Summa S2 T series plotter question

[gabagoo]

I had my new plotter for about 2 weeks when it was discovered that the mechanism that allow you to adjust the blade was jammed and the entire head had to be swapped out for a new one. In that 2 week period before I even knew there was an issue I was cutting 3 ml vinyl with 3 ml lam at about 135 grams pressure, but the blade was sticking out way too much. It weeded everything great, so now I have the new head assembly and I know with this tangential blade I have to just allow enough blade exposed to basically cut through the lam and vinyl. I have done that but now I have weight pressure way up at 170 and even then the weeding is difficult. I wanted to get some feedback from other users of this plotter as to what weights they are using to cut and just how exposed is that blade. I am wondering if the blade they supplied is ruined because it was out so far for those initial 2 weeks.

 

[brdesign]

I had my new plotter for about 2 weeks when it was discovered that the mechanism that allow you to adjust the blade was jammed and the entire head had to be swapped out for a new one. In that 2 week period before I even knew there was an issue I was cutting 3 ml vinyl with 3 ml lam at about 135 grams pressure, but the blade was sticking out way too much. It weeded everything great, so now I have the new head assembly and I know with this tangential blade I have to just allow enough blade exposed to basically cut through the lam and vinyl. I have done that but now I have weight pressure way up at 170 and even then the weeding is difficult. I wanted to get some feedback from other users of this plotter as to what weights they are using to cut and just how exposed is that blade. I am wondering if the blade they supplied is ruined because it was out so far for those initial 2 weeks.

that's a good possibility that running the blade too far out could have dulled it, or chipped the tip of the blade, look at the blade tip under a magnifying glass to get a better idea of it's condition.

 

[Saturn]

+1 for a little magnifier. My blades rarely chip unexpectedly, but it does happen. This is what I use to check every time the blade goes in or comes out for any reason.

For the tangential it's almost more about the extension than the pressure. I run 99% of things as laminated contour/die-cut stuff, so when I need to just kiss-cut something the only adjustment I often make is to rotate the blade in a third of a turn (taking note of where it was beforehand) and leave the pressure at the usual 300-400g I use for contour cutting. Since the tangential has the little bearings on the tip it prevents you from going deeper by weight alone (more or less.)

The pressure and extension required to get the same results as a fresh blade will increase a bit during "wear in".

If you're not cutting through the paper you should get a LONG life from each blade, but I'd still want to keep a few extra on hand, even at OEM prices.