# Premium Plus Cutter Settings



## garybt (Aug 7, 2008)

Has anyone tried the Stahl's Premium Plus vinyl with the Graphtec Robo? I'm trying to find the right settings, specifically the pressure. I use "15" with the Thermo Flex but I already have the setting up to "20" and it still doesn't seem to weed right. Stahl's recommend a 100g setting for the Roland but I don't know what that converts to a Graphtec.


----------



## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

I just looked mine up and it says 15-20, 30, and 2 for the settings. Mine are most likely different from yours because I'm using the graphtec ce5000-60.


----------



## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

Also make sure your blade is set right. You might be up too high or down too low. I usually have to adjust my blade height for each kind of vinyl I use.

An easy way to test is to take you blade and holder out. Put a small piece of your material on a hard surface and run the blade over it. If it cuts it nicely without going through the backing you're all set. If not you need to adjust the depth of the blade.


----------



## tee09 (Oct 30, 2009)

lben said:


> Also make sure your blade is set right. You might be up too high or down too low. I usually have to adjust my blade height for each kind of vinyl I use.
> 
> An easy way to test is to take you blade and holder out. Put a small piece of your material on a hard surface and run the blade over it. If it cuts it nicely without going through the backing you're all set. If not you need to adjust the depth of the blade.


are u using a 45 degree blade?


----------



## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

Yes I use a 45 degree. I just got the holder and 60 degree blades for my rhinestone stuff, but I use the 45 blade for everything else.


----------



## garybt (Aug 7, 2008)

Yeah, I'm using the 45 degree blade. I cut letters down to a quarter inch with the Thermo Flex without a problem using those settings. Being that the Premium Plus is somewhat thinner, I figured the settings I used would hold true for this also. I may extend the blade a hair and see what happens. But thank you for the suggestions.


----------



## RockRoadGraphics (Jun 10, 2011)

I am having a heck of a time with this also. I made a few cuts on a sample piece that were no good then put in a new blade and it cut really good.

Got a roll of it and now it doesn't want to cut right. It's like it's ripping it or dragging the vinyl.

The blade is still good it cuts sport film light and thermo film fine.

It will weed but it is inconsistent and the vinyl "puffs" up where it is cut.

I had the same problem with their superfilm I think it was, it is the kind with no stickiness at
all on the carrier. 

I have another new blade ordered, I want to see if it cuts like the sample did with the new blade.


----------



## tee09 (Oct 30, 2009)

lben said:


> Yes I use a 45 degree. I just got the holder and 60 degree blades for my rhinestone stuff, but I use the 45 blade for everything else.


oh, ok thanks


----------



## tee09 (Oct 30, 2009)

RockRoadGraphics said:


> I am having a heck of a time with this also. I made a few cuts on a sample piece that were no good then put in a new blade and it cut really good.
> 
> Got a roll of it and now it doesn't want to cut right. It's like it's ripping it or dragging the vinyl.
> 
> ...


 You may want to go through the cadcut forums or ask josh or nick for the right settings for your specific cutter.


----------



## Corel Whisperer (Sep 1, 2010)

RockRoadGraphics said:


> I am having a heck of a time with this also. I made a few cuts on a sample piece that were no good then put in a new blade and it cut really good.
> 
> Got a roll of it and now it doesn't want to cut right. It's like it's ripping it or dragging the vinyl.
> 
> ...


Is your cutting strip OK! If you use the same setting as your SportFilm Light do you have the same issue? If sounds like you might be using too much force.


----------



## JoshEllsworth (Dec 14, 2005)

Please read this post for important news regarding this issue: http://www.t-shirtforums.com/cad-cut-materials-sold-cad-cut-direct/t153118-22.html#post926145


----------



## moosevalley (Jan 5, 2011)

I had the same problem, the stuff came on Thursday and I coudnt wait to try it, sounds great, soft touch, less time, and best of all the price, Started working with it and nothing went right, Hell of a time cutting it, didnt weed good, I dont think its as great as they say I might just stick to Fashion Lite or try a differnt brand.


----------



## garybt (Aug 7, 2008)

OK I have a fairly new blade installed (Graphtec Brand) and adjusted the correct depth. With a pressure setting of "22", speed at "10", I can cut letters ok down to about 3/4". Smaller than that and it rips them out of the sheet. I guess I need to be happy with that for now but I never expected this kind of problem.


