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• Summa Vinyl Cutter

Asset 12 Folson Vinyl Cutter

Foison C-24 Vinyl Cutter Setup instructions. SignTools Settings After installing CorelDRAW the next step is to install SignTools. Follow the instructions on 4 and 5 of the SignTools 4 User Guide.

Risks

• Keep hair/loose clothing clear of the rollers
• Check for signs of damage to the case or frayed cables

Uses

The vinyl cutter is used to cut self-adhesive designs of various patterns (typically text and logos) to be stuck on to a workpiece. For more advanced usage it could also be used to make stencils for chemical processes or paint.

• Signs
• Iron on T-Shirts
• Stencils for etching or paint

Preparing the design

Prepare the design in Inkscape.

• Set the document properties to units of mm (milimetres) - this will avoid confusion!
• Draw the design actual size. Obviously fill and colour don't matter, it only cuts outlines.
• If the design includes text, use the 'Path -> Object to path' option in Inkscape to make paths. This applies also to any other object which is not a path.
• Ungroup everything before cutting (Inkcut doesn't like groups)
• Orientation - the cutter will cut ALONG the roll by default. This is not usually what you want for small pieces (width < 500mm). So rotate it 90 deg. If creating a very large design (e.g. 500mm high text), then leave the design 'the right way up'.
• Once everything is drawn and made into ungrouped paths, use the Inkcut extension.

Setting up the machine

• Turn it on
• Ensure connected
• Loading vinyl - make sure that the feed clamps are clamped in appropriate places. (Feed in vinyl from the back)
• Setting cut pressure - this is the parameter 'p=' shown on the cutter screen. Set it so it cuts through the vinyl but not the backing. Use 'test' button to check.
• Setting the origin - set the origin to the buttom RIGHT corner of the working area, not the bottom left!
  • Offline the cutter
  • Position the cutter head using the arrow buttons (Do not try to move manually)
  • When in correct position, press the 'zero' button
  • Put cutter back online

To test the machine, the 'test' button cuts a small rectangle. You can use this to check (e.g. on newly loaded stock) that it's cutting through the vinyl cleanly

• Connection via USB in Linux, means the device is probably /dev/ttyUSB0.
• Make sure that the serial baud rate is set to the same on the PC in Inkcut, as on the front panel menu. (see Tech Details below)
• Ensure you have read/write permissions to /dev/ttyUSB0, this can be done by running sudo chmod 777 /dev/ttyUSB0

Applying vinyl to workpiece

There is a roll of 'transfer film' which is 'sticky but not too sticky' somewhere.

• Prepare (clean, dry, lay out etc) the workpiece.
• Cut the vinyl to size with scissors etc.
  • You can 'weed' out the unwanted pieces at this stage, or manually remove them from the workpiece afterwards.
• Cleanly stick the transfer film to the top of the vinyl.
• The tricky part - now remove the backing from the vinyl, you should be left with the self-adhesive stuck to the transfer film.
• Stick the vinyl to your workpiece!
• Enjoy!

Tech details

Windows (USB Tested and working with Inkscape)

• Forget about Inkcut plugin, Inkscape will cut directly.
• Install drivers from http://www.microcontrols.org/arduino-uno-clone-ch340-ch341-chipset-usb-drivers/ (These work in Win10)
• Alt driver location https://github.com/HobbyComponents/CH340-Drivers
• Turn the printer on, ''then'' plug usb in
• Find Com# in device manager
• In Inkscape
  • rotate your text to correct orientation, path>objects to path, right click and ungroup
  • Click Extensions>Export>Plot...
    • Set com# and baud 38400, when printer is zero'd and online then click apply and it should start cutting.

Linux (untested)

The cutter shows up as a standard USB<->RS-232 converter cable, and talks HP-GL.

The best software for printing (From Linux at least) is [http://inkcut.sourceforge.net/ InkCut] an InkScape extension. Simple convert stroke to paths, select what you want, and Extensions->Cutter / Plotter->InkCut. Click the 'Properties' top-right to set the correct serial port (probably /dev/ttyUSB0) and speed (defaults to 38400, but you can set it via the menu button and LCD on the cutter).

Old info (Ignore this and use USB, it works with above instructions)

There are two physical interfaces on the cutter;

• RS-232This requires a standards compliant serial interface. Most USB-Serial adapters are 5v whereas the Foison requires one operating at 12v minimum

• USBWindows requires the 'CH341SER' driver to be installed. After much coaxing, unplugging and plugging in, a Windows Vista laptop found and installed the driver which then appears as a COM port. This can be driven programmatically using Python and the PySerial package but we have yet to find a printer setup that will recognise and drive this interface.

Summa Vinyl Cutter

This Python snippet worked for the Cutter's USB interface set up in Windows as COM 7;