I've had a 28" cutter for a month or 2 now. I noticed the blades can be pricey. Do you sharpen them? Only if you have the skills/tools (I do) to do it right?
If there's anyone out there that's tossing out dull Roland compatible blades give me a call
I'm also wondering... is it possible to rig up a swivel head pounce wheel onto the plotter, with a soft cutting strip? I think plotting and pouncing by hand over the lines will get old fast. But for now it sure beats drawing by hand AND pouncing by hand.
Posted by Dale Feicke (Member # 767) on :
Hi Lee, There are companies out there who sharpen used blades, but I don't know if it is cost-effective or not, when you figure in time delays, shipping, etc. I don't think you'll have any luck doing it yourself.....tough stuff, these blades. It would seem to me that some type of pounce wheel could be made up...did you contact Roland? I've personally wished for the same thing. My Ioline has this stupid "bounce-pounce" feature, where the pounce tool is a sharp pointed thing that jumps up and down, poking holes thru the outlines on the paper. It works, but is slow, and at times catches the paper and rips it to shreds. You have to stay right there with it and catch it when it starts acting up, or you've got trouble. At any rate, hand pouncing, like you said, is easier than doing the whole process. I have some Roland blades that I "inherited" from some stuff I got from another defunct shop. I believe they are new. If you'll send me a part number or description, I'll send them to you. I have no use for them.
Posted by Lee Kembel (Member # 7577) on :
Hey, thanks Dale.
I did some reading on plotter pounces... have yet to see a package available though, I'll contact roland. It sure would be nice to plot pounce at once.
If that's what you have, I'd be really grateful if you sent them my way. Especially if they're 60 degree blades, as I want to expirement with sandblast resist.
Posted by Lee Kembel (Member # 7577) on :
I just had a close look at my cutter blade, looks like it would be easy to sharpen. When it dulls I'll try making a guide by drilling a hole in a block of wood to set the angle, but it looks like a simple double bevel. Very small, but for the price of them it seems like it's worthwhile to sit down for 10 minutes and sharpen a handful of blades.
Posted by Curtis hammond (Member # 2170) on :
Sorry, Those blades are tipped with carbide.. That means any old grinder is not goona do it. It takes a green stone wheel to cut carbide. Then the edges are polished to shine. Then the offset is critical. It will take a jig to hold these blades not some block of wood. Then you have to use collant lubricant at the same time. If this could be done using wood and just 10 minutes then all of us would be doing our own. Personally, I hardly ever change my blades.. they last through multiple hundreds of feet of vinyl.
[ May 05, 2007, 02:58 PM: Message edited by: Curtis hammond ]
Posted by Graham Parsons (Member # 1129) on :
Lee,
Remember that in most plotters, the actual length of the blade has some bearing on cut depths - regrinding may have an impact on this. The condition of the blade is so critical to a nice cut, I don't think it's worth the risk. They should last a long time - as Curtis said - hundreds and hundreds of feet of vinyl. Where are you getting replacements from?
Posted by Dale Feicke (Member # 767) on :
Like we said earlier, Lee, sharpening these blades is a major deal. They are not only sharpened; they are polished too. Take an old X-acto knife blade and "sharpen" it with a sheet of 180 grit sandpaper or a coarse metal file. Then try to cut some strips of vinyl with it. Most likely, it will grab the vinyl and tear it.
The EBay picture you sent me looks like the ones I have, although I believe they are all 45 degrees. There are a couple of types though. If you want them, they're yours.
Posted by Patrick Whatley (Member # 2008) on :
Lee, we run two plotters that cut almost all day, every day. We only change our blades about every six months. They're only $15, which is damn cheap.
Buy a new blade and be happy.
Posted by Frank Smith (Member # 146) on :
I'm surprised you guys don't all use Bits & Bits to resharpen your blades. They also sell new ones.
Posted by Lee Kembel (Member # 7577) on :
Ah, I see. Thanks guys, glad I didn't waste any real time trying
Dale, that's kind of you, I'll send you an email.
Posted by mark zilliox (Member # 3873) on :
B&Bits, i use them. good service & turn around. yeah,we can afford new ones, that's not why we use re-sharpening vendors. i need to weed vinyl to be competitive, but despise the process-it's unchallenging & monotonous,so sharp blades on hand make for easy "painless" weeding. generally we send about 1/2 doz @ a time to BB.
take care all !
Posted by Ian Stewart-Koster (Member # 3500) on :
You can get new ones on ebay... There's a company in USA, the name escapes me, with a reputation for new blades at a great price and with better than original longevity. A few aussies have bought them and love them. I've sent blades away locally and they were ruined- some degree of sharpening happened, but no polishing- absolutely rough when looked at with a decent loupe. I've touched up a few when I was deperate, using a small fine diamond impregnated honing file, and the blade clamped in a vice, and that was OK, but you can alter the offset and make your work harder if you're not careful. It was a worthwhile learning process, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but an enthusiast of the steel & honing subjects.
Posted by Laurie Corl (Member # 5324) on :
I used some off brand bits in my Graphtec plotter. They wore out the blade holder bearing. I took a look at the bearing end compared to a Graphtec blade. They were all pitted where the Graphtec blades were smooth polished. My Graphtec bladed lasts 6 months or better and I haven't had to by a new blade holder since I quit using the off brand blades.
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