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summa s2 t160 - leaving vinyl "shavings"

ml4cs

New Member
Hey there, I had to change the blade in my summa s2 t160 and I thought I had it tuned in a cutting well, now it is leavings what I would call vinyl shavings in the cut and not cutting corners crisp, I used a clean cut 60 degree blade cutting oracal 651, i have never had this issue before on this machine or the D series I have. I have adjusted and adjusted and adjusted the blade height up and down, the force up and down, I had it cutting great yesterday, then today back to the same issue. not sure where to go next with this

Thanks
 

Saturn

Aging Member
First thing I would do is check the blade tip with a little $13 magnifier.

Second thing is the Origin setting - Page 56-59 of the manual. Trial and error may be required, as the test doesn't really go that far in helping to narrow things down. On a tangential, if the Origin is too far off the cut quality can be poor.

For a single pass on just 651 you shouldn't be getting this at all, so something is definitely wonky. You also could probably get away with the OEM 36° or 45° vs the 60°, which would maybe be more forgiving.
 

ml4cs

New Member
Saturn, thanks for the info, I checked the tip with an less powerful magnifier but one that I had(ordered the one you linked), and I could not tell anything different from a new blade, regardless I changed the bade, solved the problem. Crazy, maybe I cut 5 ft of vinyl with that other new blade, it must have had a flaw. I ran the origin setting test before I changed the blade and I couldn't even use it, it was just tearing stuff up and not cutting into the corners. I have not ever had that issue with a clean cut blade before, maybe I should use OEM and save some dough as these cost $22
 

Saturn

Aging Member
Yeah, I'd guess a lot of people have problems they can't overcome because the tip is actually chipped. The magnifier saves you chasing your tail at the very least.

I actually have a burn-in file I do now on new blades that involves just lightly cutting vinyl for 10-15 minutes—before I extend it deep enough to hit the backing paper, and then full die-cuts. Seems like they're at their most fragile (and likely to break) when they're brand new and the tip is as sharp as can be.
 

karst41

New Member
You are in the printing and Sign Business and you MUST Have a Loupe.
Get one of these on Amazon it will become your life long pal. is less that $10 so no excuses.
 

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