# GCC Expert 24 Cutter Issue



## fresnodesigns (Oct 27, 2010)

Hey everyone. I am a newbie on the forum. I wasn't able to find any info on the problem I am having. I currently use the GCC Expert 24 with SignCut Pro/CorelDraw X4. It seems like maybe I do not have my settings right but when I cut letters that are some what small it doesn't cut very well. It will remove dots in i's and commas. Weeding takes FOREVER. I have an order for 56 signs so time is valuable. It also seems to take quite a bit of time to cut. Here are my VLCD settings:

Force 80
Media Weight Heavy
Offset 0.000mm
Auto Unroll Disabled

Poll Size X 25000mm
Poll Size Y 561.98mm


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## VBGrafx (Mar 4, 2008)

Well welcome to the sign business....

It could be a few things. one may be that the down force pressure is on the cutter is too hard. Look in your manual to see how to set that. Another could be in the program, you may be over cutting to much. set it back some. 

But what I would try first is, when we cut small letters, sometime I slow down the cutter down. So it is less forcefull when cutting. If normal is 60 we will do 40. This will obviously not help speed up the cutting process, but could possibly be the main problem with messing up smaller letters.

When it comes to weeding..... Sometime manual relief cuts will help. But weeding is the suckiest part of the whole process and no real way around it blowing!


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## fresnodesigns (Oct 27, 2010)

VBGrafx said:


> Well welcome to the sign business....
> 
> It could be a few things. one may be that the down force pressure is on the cutter is too hard. Look in your manual to see how to set that. Another could be in the program, you may be over cutting to much. set it back some.
> 
> ...


I adjusted the force to 50. media to light and offset to 0.175.
So far faster and better cutting. It is almost done cutting. So I can see how it weeds with these settings. The vinyl I use is kinda thick. It is ASPIRE brand. Denco offers it. It's their house brand I believe so sometimes it is a PITA to cut and weed.


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## fresnodesigns (Oct 27, 2010)

Now with those settings it isn't cutting the vinyl so I can even weed it =( It was moreless a surface cut.


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## VBGrafx (Mar 4, 2008)

Then it ain't the down force, put that back to what you had before. It could be the over cutting and the speed. Reset the down force to have more pressure and Cut a test of letters at a slower speed. 

Sometimes when you overcut too much it pops the letters off the back. and you don't want that. SLOW the cutter down....


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## fresnodesigns (Oct 27, 2010)

VBGrafx said:


> Then it ain't the down force, put that back to what you had before. It could be the over cutting and the speed. Reset the down force to have more pressure and Cut a test of letters at a slower speed.
> 
> Sometimes when you overcut too much it pops the letters off the back. and you don't want that. SLOW the cutter down....



I will bump up the force this afternoon when I get back to that project.


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

seems like your offset is not correct and your blade may be extended to far

What you can do is take a roller and roll down everything that has come up,, this will help in the weeding


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## VBGrafx (Mar 4, 2008)

plan b said:


> seems like your offset is not correct and your blade may be extended to far
> 
> What you can do is take a roller and roll down everything that has come up,, this will help in the weeding


 
Ah, but that will not help if it is overcutting and causing the vinyl to pop off before the weeding process.

I still would shorted the overcut to about 1/8.


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

Looks to me like he has hangers,, thus the offset


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

I have made a bunch of cuts with my Expert 24 and have idea where to set the offset....Roger can you enlighten me please.....


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

its going to depend on the blade,, 45,60,30 and so on,, and its going to depend on the blade manufacturer,, cleancut blades use a different off set,, so i would do some test cuts and gradually increase the values until its dialed in,, I would start at 0.25


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

But where do you make the adjustments?.....In the software?.....Or do you mean the blade holder?......


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

from the VLCD see pic


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

Hmmmmm.....Never seen that screen.....But I do have it on my computer so now I need to figure out why it does not find my plotter......Thanks, Roger.....


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

here are the options for offset: 0.000, 0.175 (Default), 0.250, 0.275, 0.300, 0.500, 0.750, and 1.000.

when you go to the VLCD make sure your cutter is in on-line mode and there is media in the cutter, you can also adjust your downforce in the VLCD,, I think default is around 50


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

I use a USB connection and the drop down list onbly offers COM1....When I hit the connect button it says "device not found".....And I can not adjust any of the other drop down menus.....