----------



## Nisei (May 4, 2011)

Can't try at the moment because Stahls.de is so slow in sending the samples but have you tried Graphtec's tangential emulation?


----------



## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

Nisei said:


> Can't try at the moment because Stahls.de is so slow in sending the samples but have you tried Graphtec's tangential emulation?


graphtec's what???? What is that?


----------



## Nisei (May 4, 2011)

It's a function you can set on the cutter and it emulates a tangential blade.
It's usually used for thick media but by looking at the problems people are having here I think it can help. Click


----------



## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

I'll have to look and see if I have it on mine.


----------



## garybt (Aug 7, 2008)

LOL!! Actually the "tangential" is the amount of overcut you want to do on an image. For instance if you cut a circle, it would normally cut 360 degrees. If you increase the "tangential" settings, it would actually overcut or do 363 degrees to ensure a complete cut. But yes, I tried the tangential settings and it went through the small letters like a roto tiller.


----------



## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

Like a rototiller? I'm assuming that's not a good thing? I haven't tried it yet. Those little sheets I bought were pretty pricey to just make pretty colored garbage out of them.


----------



## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

As a manufacture, I can tell you it is hell to introduce a good new product to a large group.
The forums can be as harmful as they are helpful.
This product is one of the best to come along in years but for the following reasons some folks take negative swipes at it.

Food for reason and consideration: 

Before you start typing and let folk know how little you know, do the following.

Read the instructions or have someone read them to you

Call or email the provider of the new product, and see If You are doing something wrong or different from the people having success with said product.

Read the instructions or have someone read them to you. 

Check to see if you equipment is up to par.

In this case vary the cutting speed and pressure to take into account they may be different from the settings you have been using on the product you have been using and may like.

If you can't cut it correctly it will not weed or transfer right. 

Again read the instructions and if not happy with the product call the manufacture and ask them to refund your investment. 

Give the manufacture the benefit of getting started after they have put a ton of cash into a product and FREE samples. 

This statement is based on manufactures the have introduced many new good products in the past and have paid their dues in our industry.


----------



## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

skdave said:


> As a manufacture, I can tell you it is hell to introduce a good new product to a large group.
> The forums can be as harmful as they are helpful.
> This product is one of the best to come along in years but for the following reasons some folks take negative swipes at it.
> 
> ...



All excellent advice. I have written to them for instructions before I start cutting it up. I have new blades and a good cutter. I'm waiting to hear from them about things like speed and pressure and quality. Mine didn't arrive with cutting instructions.


----------



## garybt (Aug 7, 2008)

I'm not out to bash this company. I've bought many products from them and I've been very satified. And if its construed as a slam, then I sincerely apologize. The frustration of it all is that, as Loretta stated, why no instructions were included? I went to the website and if you own a Roland cutter, you had a basis to go on. But not all of us own a Roland. I emailed tech support on Thursday and have yet to receive a reply. So that leaves me to experiment on my own. I have a new blade, made notes of all my settings (I CAN write and READ by the way- no need for someone else to do it for me) and all produced negative results on small details. The larger images were perfect and weeded quite well. I'm NOT faulting anyone as long as they give me direction. I've used vinyl from 3 other manufactures over the past few years and quite honestly, I haven't run into this problem. If you sell it, stand behind it. If you stand behind it, lend the support to the customers who are willing to put out the money to buy it.


----------



## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

Sorry, My post was intended to a few of the follow up posters.


----------



## garybt (Aug 7, 2008)

BTW, I found on the Graphtec Robo Pro, the setting I found which works best is "22" on pressure, speed at "10", quality at "1" and offset at "0". Thats with a new blade adjusted half the thickness of a credit card. Now thats what worked for me so far but can't garuntee its right.


----------



## skdave (Apr 11, 2008)

Sounds like you are on the way to a good ending.
Sorry the road was bumpy. 
I would ask you to consider that with 1000 samples going out all at once the manufacture would do it a little different next time to provide quicker service.
We all live and learn. I will tell one thing for certain. Pioneers often return to camp with arrows in their butts but where would we be without them? 
Thanks Josh, for stepping out there.
I never met Josh or even spoken to him or any one at Stahls, I ordered on the web, and took the 15% discount.


