by Peggy Elliott, Marketing
Like your heat press, your vinyl cutter should be kept free of dust and debris. If you want the cutting and weeding process to be smooth and effortless for your employees, begin a routine maintenance plan.
- Use a vacuum to suck up dust and/or frequently wipe your cutter down with a damp rag. Dust and debris, if allowed to collect, can interfere with the motor, get stuck on the material you are cutting, collect in the blade holder and interfere with the pinch rollers.
- Are you experiencing inconsistent cutting results with your heat transfer vinyl? Take time to make sure you have the right cutting guidelines for the materials you use. Post a chart on the wall that shows these settings and train the person operating your cutter on the importance of making adjustments whenever they change out materials. It will help you save money by reducing material waste.
- Cutter protection strips are an essential accessory to achieve consistent cuts every time, but they don’t last forever. The small investment in replacing them will save you money in the long run with error-free work.
- Blades…very important. Are you using the right blade? Has cutting become difficult? Is the blade cutting through the material like butter? Is the blade skipping across the material? Flock blade, sign vinyl blade, carbide blade, twill blade, popcorn shrimp…oh sorry, gotta love Bubba! Make sure you are using the appropriate blade and if you cut certain materials often, replace the blade once you start experiencing poor performance.
Last tip…perform test cuts! This takes a few minutes and only utilizes a couple square inches of material. I can’t tell you how many people have let their cutter run though a roster of team names, then found out through the weeding process that they never cut through completely.
You know the old adage, measure twice, cut once! Moral of the story? Waste not, want not!