# Vinyl Cutter (Not Cutting Through Vinyl in spots)?



## tryplecrown (Jan 24, 2007)

I recently had a problem where I would cut regular adhesive vinyl or even heat transfer vinyls in my Roland GX-24 and recently, there would be spots where the blade would not cut all the way through. It was pretty random but was starting to kill me in material and frustration. I recently replaced my blade as well as the cutting strip below the blade, but still had the same problem with our machine that's about 2 or 3 years old. 

Made a call to the company I purchased it from and found out that the blade holder has a bearing inside where it holds the blade allowing it to spin. I was told to remove the blade and blow out any dust that might have gotten in there. I did that with an air can. I was also told i could put a small drop of wd-40 in there to lightly lubricate it so I did that as well. Just ran it with no problems at all so that seems to be the resolution.

I just thought I'd post that here in case anyone else runs in to that same frustration. Hopefully it will be helpful info to someone out there.


----------



## Akimbo (Jul 9, 2010)

Hi, I'm having similar problems which is driving me insane at the moment. I've tried to post on here but apparently im waiting for admin to approve the post. 

I've already cleaned out the part you mentioned and used a lubricant on it, but im still getting bits missed. Its not as bad as it was, however certain pieces are still stuck together, I'm having major trouble with fine detail and im having to use 4-5 points above the normal pressure to do jobs that are not too difficult. 

Replaced the blade, replaced the cutting strip. Tried the blade at all different kinds of heights but still not perfect. I was wondering though, has anyone mysteriously had their blade ever pop out of its holder? Before the problems with mine started I found the blade had gone, it was somehow on the floor


----------



## tryplecrown (Jan 24, 2007)

I've never had that problem with the blade coming out. Sounds like your blade holder may be shot. Seems like there's some magnetic stuff going on inside that piece that's suppose to hold on to the blade. I think you can buy a replacement blade holder only for about $50. Pretty sure signwarehouse carries them. Not sure if that would help.


----------



## Akimbo (Jul 9, 2010)

Well the blade has not jumped out since and I cant see any damage. The guy at the place where I buy my vinyl has been nice enough to loan me the holder from their cutter in their show room to test it out. So we'll see what happens when I get back. I'm in UK so im wondering what the delivery charge would be on a new one since here in the UK they are £80.00


----------



## jwininger (Sep 18, 2008)

I would try and switch out the cutting strip before the blade holder.. they are about 12-15 dollars i believe. It is the little white strip along the machine which the blade travels along. I would switch out the cutting strip and do test again and see if it continues. Also make sure your blade is only sticking out of the holder 2mm or about the thickness of a credit card. 

Good luck


----------



## JWKLearning (Jun 2, 2010)

You may also want to slow down your cutting speed. Sometimes depending upon what material you are cutting, if you cut at a high speed the blade may skip and give you a perforated or missed cut. Try bringing the cutter speed down by half and see if that helps correct your problem.


----------



## SickPuppy (Aug 10, 2009)

Try these fixes first

Reduce the cutter speed
Set the blade depth to 1/2 the thickness of a credit card
Change the blade
Adjust the downforce


----------



## Akimbo (Jul 9, 2010)

Hi again, 

So far I've already tried the following

New blade
New cutting strip
Thorough clean and lubrication of parts I can access (without taking the whole thing to bits)
Adjusted blade depth and tried it at various different depths on tests
Slowed down cutting speed to 20 and 10 from 30

And now I've used someone elses blade holder and blade with the original settings, exactly the same outcome. 

What's irritating me is its all on the original settings with the same vinyl I've been using previously but it doesnt cut through at all, just leaves an indentation in the vinyl where the blade has trailed. Even with someone elses blade holder and blade I have to set the pressure to 4 or 5 points above the norm to get the quality I got previously. 

Going to call graphtec again on monday, and try adjusting the downforce as its something I havent tried yet. But its such a pain, I only do this part time in the evenings at the moment so fixing a problem is taking over a week now.


----------



## SickPuppy (Aug 10, 2009)

Check the blade offset and make sure it is set for degree blade you are using


----------



## jwininger (Sep 18, 2008)

Did you check the Pen force setting. Its the little sliding bar next to the power button. Pretty easy to slide and not notice it default on that is 0. Good luck


----------



## fedoraoriginali (Aug 30, 2010)

SickPuppy said:


> Check the blade offset and make sure it is set for degree blade you are using


Hi Sickpuppy, I have the 30, 60 and 45 deg blades. What is the recommended offset for each please?


