cut set up for Hartco 425 on GX-24

[beartoothsigns]

Having problems cutting my hartco 425 mask with my new GX-24. I use a 60 degree blade, but cant seem to get the force enough.(250g) I have used my old Vinyl express plotter for years with this mask fine(now it wont complete circles) 2 questions-Can I recalibrated the old vinyl express plotter(grc-61)? Should I be able to cut the HArtco mask with the GX-24?

 

[CS-SignSupply]

You might have to run a double cut within your cutting software. The 425 cuts well on most cutters at 300 grams or thereabouts.

 

[James Burke]

We've been having a discussion on the sandcarving forum about this very same topic.

I received 24 & 45 mil samples one time that were as tough as leather and were un-cuttable even on a Gerber GS15 with extra weight added to the knife.

As you may already know, the material (pvc) gets stiffer and tougher to cut as it ages. Most rolls are date stamped, so that should give you an idea of what you're working with.

Since I primarily do engraved stone and brick using Hartco 310, I reject any material older than six months mainly due to the aqueous adhesive that degrades and does not stick to the substrate.

A lot of our lettering is in the 1/2" to 3/4" range and weeding really gets difficult when the material is that stiff.

I haven't had had any problems since my supplier now has my orders drop shipped from Hartco.

Jim

 

[Mainframe]

Use your heat gun & warm up the material while it cuts, you will see a big difference & it will cut like butter, not too much heat though, just warm it up, I have been doing this for 10 years & it never failed me yet.

 

[beartoothsigns]

cuttung Hartco

Thanks for the various responses.
I tried the heat idea, and although it didnt work perfect the first time, I think some tweaking might make that work for me.
As for double cutting-I am using cut studio plug in CS4 at the moment because my flexi7.7 doesnt work on my new mac os10.6. As far as i can tell there is no double cut feature in that plug in? If I go back to old operating system and double cut-it doesnt want to cut exactly twice.
My Hartco supplier (grimco) doesnt carry the Hartco 310 and doesnt think they can drop ship it to me unless in bulk.
Thanks again for the suggestions, they will get me out of my jam and send me in the right direction for a permanent fix.
Al

 

[J Hill Designs]

for double cuts I usually just lay a copy of the design on top of the original - it will just cut everything twice

 

[beartoothsigns]

...laying a copy over the original! so obvious yet I hadnt thought of that. thanks.

 

[Doug78]

beartoothsigns what did you end up doing, I'm having the same problem. I ended up with my blade all the way out and force maxxed out and it cuts through just doesn't weed easily like it should. Did you try something a little thinner or did cutting it twice do the trick?

Thanks,
Doug

 

[J Hill Designs]

cut twice (but do the overlay, if you do cut twice in software settings, it usually cuts everything then goes back to recut, and you could (read: probably will) have mis-registration issues due to the thickness etc of the material)