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Help me cut thick stuff
- Thread starter GiveUsSigns
- Start date
GiveUsSigns
New Member
As above, We’re gonna try the 45 double wedge blade. Head guy says it will cut. Going tomorrow morning to a test cut session. They’ll probably try some other blade configs also. I will suggest the 60 referenced above also. I’ll report back with results.
autoexebat
New Member
If you're messing with Substance material ( Probably X1 and Ultracurve 1500 ) Stop what you're doing because there is no fix for it . I've been in this business using the Substance material for almost 10 years . The cutter you have will NOT cut it correctly.
GiveUsSigns
New Member
Well, that is not reassuring by any means.
Flatbed only option? Which is out of price point at present.
But I have an option on a used on after my trial at Airmark today.
We'll see how it goes, but by what you say, it won't go well.
autoexebat
New Member
Yeah I spent many many many hours trying to get mine dialed in , at one time I did get it to cut by making it into a make shift cutting table and putting 3d printer heating bed elements under it and heating it to 120 degrees ... issue was , when the blade is moving around to all of the other objects it leaves a deep scratch only all the parts the blade moves over. For some reason when the blade is NOT cutting it doesn't raise up enough to clear the parts without damaging them . If you plan to use the material I listed in my previous post , you will need a flatbed. I do print for many people in the ATV / UTV / MX industry so if you are interested let me know .
GiveUsSigns
New Member
Well. The results are in after a test run at the Airmark facility in Seattle.
On their Summa S2T160, the "45 degree dual wedge" knife cut through easily both my 3mil/10mil(substance lam) for a 13 mil total.
We also loaded up the very thick stuff: 6mil Substance vinyl and 15mil Substance Laminate and it cut right through it with only a minor adjustment.
Thanks to Phil at Airmark (he is on here often as a merchant) for directing me to the right blade for super thick work.
So, I got home and loaded up the new blade and, well, it didn't work. I saw it work, so I knew it worked.
Called Tech again. He went through a few things and still nothing.
So we factory reset the machine.
Apparently my Configuration One setting was corrupt. The reset apparently/maybe fixed that.
Now off to see if I can cut my job.
I did drool on the Summa flatbed that was there
On their Summa S2T160, the "45 degree dual wedge" knife cut through easily both my 3mil/10mil(substance lam) for a 13 mil total.
We also loaded up the very thick stuff: 6mil Substance vinyl and 15mil Substance Laminate and it cut right through it with only a minor adjustment.
Thanks to Phil at Airmark (he is on here often as a merchant) for directing me to the right blade for super thick work.
So, I got home and loaded up the new blade and, well, it didn't work. I saw it work, so I knew it worked.
Called Tech again. He went through a few things and still nothing.
So we factory reset the machine.
Apparently my Configuration One setting was corrupt. The reset apparently/maybe fixed that.
Now off to see if I can cut my job.
I did drool on the Summa flatbed that was there
autoexebat
New Member
Cool deal , but I'm still willing to bet it didn't work out too good . The 6/16 setup is almost impossible
GiveUsSigns
New Member
Ya, we still have issues cutting the thick stuff. The slivering from the cut is clogging up the knife and getting into the rollers of the cutter head.
I really think the best and most efficient way to cut this stuff is with a flatbed.
autoexebat
New Member
It's the only way , Issue is these sellers will swear by the machine working and cutting this thick stuff correctly. I've know 3 people now who was trying to cut the thicker material and it failed . I did however get mine to work once with an off brand 12mil lamination but when it moved accost the sheet from part to part , the blade left a deep scratch on the other parts , yeah it cut it , but after that it went right to the garbage as you can't send that stuff to a customer.
Summa is super accurate for sure , but don't believe when dealers tell you it will work ( I learned my lesson )
I do actually have an idea for you to try if you become desperate enough , shoot me a PM and I will give you my #
Summa is super accurate for sure , but don't believe when dealers tell you it will work ( I learned my lesson )
I do actually have an idea for you to try if you become desperate enough , shoot me a PM and I will give you my #
Can't agree more with autoexebat, we struggled with the same material on Summa S and tried everything. Luckily it was a deal where the customer supplied material on his cost, otherwise I'd bee totally broke by now. Since we got the Summa F flatbed things has been cutting like a dream so sorry to tell you this but you will struggle with this material on any roll cutter. A lot.
autoexebat
New Member
Agreed . I just wish the dealers who sold these machine would be HONEST and told you this before you buy the machine and waste tons of money destroying expensive material. When I bought mine I told the dealer exactly what I do , material thickness , and the length of materiel I gut . They even called Summa directly to verify I wouldn't have any issues.
After hours with tech support , going back and forth I gave up .... I am partly to blame as I was hesitant to begin with but usually when I have people swearing to me it will work .... I tried .