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

sent you a pm


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## doubledown830 (Nov 18, 2008)

plan b said:


> here are the options for offset: 0.000, 0.175 (Default), 0.250, 0.275, 0.300, 0.500, 0.750, and 1.000.
> 
> when you go to the VLCD make sure your cutter is in on-line mode and there is media in the cutter, you can also adjust your downforce in the VLCD,, I think default is around 50


Yeah that's totally an offset issue, also it could be a crappy blade, have you tried a 60 degree blade or increasing the font size?


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## Nick Horvath (Feb 26, 2010)

It could also be that the vinyl you are using does not have a strong bond to its carrier, resulting in poor weeding when you cut detail.


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## LALtrailer (Jan 8, 2011)

Hey everybody, I have an Expert 24 and I'm having a few problems. It looks like sign cut productivity pro is a good program (I like it b.c it works great with inkscape) but I don't see the expert 24 in the list of cutters. What do I do to get my expert 24 to work with signcut? Thanks!


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

You could try some of the GCC drivers.......

But why would you buy software when the Expert 24 comes with Great Cut?.....I cut right from Illustrator.....If you are using Inkscape, you may need to save your file as an EPS and import it into Great Cut.....


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## LALtrailer (Jan 8, 2011)

Thanks for the reply. Greatcut isnt opening the files when saved as EPS files. I'm using a trial of Signcut, and will do anything to make the vinyl design/printing as easy as possible. Of course I'd love to use Greatcut, but why isnt it opening my inkscape files? Any ideas?


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

Are you "importing" them?....


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## LALtrailer (Jan 8, 2011)

Yes sir. Its only the text files that wont go through, and all image files get scrambled. I'm assuming its something small, but I just cant find the problem yet


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## LALtrailer (Jan 8, 2011)

Logo designed in Inkscape, Saved as EPS or DXF file. Opened Great Cut. File: Import: (find file): Nothing happens. Am I not saving the file right? how do you convert text to paths in inkscape?


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

I do not know enough about Inkscape to be useful.....


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

Ok.....I have created an EPS in both Illustrator and Inkscape....The Illustrator file imports just fine but the Inkscape file does not....So I am stuck for now....

PS to convert text to outlines you select text and hold SHIFT + CTRL + C at the same time.....If you go to VIEW > DISPLAY > OUTLINES you can see the result.....


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## misslovanu (Jan 17, 2007)

royster13 said:


> I use a USB connection and the drop down list onbly offers COM1....When I hit the connect button it says "device not found".....And I can not adjust any of the other drop down menus.....


I've been banging my head against the wall with this... what did u do to get the USB0 to show?


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

I have never got the VLCD to work....Not sure what I am missing by not having it because I seem to be able to cut what ever I need to just fine....


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## wolverine34 (Mar 29, 2011)

if i can remember correctly wilber at GCC had me install great cuts. then reboot system the open the folder were the vlcd2 is and drag and drop it to the desktop. but make sure you reboot after installing great cut. if that don't work give GCC a call. i use cadworks live and vector cut for cutting my designs


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## misslovanu (Jan 17, 2007)

wolverine34 said:


> if i can remember correctly wilber at GCC had me install great cuts. then reboot system the open the folder were the vlcd2 is and drag and drop it to the desktop. but make sure you reboot after installing great cut. if that don't work give GCC a call. i use cadworks live and vector cut for cutting my designs



I just installed vectorcut as a workaround now. I find it unacceptable that gcc can't offer some type of tech support on the weekends, especially Saturday when people may be trying to setup their equipment. I've spent the majority of yesterday combing forums and googling trying to get a resolution. 
Can somebody offer any suggestions and/or help on what to do when USB0 is not a selection? I have Bengal-60 under Printers and Faxes and right below I have USB-Printer as an unidentified device. I've installed the driver from GCC's website and it still won't identify the USB-Printer. I've followed the directions in terms of setting cutter for USB by hitting Pause and Origin Set and the lights don't blink as instructed as it should do... I'm at a major stand still... My HP laptop doesn't have serial ports so that's not an option.

I also have a Seiki cutter and would have imagined that setting up a GCC would be a more seamless than the Seiki! 

Thanks in advance!


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