----------



## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

So a slower speed is helping? Maybe because it's so thin, that cutting it fast just pushes it around instead of cutting it?


----------



## garybt (Aug 7, 2008)

It could very well be that slower is better. I still can't get the fine details cut, but for the time being, this will do for now. I tried heat pressing it and it's great stuff. I'll be calling Stahl's Monday for advice.


----------



## Nisei (May 4, 2011)

skdave said:


> I would ask you to consider that with 1000 samples going out all at once the manufacture would do it a little different next time to provide quicker service. We all live and learn. I will tell one thing for certain. Pioneers often return to camp with arrows in their butts but where would we be without them?


It's so easy to test these things nowadays. Just give samples to forum members and wait for feedback before releasing a new product. There's years and years of experience on these forums so why not use it? Most people here are happy to cooperate.


----------



## JoshEllsworth (Dec 14, 2005)

Hi All - 

Appreciate the conversation, comments and ideas. Rest assured that this issue will be solved. This is a new type of material so its not the same as what you're used to...along with pioneering new products comes unexpected issues...the cutting issues with certain blades and/or certain cutters was certainly unexpected. We had great results over thousands of cuts by our product testing team, myself, our production facilities and a few key customers. 

Now we are gathering the info, will complete some tests this coming week and come up with a clear solution...trust me, we didn't spend 18 months developing this product to write it off after 10 days in the market....I appreciate all who took the jump to try it and please give us a few days and we'll get this figured out. If you are unwilling to wait on a resolution, give our customer service team a call and we will authorize a return and refund.

Thanks for understanding and apologies again for any inconvenience.

PS - I have received many emails from those who have been successful and many who have reordered, so its not all doom and gloom. 

Stay tuned...I'll post updates, photos and videos as I have them.


----------



## treadhead (Jul 26, 2006)

Josh...I know it has to be frustrating but we all have to be prepared for the unexpected if we want to be exposed to and involved with the latest and greatest products on the market. 

I haven't had time to test the material from my sample kit yet but will do so...and report on it...tomorrow (Monday) when I arrive back home. I have a Roland GX24 with a 1+ year old blade and the original cutting strip so we'll see how it does. 

Perhaps the material is a bit more sensitive to particular cutter settings but I am confident that you guys will work it out and provide us the correct cutting parameters in short order.

The rest of us have to do our part and be patient and report our various results as accurately and with as much detail as possible to help you in the process.


----------



## RockRoadGraphics (Jun 10, 2011)

New blade came in today, I noticed I ordered a different blade than normal it is a Roland ZECU blade that has a smaller diameter end on it. thought "what the hell" and tossed it in the blade holder.

Made some test cuts to get the pressure set and find that it only needs to be set on about 50 on my machine. For comparison on sport film lite I set pressure at 85, and thermo film my setting is 105. 

It cuts beautifully now, my concern though is that I had it cut good withe a new blade on the sample piece we had, and then after a couple days of cutting thermo film and sport film on that blade, it would not cut the premium plus.

My plan is to take this blade out and only use it on the premium plus and see what happens.


----------



## JoshEllsworth (Dec 14, 2005)

I posted a video and some info about getting accuracy cutting Premium Plus in this thread: http://www.t-shirtforums.com/cad-cut-materials-sold-cad-cut-direct/t153118-24.html#post929373


----------



## Nisei (May 4, 2011)

Thanks Josh!

Any idea why it's taking so long for European customers to receive their samples?


----------



## RockRoadGraphics (Jun 10, 2011)

New blade was cutting great on Premium Plus, then all of the sudden it started "ripping" the vinyl again. Apparently the blade dulled enough that it will no longer cut the Premium Plus, I had only used that blade on premium plus.

Works fine on Sport Film and Thermo Film.

Confused.


----------



## Nisei (May 4, 2011)

Sounds to me like the vinyl is not sticking to the carrier enough. This may be an advantage for weeding but I can imagine it's making cutting, specifically small details, more difficult.


