Expierence with using Pen Plotter for a Vinyl cutter?

LOL... oops.. I meant converted a pen plotter to a Vinyl cutter by replacing one of the pins with a cutter.

- Mike

And, Google was of no help to you?

"Michael Kennedy" hath wroth:

I've done it. I just crammed in a swivel knife into the pen holder and started cutting. No big deal except for making a knife mount adapter. The biggest headache was the paper feed. The rock hard rollers on the plotter would either slip on the smooth vinyl or leave tread marks when I cranked up the pressure. I finally ended up machining a set of replacement soft rubber rollers.

The nice thing about pen plotters is that nobody wants them in these days of large inkjet plotters. I don't have any photos as I sold the plotters for a handsome profit. Nice project for turning junk pen plotters that nobody wants into $$$$$.

I gave up on steel blades as I was always sharpening them. Trying to keep the tip centered was also a challenge when sharpening. I switched to ceramic knife blades and never sharpened again. There's also ruby blades, but they're expensive.

Google finds several articles on converting a pen plotter into a vinyl cutter.

Jeff Liebermann wrote: The biggest headache was the paper feed. The rock hard

If the rollers are rubber, clean with alcohol (NOT rubbing alcohol) and then wipe lightly with glycerin. They will grip like hell, but won't stick Regards Lee in Toronto

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Thanks for the tip.. That sound really usefull for more than just this application..

- Mike

Lee hath wroth:

I also fix laser printers (as a sideline), which are full of rubber rollers. I gave up on alcohols because they "dry" the rollers. The glycerin is suppose to re-oil the rubber, but I find that it just sits on the surface and doesn't last.

Instead, I use what I think is an acetone based "rubber restorer".

Glycerin will dry up from the heat in laser printers! I use the rubber restorer as well and have to use in good ventilation and with a mask because it will trigger an asthma attack, but that stuff really works.

Regards Lee in Toronto

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The good ones rotate the cutter along with the direction of the cut, so many pen plotters can't be used for the purpose.

Michael Kennedy wrote:

X-Acto makes (or made) some "following cutter" blades, specifically for cutting strippable film. I'll bet you could hack one of those to work in a plotter.

Isaac

Jeff Liebermann spake thus:

Yes; that same stuff is used by printers as "rubber rejuvenator". Available at larger graphic-arts supply houses. And yes, it has all kinds of nasty shit in it that you really don't want to breathe. But it works wonders on rubber rollers and offset blankets. I used to use it to remove caked, dried ink from rollers and make them look (and work) like new.