summa s2 t160 - leaving vinyl "shavings"

[ml4cs]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.