you can free up the port for testing purposes. If that works, then you know that's the problem.


I actually have got the cutter to work. It will cut small designs. However, now the big problem is that on a bigger cut, it seems to want to not give itself enough vinyl and when it recoils, it runs out of vinyl..? Anything on this?


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## Nvr2Old (Oct 14, 2009)

bigwebman said:


> JV, you are right about the updates on Signcut, once I did that, then I did not have to re-start the program to cut a second file. One other thing, is that there is a plugin to cut straight from Signcut from Corel Draw, but it never worked for me. It would lock up or cut some weird pattern. That is not to say that it does not work, just that "I" did not get it to work reliably, so I switched to Flexi. As for paying 100 for it, I would have had to pay the same for Signcut, EVERY YEAR, which I hated using. I can take the dongle from flexi, and install it on any pc I have, plus no subscription. This is just MY experience, so take it as that. Your results might be completely different than mine, and I am sure there are alot of satisfied Signcut users. Eric.....


Eric,
I guess this is a case of "everything works ok now, why change"
Right now cutterpros.com sells the Signcut Pro 3 year subscription for $100, so not quite so bad as regular price of about $63 per year. I also have thought about switching to flexi, but I have no idea how to configure LP-24 to run with it. I would love to hear if anyone has had success with the laserpoint and flexi.
As for Corel Draw plug in not working, I don't know. I use Illy with SCP plug in and works great, but I did see special instructions on Signcuts page to install the plug in for Corel Draw.


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## bigwebman (Jan 27, 2010)

JV, yes, you get used to something, it works, so you stick with it. My problem was it was acting very flaky with my cutter/PC. That is a better price than I thought, I was told it was a 99 dollar subscription for another year. Well, like you said everything works now, so all is ok, that is how I am now with flexistarter. I am not sure if the LP24 driver is in Flexi, I will try to take a look next time I open it up. I do have a couple more months with Signcut, but rarely open it now.


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## Nick Horvath (Feb 26, 2010)

VBGrafx said:


> I actually have got the cutter to work. It will cut small designs. However, now the big problem is that on a bigger cut, it seems to want to not give itself enough vinyl and when it recoils, it runs out of vinyl..? Anything on this?


So it pulls back to cut and unfeeds the media??


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## VBGrafx (Mar 4, 2008)

Nick Horvath said:


> So it pulls back to cut and unfeeds the media??


No, it is supossed to start cutting right where the laserpoint is. But if I cut a 5' sign, it will start off fine, cutting the first piece, but Sometimes I need to allow a foot because it will recoil back past the beginning point and force the roll off the cutter?

And if I need to tile cut, it will cut the first piece ok but will start cutting the 2nd piece adout a foot over the first piece..?


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## Nick Horvath (Feb 26, 2010)

You have set your origin? 

Also, did you enter in the media size into the cutter?


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## VBGrafx (Mar 4, 2008)

Nick Horvath said:


> You have set your origin?
> 
> Also, did you enter in the media size into the cutter?


Yep, all that?

I totally think it is a software issue. I grounded the plotter with some wire and that may have helped. 

USCutter.com should be ashamed to send out this stuff. They should warn us that the software provided is remedial at best. Just let us know that we have a better time running the cutter with Flexi or whatever....

What I have done to get the job out: Cut the design in 2 in CorelDraw. Then sent to cutter in 2 sep. files... Pritty low tech, but worked.... Cutter seems fine, SignCut software, sucks...!


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## Nick Horvath (Feb 26, 2010)

VBGrafx said:


> Yep, all that?
> 
> I totally think it is a software issue. I grounded the plotter with some wire and that may have helped.
> 
> ...


One complaint with US Cutters cutters are that they typically do not come with any type of printer driver for windows, so if you do not have Flexi, then you must rely on the out of the box software.


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## VBGrafx (Mar 4, 2008)

Nick Horvath said:


> One complaint with US Cutters cutters are that they typically do not come with any type of printer driver for windows, so if you do not have Flexi, then you must rely on the out of the box software.


I don't have flexi now, but do you think that Flexi would work? Can you/anyone confirm that Flexi would infact work?


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## Evo777 (Oct 17, 2009)

I had a few issues with the Signcut Pro but after upgrading and discovering that during the the output to Signcut Pro from Illustrator, I had hidden layers which I needed to clean up, I haven't had issues with it. And I do not need to close the program to cut another design.

Also for the wire, I bought this long usb cable from monoprice (2 dollars! for 15ft gold plated). monoprice usb 15ft gold plated cable and it works like a charm. I choose this over the serial cable because it seems out-dated for most new computers these days.

Currently the only issue I have is that I find it difficult to cut small lettering/numbers smaller than half an inch or designs with lines very close together without the edges rounding or lines distorted a little. So a small box that is 1/4 of an inch would have one or two edges rounded (not so bad but you can tell if you look closely).

I'm not sure if it is my speed setting (I did not change any settings out of the box) or other tweaks I need.. if anyone has suggestions let me know. I also have the Laser 24 and I have recently made it a habit to cut twice over my design to increase ease of weeding. Anyone else do this? Increases the time of cutting but definitely helps with weeding.


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## Nvr2Old (Oct 14, 2009)

Evo777 said:


> Currently the only issue I have is that I find it difficult to cut small lettering/numbers smaller than half an inch or designs with lines very close together without the edges rounding or lines distorted a little. So a small box that is 1/4 of an inch would have one or two edges rounded (not so bad but you can tell if you look closely).
> 
> I'm not sure if it is my speed setting (I did not change any settings out of the box) or other tweaks I need.. if anyone has suggestions let me know. I also have the Laser 24 and I have recently made it a habit to cut twice over my design to increase ease of weeding. Anyone else do this? Increases the time of cutting but definitely helps with weeding.


Cutting text or designs less then 1/4" can be challenging with the LP24. What I have found that works best for me is to adjust the blade to protrude less then 1/2 the thickness of a credit card, then start with low down force and gradually increase force until the material is completely cut through. You should be able to see some scoring of the backer material. I use a clean cut blade and set the offset in SCP to .25 mm. I also slow the cutter speed down to 30 when cutting small text. This has given me the best small detail cutting I think is possible from this machine. I normally cut text that is smaller than 1/4 inch on a regular basis.
If your cutter is set up right, you should not have to go back over a cut area and cut again.


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## Nick Horvath (Feb 26, 2010)

VBGrafx said:


> I don't have flexi now, but do you think that Flexi would work? Can you/anyone confirm that Flexi would infact work?


I would not be able to confirm that as I do not have Flexi. We will be getting it soon to add to our cutter driving software that we use. I stated that about Flexi because I have heard from allot of people that they are able to get many cutters to work with this software. Thought it may be a good option for you to look at.


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## VBGrafx (Mar 4, 2008)

Nick Horvath said:


> I would not be able to confirm that as I do not have Flexi. We will be getting it soon to add to our cutter driving software that we use. I stated that about Flexi because I have heard from allot of people that they are able to get many cutters to work with this software. Thought it may be a good option for you to look at.


 
Did you ever hook up flexi to the USCutter? 

How's that working for you?

I will be required to buy and update my SignCut software. And I am not liking that idea. I would like to buy Flexi one time and not need to update in a year....

I can get Flexi Pro 8 for 125.00, basically the same for a temp use with SignCut....


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