How to Properly Setup a Blade Holder and Blade 

Hi Diana, De nada. ¡Hola en Costa Rica! Me alegro de que el video haya sido útil.. :)

I would go with the 45 degree blade since this is not a thicker material. Generally a 45 degree blade will do just fine. Also it depends of what 'intricate' is exactly. I believe about 1/8th of an inch is pushing it. Are these the very curvy and fancy text for cursive initials? If so then you can use the 60 degree blade as it has less contact with the vinyl and just enough to cut it. You can get intricate with a 45 degree blade to an extent. Slow the speed down as well if you have a lot of curves.

Hi Harry. Sure, that makes sense. You actually do not have to worry. The top of the blade spins in a magnetic holder that is on the inside of the blade holder. It automatically spins in the direction of travel by the carriage movement that holds the blade holder. So you don't need to set the blade in any direction.

@@TheWorkBench Thank you!! Much appreciated

@@harry9937 You're very welcome.

I apologize for the lateness here. In this case you can try replacing the carriage control board which is the green board at the top of the carriage. I believe USCutter would have more of those boards in stock. You can try that first. Otherwise, as long as you have a warranty you can replace the cutter if the carriage control board does not work.

I opened the side with the motor. Three washers fell N out and I dont know where they came from. Can you help?

Hi Mediaman, I believe when you state that the cutter is cutting only a straight line this means that when you have a design and hit 'cut' the cutter only moves the carriage left to right and the whole design is being cut only left to right so it starts to shred the vinyl after a point. This normally would mean that the front to back motion by the feed rollers does not work either because of the motherboard, a failed motor (rare), a loose motor plugin, a bad wire pulled out from the plug itself or a ribbon cable that goes to the motherboard from a dock board is bad. What cutter model and make do you have? You can also test the cutter itself by going into offline mode if you have it and then run the carriage left to right and then the feed rollers front to back. If all of this works without any issue this is good. It is possible that the feed roller that attaches underneath is loose. You can turn the cutter off and then with your fingers move the feed roller bar front to back. Check to make sure that the whole bar going across the cutter moves together. If one side moves and the other side does not then the screws in the feed roller bar, normally on the left, middle and right ends of the feed roller need adjusting or tightened. If you send a job to the cutter and literally the design is only being cut/plotted (with pen) in a straight line and the feed rollers have no issue then it could be the driver for the cutter needs to be installed/reinstalled. Finally, it is possible that the graphic you have needs to be vectored completely or that the layers that the cutting program sees can present the same symptom as a bad motor/motherboard etc. See if you can use another graphic to test that out. Would it be possible to make a short video of what it is doing and post it, if nothing here helps?

Hi Mark. When the blade holder is fully installed and properly seated into the arm of the carriage the blade should never be touching the teflon cutting strip. This means that the blade needs to go into the blade holder and barely be sticking out at the blades tip. The vinyl cutters carriage arm will then make the blade holder go up and down during cutting. So there's never a need to have the blade almost completely out of the blade holder. Another trick that you can do is to place the blade all the way into the blade holder and then turn the adjuster knob (silver mainly) until the tip is barely out. You can then feel the blade with your finger tip gently. You should feel that the tip is just barely out of the blade holder. Then you can lock the blade into position by turning the gold locking knob so that there is no more movement of the blade inside the blade holder. Always use some scrap vinyl if you have it to test the pressure and that the vinyl is cut without the blade going through the paper backing of the vinyl carrier. A little indentation is ok. I hope this helps. Please write back if you need more assistance. Also, if more information is needed please let me know which cutter you are working with.

@@TheWorkBench thank you for replying so I understand about the blade in the holder now. As for the holder sitting in the arm, how far up should that holder be from the white strip? should I be able to slide a piece of paper under it with some resistance or something like that? I hope Im explaining this right.

@@Mark-cj9ju Hi Mark. I believe what may be happening is that you have a vinyl cutter which you can either place the blade holder in the top portion of the carriage arm or just under the arm so it appears that you need to lower the blade holder. But this is not the case. I would still like to know which vinyl cutter you have because each vinyl cutter has a different carriage arm. If there is some resistance and the carriage arm stays down when cutting this is not right. If the cutter when turned off the carriage arm comes up but when turned on, the arm stays down. There are 2 cutters that I can think of that might do this. The MHMK2 and Laser Point 2 cutter. The MH cutter has a connection on the motherboard that needs to possibly be turned around. The laser Point 2 may need a carriage adjustment so that the arm smoothly goes up and down properly. Normally, the blade holder is always up until the cutter starts cutting. MHMK2 carriage arm stays down video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UBvm2J5kNZc.html Laser Point 2 Carriage Adjustment: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QIthlE1-5NA.html At this point, this is what I believe it is without knowing which vinyl cutter you have. Please let me know if these 2 links do not help.

