USCutter

US Cutter Vinyl Cutter

What is it?

This is a vinyl cutter that can cut vinyl or paper to make signs, stickers, iron-ons and other art work.

It's located near the GlowForge and connects to the GlowForge's PC with a USB cable.

Use the 'Sure Cuts A Lot' software to prepare files to be sent to the USCutter. It can import SVG files from your favorite vector editor e.g., Inkscape etc.

What can it do?

It can cut vinyl stickers, iron-ons or paper. Vinyl sheets cannot be cut in the laser cutter because to the toxic/caustic fumes that can harm equipment and people. So, this vinyl cutter is the ideal tool to cut intricate designs in vinyl. See this demo video and see the USCutter Gallery.

How do I get started?

Play with the Sure Cuts A Lot software on the PC. Until this wiki is updated with more details, contact our resident experts, Sam Green or Jim Fred. Ping them on BaseCamp. We have a ink-pen insert to use, instead of a cutter, to test cuts (actually plots) on scrap paper.

Details

• Instruction videos:
  • Siser Heat Transfer Vinyl Overview (<2 min).
  • Hints and Tips for New Vinyl Cutter Users (1 hr 15 min).
  • Setting Up Your Blade & Pen Carriage.
  • Sure Cuts A Lot videos
• user manual.

Cutter Settings

• 2019-08-04, Jim Fred, Siser (pronounced SEEZer) heat transfer vinyl, black, about $10 per roll at Michaels. force=200g, speed=50mm/s. Gotchas: first cut was on the wrong side. I reversed the image on the computer (necessary for iron-ons) but cut the backing rather than the vinyl. 100g was too light. Didn't play with speed. Had troubles cutting off the edge of the sides - insufficient margin. Also had some problems with vinyl 'bunching/wrinkling'. Composed image (just text) in Sir Cuts A Lot pro. Sam's google sheet