Fred Weiss - Where are you.......?

[mxkid1979]

Fred, good information on adjusting the Z axis. I was trying to do the same thing with my Edge/GS15plus. I came to the conclusion that the plotter just wouldn't raise the blade back up all the way. I figured it was a flaw of the plotter. I'm going to give it a try myself. Thinking it was a plotter problem, I went out and bought a new one (bigger Graphtec). Now, I'm trying to figure out how to run a Gerber Edge with a Graphtec. Seems like an even bigger problem because there are no Gerber drivers for my Graphtec. I called Graphtec and they pretty much told me "good luck with that". Now, I'm looking at upgrading to Flex 8 and run everything with it. Didn't mean to hijack the thread.

I'm curious to see if mxkid will get it to work.

Well guys..

Finally I have some vinyl delivered that is the right thickness to get these tests done (18mil / 450 microns)

And...... (Fanfare)

The knife blade still scores the surface of the vinyls..... (d'oh!)

It has to be the y or x axis that needs lifting to solve this issue. As the GSX 15 + was cutting OK when I first got the machine a couple of months ago? And now it has gone to rat sh@t and scores both 13mil & 18 mil vinyls...?

I do have a warranty on the machine still - I guess I will get a technician to sort it out for me! Saves me blowing the damn thing up I guess!

Oh yeah - I have cleaned the machine from top to bottom ( as suggested by some other posts) and we still get this same problem. So from the process of elimination - It is coming down to lifting the axis point of the blade carrier
thing!

Fingers crossed....

 

[Fred Weiss]

Well guys..

Finally I have some vinyl delivered that is the right thickness to get these tests done (18mil / 450 microns)

And...... (Fanfare)

The knife blade still scores the surface of the vinyls..... (d'oh!)

It has to be the y or x axis that needs lifting to solve this issue. As the GSX 15 + was cutting OK when I first got the machine a couple of months ago? And now it has gone to rat sh@t and scores both 13mil & 18 mil vinyls...?

I do have a warranty on the machine still - I guess I will get a technician to sort it out for me! Saves me blowing the damn thing up I guess!

Oh yeah - I have cleaned the machine from top to bottom ( as suggested by some other posts) and we still get this same problem. So from the process of elimination - It is coming down to lifting the axis point of the blade carrier
thing!

Fingers crossed....

The X axis is when the vinyl slews from left to right and the Y axis is when the tool moves across the vinyl from top to bottom. Neither has anything to do with how high the blade is being lifted ... which is purely a mechanical adjustment of the Z axis lifter.

There is also a simple little teflon washer that is supposed to be on the blade holder that prevents wear on the lifting forks underneath it. Is that present? If not, find it or buy a new one and put it in place. It is called a theta washer. If it is present, then buy a couple of extras and try running it with two or even three theta washers.

 

[mxkid1979]

The X axis is when the vinyl slews from left to right and the Y axis is when the tool moves across the vinyl from top to bottom. Neither has anything to do with how high the blade is being lifted ... which is purely a mechanical adjustment of the Z axis lifter.

There is also a simple little teflon washer that is supposed to be on the blade holder that prevents wear on the lifting forks underneath it. Is that present? If not, find it or buy a new one and put it in place. It is called a theta washer. If it is present, then buy a couple of extras and try running it with two or even three theta washers.

Oooh I have those washers - they were attached to the pen tool..

I think I have 2. I will try those tomorrow (night time here!) and post an update ASAP!

Thanks Fred - :U Rock:

 

[mxkid1979]

OK Here is the latest in my quest to get the Gerber GSX Plotter cutting OK again!

I have tried the plastic washers - which didn't really help. Soooo. I have been contact by the technical dept. at my machine supplier here in the UK. And they have talked me through how to raise the knife holder (which I think Fred mentioned in an earlier post?) that is situated at the back of the machine. It is a small plastic wedge that is connected to the bottom of the knife carrier, and runs on the cam bar that lifts the knife on and off the vinyl.

This has help resurrect the problem, And I am back to happy days again!

Many thanks for all your help guys...


Gareth

 

[mxkid1979]

A few days in and the Gerber GSX is not letting me down - I have found it will cut 18mil vinyl easily - But not the 18mil compound of Laminate & Marking film that is known as CONVEX!!!

The 12mil PRO-SHIELD Laminate is made of a stronger material than any other 12mil product you can put together! I can even cut a 20mil PVC material plus a mil 3M glue with less troubles!

But have I given up........ NO!

I have got through the 18mil pain barrier that is CONVEX material, and the machine is cutting like a dream - I now cannot wait for tomorrows print run, and some sweet looking, sharp cut MX Decals!

Thanks to all that helped me out with advice on this thread - I hope I can repay the favour to one of you some time.

Thanks again

Gareth
PRO-DECALS

 

[mxkid1979]

A new one for you guys...

Hi guys,

Many thanks for all the help on the GSX cutter thread - I am now happily cutting 18mil convex decals with great ease!

Lets see if anyone can answer this query?

On using my EDGE FX I sometimes get (with certain foil colours) the print registering up to 1mm before it should on the vinyl. Once printed this looks bad as there is a lot of white showing, almost as though there is a white shadow to one side of the image/logo?

Can anyone shed any light on this - like I said this is on certain colours - loaded into the same FX Caddies as colours that register print correctly?

What am I doing wrong?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks


Gareth
MXKID1979

 

[Fred Weiss]

I cannot attest to the Edge FX but I can tell you that previous Edge models have always had a problem with color to color registration which is affected by how much foil has been used and by how much foil remains unused in each cartridge. In other words, foils with approximately the same amount of foil will have the best registration and those with large differences will have the worst. In my machine, the error is + or - .02 inches.

To counter this, I usually make correcting adjustments in my layout with Choke and Spread or by inlining the base color by .02" or more depending on the size of the objects.

 

[iSign]

as an addition to Freds suggestions, I always have done my "choke/spread" operation manually, because the earlier versions of Omega didn't seem to do a good job with that... so I can't speak to using that feature, but on the workaround of adding a stroke or another inline contour in an attempt to create an overlap (or trap as screen printers call it) don't forget to assign "overprint" to the top color so the edge will actually allow 2 foils to lay down resin in the same spot, preventing any white from showing, at least for registration issues up to the amount of overlap you create.

 

[mxkid1979]

Thanks for the advice there guys - I will try it out on Monday!

Have a great weekend .

Thanks again

Gareth
PRO-DECALS