@@TheWorkBench the plotter I have is like this ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-o0trUfv9auI.html

@@Mark-cj9ju Mark, that indeed is the MHMK2 vinyl cutter. If it arrived like this try the video link for the MH cutter. If the blade stays down because of the arm, the video should solve the issue. Take both the power and USB cables out before trying the steps.

Hi Stivi, You don't really have to tap the blade into the holder. You can guide the blade in and just apply a very very little bit of pressure to make sure that the blade is seated fully inside. Its more of using a surface to secure the blade inside instead of your finger. I have seen people push it in with thier finger tips and accidentally cut themselves. Once the blade is inside the holder the smll magnet inside holds the blade and the part of the blade thats inside the holder will turn 360 automatically in the direction of the carriage.

Hi Israel, I would first see if you can use a pen on the back of the sandblast backing. Normally theres paper. I would then use the pen tool in order to check and see if the pen is also closing the lines or it starts going off. I would then use a 60 feress blade or the blue capped blade. Its supposed to be less friction. Try to make sure that the vinyl feeds as straight as it can out of the vinyl cutter. You can run the legth of the job that you need through to see how it does. If the vinyl lines up but has a slsight angle, the lines wont connnect possibly or become further apart. Make sure that the feed rollers are not loose becuase that could cause misalignment too. I believe that in the settings of Vinyl Master there is a way you can tell the software whata blacde you are using and there will be a test of say A-G and 0-10, then you have to choose the row and column of the best looking, closed lettering. Alsogo to the ARMS controller and have the cutter seelf-calibrate (I think this is only Titan 3 I forget). Make sure that the blade holder is tight and secure, then place it into the carriage arm and tighten it down but not too tight, it can break. Depending on the sandblast material and shape you're cutting, try to have a slower speed. If you are getting a good cut you can lessen the pressure too and have the blade out just over the thickness of the material.

@@TheWorkBench ok ill check all that out, Thank you

Hi Louise, normally if you are cutting thicker stock of paper you will want to use a 60 degree blade as it is longer and more narrow in order to cut through. You can still use a 45 degree blade if you have too possibly with a little more blade out and adjusting the pressure according to which cutter that you have can also help. (Some cutters 100 pressure is normal while 50 works for another). Keep in mind that these blades that come with the unit are the regular simple blades and will work fine but there are better blades that are thicker and more durable such as the Greenstar blades. These are harder and meant to endure if this is a daily task for the cutter. www.uscutter.com/GreenStar-Premium-Roland-Compatible-Blades-60Degree-3Pack

Hi Justin, When you place the blade into the blade holder the blade part is facing downward. You will see on the opposite end of the blade that there is a more cone shaped end but not the blade side, this cone shaped end goes into the hole of the blade holder and when inserting the blade this way you should hear a slight click. This is because there is a magnet that is holding the blade inside the center of the blade holder. Since the end you insert is a more cone shape inside, the blade below actually automatically rotates as it is pulled or dragged by the carriage. It happens so fast that there is no issue with cutting the vinyl. Normally when you get your pack of blades, they will have small plastic caps of the blade area warning you that it is sharp and to also let you know which blade type/angle type you are using. Normally blue indicates a 60 degree, yellow is a 30 degree blade and finally the red is a 45 degree blade which is more commonly used. If I did not fully help you, please let me know and I will see what I can do to further answer your question.

I have the vevor basic blade holder . What I mean when u put blade in before locking the blade . Which direction we point the any degree blade . Left right up or down

@@justinrolon4643 Hi Justin, I apologize for the late reply. The Vevor blade holder is the same as the one in the video here which is like the MH MK2 blade holder. You can go ahead and tighten the locking screw down without having to worry about placing in any direction. You will feel the the blade has gone all the way up into the holder. When the blade is sticking out of the bottom of the blade holder it should be very little, barely sticking out. However, you can have a little more blade out and less pressure. The top thumb screw will unlock the holder and normally the silver screw will set the depth. If you take the blade holder apart you can see the parts better to understand the 'up and down' or blade depth. For the directions left, right, backwards and forwards there is no setting. This is because the blade end/top/non-blade end, rotates on the cone shape inside of the holder so it always rotates to the direction of the carriage arm leading it to cut the vinyl. The blade itself does not lock into the holder as in locking it 'left or right' directionally. It freely spins inside and is held inside by the magnet. The only thing that you would have to worry about is how far the blade comes out of the blade holder. The type of vinyl/material that you cut depends on how much the blade will stick out of the blade holder and thickness of the material determines the blade angle that you will use. Most of the time you will use a 45 degree blade and others a 60 degree blade for cutting sandblast mask, heat transfer vinyl or a 30 degree blade for window tint. I hope this helps you out. Please let me know. I can try to make another video if needed.

Hi Feli. I apologize for my late reply. The best way is to start with the email: gaiusoctavious2021@gmail.com Let me know the model cutter/press, software and issue you are having. I will do my best to help. I may not be familiar with other models but they are usually close and could be figured out. I may also end up pointing you to the right place after troubleshooting so that you get the correct parts, manuals, instructions, 'how to' and other sources. This goes directly to me and I will get a notification right away.

