My cut paths are getting smoothed out too much!

AlexCali

Hey everyone, it's me again! I feel so stupid but I've got an issue I cannot figure out for the life of me. I changed the blade on my cutter and now the paths are getting smoothed out or smushed or something, I don't quite know how to describe it.

If you look at the dinosaur on the left, the spines are cut too rounded. For the one on the right, I printed the red cut line to hopefully show the discrepancy better. It's like the cut isn't going deep enough in the path?

Since the only thing that changed is replacing the blade (I *did* recalibrate just in case, but nothing changed), I figure it either has something to do with the blade offset, which is 0.25 according to the blade package, or maybe the pressure? But I've tried adjusting both and I don't notice a difference

Any help would be much appreciated!

SandyMcC

The Blade Offset apparently is not 0.25, so try increasing it to, say, 0.35 and trying a cut. Although, the best way to determine your Blade Offset it to just cut a series of squares with each one different by 0.05.  Thus, you could try 0.30, 035, 0.40 and compare them.  If the corners are still too rounded, increase again. If you start to see little pokey things sticking out at the corner, the Blade Offset is too high.   

AlexCali

Although, the best way to determine your Blade Offset it to just cut a series of squares with each one different by 0.05

That is super helpful and now I'm pretty sure the correct offset is 0.65 (instead of 0.25), as the corners of the squares started getting pokey things at 0.70. Unfortunately, the cuts are identical for the spines Which is weird they would be the same when the offset more than doubled. Is this an offset issue or an issue with how MTC is processing the paths?

AlexCali

If the blade offset is more than double what the package rates it at, should I just assume the blade is defective and chuck it? I can't believe what a difference a blade change made, especially when they're from the same company and batch

SandyMcC

Were you cutting this exact same design with your old blade?  I mean... MTC wouldn't change how it processes data from one blade to the next.  So, I don't think that's it. There MIGHT be an issue with a belt starting to loosen on your cutter and that's causing a bit of sloppiness in the cut.  But at the same time, a Blade Offset of 0.65 is incredibly high. I wouldn't throw out the blade necessarily.  I assume it's a red cap 45 degree blade?  What cutter do you own?

AlexCali

Installed the last blade I have and went through the offset procedure again (got 0.40 this time around) and now everything seems to be working 🥳 that other blade must be a dud, which is a shame considering how pricey they are. Ah well, c'est la vie.

Liz_A

@AlexCali - glad you resolved this. For sure that blade was not right. Remember, MTC receives no intelligence from your cutter, it just uses settings you chose, and if it doesn't work for the cutter, MTC is none the wiser!!! MTC relies on the user to know what they are doing .

SandyMcC

@AlexCali sending you a PM