----------



## Corel Whisperer (Sep 1, 2010)

RockRoadGraphics said:


> New blade was cutting great on Premium Plus, then all of the sudden it started "ripping" the vinyl again. Apparently the blade dulled enough that it will no longer cut the Premium Plus, I had only used that blade on premium plus.
> 
> Works fine on Sport Film and Thermo Film.
> 
> Confused.


When did you last clean the blade holder? If the blade is not truning freely it could be an issue.


----------



## cubedecibel (Nov 1, 2009)

I have hardtested the Premium Plus this evening, and I would like to shear my experience.
(Until now I have only worked with Premium Standard (or Fashionfilm) and have always been 120% satisfied with that product!)

I'm working with a Graphitec CE5000-120 and after alot of testing this settings seems to work best for me:

Offset: +1
Force: 19
Speed: 7
Quality: 2

Note that I use a brand NEW *60°* blade (Graphtec original) for this test!

Now, It seems that I would need to change the cutting strip, because when I cut very small/fine detail it gets a bit jagged in a few places. Not much, but still. I will order a 45° blade to test aswell.

My opinions:
+ I think the Premium plus feels very nice on the garment. Supersoft, and stretches nicely!
+ Very easy to weed large designs. It goes alot faster than Fashionfilm!
+ Application time. It can save alot of time!

- I wish the carrier was a bit more tacky! I'm having a hard time positioning the design on the garment if it's a smal design. (Yeah, I´m always measure with a millimeter ruler!) Bigger designs are fine however!
- Small details are harder to weed than Fashionfilm. You have to be more carefull so you don't accidently pick up a letter on a small text-logo.
- When heat applied, it's harder to remove the carrier comparing to Fashionfilm. And I think It's a bit tricky to know when it's okay to remove the carrier.
- I hade to reduce the speed of the cutter for best cutting results (from 10 with Fashionfilm to 7 with Premium Plus on my Graphtec)

Quesion:
Is it nessery to after-heat the garment, after you removed the carrier?
Do you recommend a heat eraser?

Overall I like the product, but I guess it takes a bit of learning before you can perform with Premium Plus.


----------



## Nisei (May 4, 2011)

cubedecibel said:


> Note that I use a brand NEW *60°* blade (Graphtec original) for this test.


As far as I know Graphtec doesn't have any 60° blades?


----------



## tee09 (Oct 30, 2009)

Nisei said:


> As far as I know Graphtec doesn't have any 60° blades?


You can get 60 degree blades from Clean Cut for the Graphtec.


----------



## Nisei (May 4, 2011)

I know, I use them too but Jean says he used a 60° Graphtec original...


----------



## lben (Jun 3, 2008)

Graphtec does sell a 60 degree blade for $75.


----------



## cubedecibel (Nov 1, 2009)

Nisei said:


> As far as I know Graphtec doesn't have any 60° blades?


I have bought a original Graphtec 60° blade from my local graphtec dealer. (Graphtec 09U-60), and it costs around $24 ≈ 17€ here in Sweden.


----------



## Nisei (May 4, 2011)

Hey thanks for letting me know.
I'd been looking at the UK site but couldn't find them. I'm using Clean Cut Blades myself but wasn't aware of the fact that Graphtec's selling 60° blades as well.


----------



## tee09 (Oct 30, 2009)

cubedecibel said:


> I will order a 45° blade to test aswell.


Did you ever get a chance to test it with a new 45 degree blade? 

Thanks


----------



## cubedecibel (Nov 1, 2009)

tee09 said:


> Did you ever get a chance to test it with a new 45 degree blade?
> 
> Thanks


Nope. Since a few colors of premium plus cuts just fine, I doubt the blade, machine, cutting stip or settings is the problem. Its the film itselfs. I have given up Premium Plus, and I think I will give up Stahls as a supplier as the staff has stopped answering my mails and seems totally uninterested of listening of their costumers.


----------



## Nick Horvath (Feb 26, 2010)

cubedecibel said:


> Nope. Since a few colors of premium plus cuts just fine, I doubt the blade, machine, cutting stip or settings is the problem. Its the film itselfs. I have given up Premium Plus, and I think I will give up Stahls as a supplier as the staff has stopped answering my mails and seems totally uninterested of listening of their costumers.


Please PM me with your account information and I will have someone from our Stahls' International division contact you.


----------