Hi William. Which cutter are you using? If you are cutting Greenstar vinyl or regular siser easyweed say with an MH cutter the speed could be 300 and the pressure at 100. The blade in the blade holder should be barely sticking out of the end of the blade holder. Please let me know what cutter and material you are using. That way I can be much more specific to help you out.

@@TheWorkBench thanks for replying, yeah I have the AB-1350 cutter if I'm right. As for vinyl I'm not to sure I don't have glitter just white and black vinyl but I can't figure out what I am looking for its really annoying me.

@@williamtait7808 William, what company did you purchase the cutter from? I am looking for this model and I just found an AK-1350 but I need to be exactly sure what cutter you do have and the software too. Some cutters are slightly different. Are you needing to start from the absolute beginning with loading, settings, cutting, weeding? I believe you also might be trying to figure out the control panel for settings as well. Please don't forget the company purchased from, complete model.

@@TheWorkBench yeah it's a 28 inch vinyl cutter plotter. It came with sign master software I only just bought it of eBay I have been messing around with the program and cutter but I'm nearly finished a five metre roll of vinyl just trying to adjust the cutter. I won't do anymore cutting until I figure out how to cut properly. I been watching RU-vid videos like yours to try and learn about the cutter because it's frustrating right now.

@@TheWorkBench hope I answered your questions but the company I think is amazingitem in Hong Kong I think I have no idea I just bought it of eBay but sign master I thought was the company

This could be due to an overcut setting under 'Cut Options' in the Vinyl Spooler I believe that you can set the 'overcut' a bit higher and it should take care of any gaps. I think what you are refering to is what the blade taps then starts cutting or is the blade skipping at times within the cut? If the blade is dull it can catch the vinyl and create issues.

@@TheWorkBench the blade doesn't skip, it just punctures the vinyl where it starts, leaving holes all over the cut stencil. And just yesterday it won't cut the letters crisp. Looks like a total different font

@@israelgonzalez171 Hi Israel, It sounds lie this is blade offset that is deforming the font that you have chosen. The holes I am a little puzzled about. I think that I remember when the blade starts it does a tapping movement as its cutting. Try going into the Vinyl Spooler and chose Cut Options. Then make sure that you choose the correct blade you are using such as 45 or 60 degree blade then blade offset 2.5. You can also do the Calibration there. Its possible that the font might have come from a website and the program doesnt cut it very well. There is Dafont, 1001fonts .com websites to check too to see if you can get a better font. Try to also use the paper backing and pen to have the cutter plot out the design and see how that goes. You can flip over the vivnyl on other colors/types in order to use the pen tool on the backing.

@@TheWorkBench im using Flexi22 program to do my designs and cuts. The titan 2 is hook up to my pc windows 10. The fonts are the ones my computer have. I tried messing with the calibration on vinyl master and same results. I typed the offset so it will hit the center of the cross when I ran the test. Im going to call uscutter tomorrow, maybe they been asked this question. Maybe is a software malfunction. Only been using it for 5 months. Maybe is not an everyday cutter lol. Which cutter would you recommend for cutting vinyl???? Using flexi22 program

@@israelgonzalez171 Hi Israel, I was curious. Could you design something along the same times in Vinyl Master, then Flexi Sign. Keep the designs seperate and try to plot with the pen tool each programs design but using the 'cut' feature in each program. Beofre this each program has a Tian profile to choose. Theres also the 'Saga' profile, then there is the 'USCutter Titan' profile I believe. Its possible that the profile thats chosen per program may yeild a different result. In Vinyl Master make sure that you connect the USB and the software should recognize the cutter with a green check mark. Make sure that under 'Connection', 'Settings' that the USB port is actually chosen and not blank and is set to 'direct USB'. For Flexi its along the same route I believe. Make sure that the connection is also set and showing as USB xxxxxx. There may be multiple availible profiles. Be sure to plot or draw the designs that you create with each program onto the paper backing of the vinyl as if you will cut it but use the pen tool. These are a few other thoughts I had.The cutter is a very good cutter and can be used for a very long time normally without any issues.

Hi Ramcharun, This is very odd if configured correctly. It could be possible that you have adjusted the blade and inserted the blade holder into the carriage arm for cutting and you may not have tightened the gold adjuster that is on the blade holder to keep the proper/set blade depth. Which blade holder do you have?

@@TheWorkBench actually the artcut 6 software is saying "an unnamed file was not found"

@@ramcharunsanjana3041 Ah, there can be a few issues with this. Make sure that the cutter is properly added to the Artcut software, you need to make sure that the software sees that the cutter is on a COM port. Example: COM 2. Another issue if the cuter works with other files and cuts that the image brought in needs to be vectorized so that the program recognizes it to be cut. I am not as familiar with ArtCut but basically they all have a settings/output that you must configure in the software. I hope this helps. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-blmiN1lSwL8.html

Just checking in with you to see if everything is working good now and you have solved the issue.