You have to either use a flatbed , or a heated printer like I have and cut short distances .
GiveUsSigns
New Member
Funny. Exactly my situation. I told the salesman what I was cutting and the thickness and all that, and he swore it will cut just fine. The salesman has gone beyond to help me make this work, but, well, after two weeks of fails and hours on the phone with tech guys, we made some progress, and found out my initial machine had bad hardware, we marched onward. I still have have those accuracy issues with the longer cuts, but I am not quite sure what my length max to slowly fail is at this point. And yes, It gets expensive to find out after 60", it fails. The adjustments I have made have helped, but I am still not 100% confident at this point.
I just wish the Summa Flatbed wasn't so costly, but, it does open more doors to cut more stuff and accuracy is not an issue. So here we are. Guess I am at the crossroads here. Salesman said he would take my ST back and apply it to a Flatbed and make me a deal that would help out. So, We'll see where I head here in the next 5 days.
autoexebat
New Member
I'm holding off on a flatbed as long as I can as I am home based and my sales won't justify a flatbed at all ! Even if the flatbed was 20k it still wouldn't justify my buying one . I'm almost betting you could build one like a CNC table , but no idea how accurate it would be.
Here is one for a lot less , but I bet you already saw this
https://www.ebay.com/i/264737263851...avcaWPmyyQOL1DhQv1UUiw0wpe_U79dcaAheGEALw_wcB
Here is one for a lot less , but I bet you already saw this
https://www.ebay.com/i/264737263851...avcaWPmyyQOL1DhQv1UUiw0wpe_U79dcaAheGEALw_wcB
GiveUsSigns
New Member
Funny, I was litteraly watching this video before I checked my mail and got the notify that there was a post and behold, you posted the same video I was watching. Small world.
And that is how the cut should be. Clean. All the way through. Pick up the cut piece. Done. It just looks too easy.
autoexebat
New Member
Before that Split used a Graphtec vinyl cutter converted to a table mount . The flatbed you see there you can find on ebay ... but damn , with no tech support I'd almost be scared to try it ! It's not like you can ship it back to China .
https://www.ebay.com/itm/150cmx90cm...196060?hash=item1f12ba765c:g:WM4AAOSwkc5fAuYH
https://www.ebay.com/itm/150cmx90cm...196060?hash=item1f12ba765c:g:WM4AAOSwkc5fAuYH
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XtremeXccessories
New Member
We've had this issue several times over the years when cutting thicker material (including Substance). One thing you can do to help is to tape a corex extension to the bottom of the plotter. It helps it not bow as much when running through the machine, it lays flatter.
GiveUsSigns
New Member
I rigged up a double table system on both sides of my S2T... they are smaller tables, but work well. I also now keep my sheet length to really no more than 50" or so, to also help alleviate the
bowing issues on the thicker 10mil lam and thickerer 15mil lam projects. The other issue with the super durably heavy Substance stuff is it seems to want to surface scratch as the cutters moves around the work, but with the table set up and shorter lengths, it seems to have alleviated almost all of that issue.
But I do notice that the substance laminate does scratch pretty issue, just surface scratching, but is somewhat noticeable. Some clients are like... why are there all these little scratches in there.... Substance even seems to have some surface scratching right out of the box and going across the laminator. It's good stuff, but a bit sensitive.. But, all good.
That setup seems to work better, but still have the issues with the 15mil lam cutting precisely on my S2T.
I think I am going to a small flatbed for that heavy offroad work and still utilize my S2T for most of my work. That would seem to be the best combo, but if the flatty does it all, really no reason to have both I guess.
Anyhow... It has been frustrating the last 5-6 weeks.
Chaos
bowing issues on the thicker 10mil lam and thickerer 15mil lam projects. The other issue with the super durably heavy Substance stuff is it seems to want to surface scratch as the cutters moves around the work, but with the table set up and shorter lengths, it seems to have alleviated almost all of that issue.
But I do notice that the substance laminate does scratch pretty issue, just surface scratching, but is somewhat noticeable. Some clients are like... why are there all these little scratches in there.... Substance even seems to have some surface scratching right out of the box and going across the laminator. It's good stuff, but a bit sensitive.. But, all good.
That setup seems to work better, but still have the issues with the 15mil lam cutting precisely on my S2T.
I think I am going to a small flatbed for that heavy offroad work and still utilize my S2T for most of my work. That would seem to be the best combo, but if the flatty does it all, really no reason to have both I guess.
Anyhow... It has been frustrating the last 5-6 weeks.
Chaos
autoexebat
New Member
Don't give up , Find a way to add some heat and it will glide though the material like butter . My Roland cut's all of this material at 120 Degrees F . Perfect cuts and no issues .
Longest piece I ever cut on the summa was 54" I still have it sitting off to the side ... Maybe I should get it out and do more testing before I toss it in the trash.