----------



## Akimbo (Jul 9, 2010)

jwininger said:


> Did you check the Pen force setting. Its the little sliding bar next to the power button. Pretty easy to slide and not notice it default on that is 0. Good luck


Really? I didnt even know there was such thing there on my machine! I'll check it out, wont be till monday now though, gone away as im sick of looking at the thing!


----------



## protech cnc (Nov 13, 2010)

Hi guys,

one of the problems with not cutting in certain spots is caused by the silicon that transfers to the top of the vinyl from the back of the carrier lining.


you can see this by the matt mottle effect on the surface of the vinyl......try wiping it down with a little mentholated spirits and it should fix the problem


----------



## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

There are a few things, you have found out some of them. We use machine oil with a pencil dropper and put one drop in every few days or so. 

Also your vinyl needs to feed straight. If it binds or has a ridge in it you will get the same effect with loss of cutting.


----------



## protech cnc (Nov 13, 2010)

CAMM-1 Servo GX-24 Desktop Vinyl Cutter


some videos you may want to look at on the setup of the gx24


*right bottom of page


----------



## Mabuzi (Jul 3, 2007)

Replace the blade holder, pesky bearings....
Do make sure you have a spare.


----------



## jfish (Feb 26, 2010)

Yeah you can set the force in grams on the menu - I believe its under the settings/setup/condition/pressure. The setting on the control panel is actually for on the fly settings so you can make adjustments in progress of cutting if the settings aren't doing the trick. 

The offsets for each different degree are on most of the ebay auctions so you can get everything dialed in correctly. I bought some ebay blades when my roland was starting to fade. I actually have been having similar problems with fine detailed texts and graphics. Its like a 1/8" or 1/16" segment on parts which makes weeding somewhat difficult because they will be pulled off with the fine graphics. 

Here's my question - What is the area setting on the menu? Mine is currently at 3.3ft but my GX-24 is only a 24" machine so I am guessing that its the length of the sheet or role? If anyone knows this please let me know!

Same with the gaps in cutting settings, Although I just got my new blades so I won't know until I use them. Thanks!


----------



## Akimbo (Jul 9, 2010)

I've had a quick look at my machine again this morning before going to work, still no luck. But then I reread all the posts here and realised I forgot to say mines a graphtec and not a rowland. 

Every now and then when I run the test cut I wonder if I'm expecting too much of it. This morning it cut the test square and triangle but when I try to weed the box the triangle comes away with it at all three points. God I wish I knew what the problem was, I'm really lacking motivation knowing its not working like it should. 

Going to call graphtec again today and see what they say. I'm tempted to just buy a new machine, least that arrives on a next day delivery rather than mucking arround for a week buying new parts and changing settings!


----------



## Akimbo (Jul 9, 2010)

spoke to graphtec, £190 call out plus parts and labour. Spoke to an independent company, £195 call out and £55.00 an hour. Luckily I can avoid the call out charge for both as they are local. 

The guy at the independent company told me it could be the part that runs the blade and its holder back and forth on the circular band (forgive me I cant think of the technical term), it should be solid, if its unstable in any way it may be what's causing issue. 

I'm going to check it out when I get back to my machine, but has anyone ever had this problem? Would it be something I (or more likely my partner who's an engineer) would be able to fix? Or is this a new part job? Is it best going direct to graphtec or trying this other company who specialises in repairs of cutters?


----------



## fedoraoriginali (Aug 30, 2010)

Akimbo said:


> spoke to graphtec, £190 call out plus parts and labour. Spoke to an independent company, £195 call out and £55.00 an hour. Luckily I can avoid the call out charge for both as they are local.
> 
> The guy at the independent company told me it could be the part that runs the blade and its holder back and forth on the circular band (forgive me I cant think of the technical term), it should be solid, if its unstable in any way it may be what's causing issue.
> 
> I'm going to check it out when I get back to my machine, but has anyone ever had this problem? Would it be something I (or more likely my partner who's an engineer) would be able to fix? Or is this a new part job? Is it best going direct to graphtec or trying this other company who specialises in repairs of cutters?


Did you finally solve your problem and if so, what was the solution? Thanks!


----------



## Frankie j (Sep 20, 2015)

I agree with Jwininger, the cutting strip was the problem for me. I did a simple test, just placed the vinyl at the other end of the cutter & Voila! No missing cuts! Also, you can take your weeder & lightly drag it across the cutting strip & see if it catches the tool, if so, you've solve the problem, or at lease narrowed it down.


----------

