Vinyl Cutter Quick Start Guide – Mimaki CG60-ST

I found this info on my computer and thought it may be helpful to some who have this cutter or will buy it used.  This unit is no longer being sold on the market as new, but there are quite a few out there in operation.  The manual is not the best in the world, so if you ever happen upon a Mimaki CG60-st cutter and need a quick start up guide – here you go.  For those who are subscribed, this post probably won’t help you, but had to get the info out there so I can delete it off my PC:)

How To Start with the Mimaki CG60-ST Vinyl Cutter.  Also known as the Piranha Cutter or Samurai. 

• Take your cutter out of the box.
• Attach the feet to the bottom of the cutter.
• Attach the roll holder onto the back of the unit.
• Place unit on a steady well supported table
• Connect the power cord
• Connect the interface cables using either a parallel cable or the provided serial cable.
• Turn the unit on.
• Once the unit is on
  • Make sure that your Sheet Set Lever is in the upward position (this lever is located on the right side of the cutting unit & raises/lowers your pinch rollers)
  • Now that your lever is in the upward position, load your Spectra roll onto the roll bar. 
  • After loading your roll, pull the material through under your pinch rollers so it advances past the cutting strip about ½
    • Make sure the material is aligned properly and straight from back to front.  You can use the lines and grid work on the cutting units construction to accomplish this.
  • After pulling your material through adjust the pinch rollers by hand to the width of the material.
    • When adjusting the pinch rollers it is important to keep in mind that they must be within the white boxes for the material to track accurately.  The pinch roller on the right hand side must be within the first white area (also the longest white area).
    • The pinch rollers, when locked down, should meet your material at a position of at least 5mm from the sheet edge.  This will provide accurate tracking.  Now lock down your pinch rollers using your sheet set lever.
  • After this is accomplished the cutters digital display should read

Roll Leaf.

 Hit the END KEY at this time.  The cutters carriage should travel from side to side measuring the pinch roller distance that you have already set.

•  
  • Now the cutters digital display is in the local mode.  The display should reference CUT1  20  040  0.30   As indicated above the display the first number references your speed.  The second number your pressure.  The third number your offset.
  • Now you will learn how to change your settings according the material you are using.  The settings in this example are for our Spectracut II materials. 
    • First press the TOOL button.  Your speed setting should flash.  At this point use the up & down arrow key to adjust your speed.  For our materials most customers use a speed of (30).
    • After setting this speed use the right arrow key to move your selection to the pressure setting.  Once again using the up and down arrow keys, set your pressure to (30).
    • After setting the pressure use the right arrow key once more to select the offset.  The offset should be set at 0.30.
    • Once the offset is set press the ENTER key.  At this point the carriage will move and you are ready to the set the blade.
  • Setting the blade
    • First turn the silver knob on the tool holder counter clockwise to loosen it. 
    • Remove the pen adapter from the tool holder, you will not need this piece for the cutting process.
    • At this point grab the cutter holder and we will adjust your blade.
      • Turn the bronze part of the holder counter clockwise just enough to loosen it.  This bronze piece should be loosened any time you make adjustments to the blade.  Also it should be tightened when adjustments are complete.
      • Now, turn the silver piece of the holder clockwise until the tip of the blade is barely exposed.  Now tighten the bronze part of the holder.
      • After these steps are completed, the tip of the blade should stick out from the holder by about a half of a credit cards thickness. 
      • Now load your cutter holder into the tool holder on your carriage.  Make sure that the cutter holder is completely inserted into the tool holder.
      • Tighten the silver piece on your tool holder until it is snug.
  • Doing a test cut
    • Now that you have set the blade we need to do a test cut to make sure that the depth of the blade is correct.
    • Hit the FUNCTION button on your cutter until the digital display reads Sample Cut.  At this point press the ENTER key.  The carriage should perform various movements and the blade will not make its cut.
    • After movement is stopped, hit the REMOTE key in order to control the cutter manually.  Now use the down arrow key to scroll your material out until you see what you have cut.
    • Take your weeder tool and peel up the first layer of the box that was cut. 
    • After peeling up this layer, simply take the weeder tool and lift up one of the letters showing.  After lifting one of the letters you must examine the clear mylar backing to make sure you have an accurate cut.  An accurate cut will be demonstrated by the fact that everything peeled up easily to this point and no blade/score marks are present on the mylar backing where your letter was peeled from. 
      • Upon weeding, if everything peels up and the word CUT is not left on the backing then your blade is not deep enough.  Go back and repeat the blade setting process.  Make sure your blade is adjusted to cut SLIGHTLY deeper.
      • Upon weeding, if you notice blade/score marks you will need to repeat the blade setting process.  Make sure your blade is retracted SLIGHTLY.
      • Upon weeding, if the mylar backing is completely cut through in any areas go back and repeat the blade setting process.  Retract the blade.
    • If none of the symptoms above are present: your blade is set properly.  If any of the above symptoms are present: continue to repeat the blade setting process and sample cut process until you get accurate results.
  • Scrolling the material.
    • When in Local mode (see page 9 in user manual) use the up and down arrow keys to scroll the material through the cutter.  Use the left and right arrow keys to move the carriage across the material.
    • After loading a new material youll always want to scroll the material forward some and then back to its original location to ensure accurate tracking.  Upon doing this: Keep an eye on the areas where the pinch rollers meet the material.  Make sure that the material is not going side to side or off track.  If the material is going off track revert back to the step where you realign your material.  Repeat this process until you see that the material is tracking accurately.
  • Setting the Point of Origin
    • The Point of Origin refers to the area of the material at which the blade will begin to cut.  Specifying this area is extremely important to the cutting process.
    • To set your point of origin use the aforementioned arrow keys to find a place on the material where you desire to cut.  When using a new roll of material, this area is usually in one of the bottom corners of the roll.  If cuts are already present on the material, the point of origin is ranges depending upon the clean material space available. 
    • Once you get the blade to the desired area press the ENTER button.  You will hear the cutter quiet down significantly and the origin is set.  If you are not happy with the origin set, simply use the arrow keys and repeat the process.
    • SUMMARY:  To set the POINT OF ORIGIN you must position the blade using the arrow keys then press ENTER.
  • Now that you have set your Point of Origin the cutter is ready to go.  Now press the REMOTE key to put the cutter into REMOTE/Online Mode.  It is now ready to receive the data from your computer.
  • SEND A JOB.  At this point if you are familiar with your software program feel free to send a file to your cutter. 
  • AFTER CUT IS COMPLETE READ ON

Now that youve sent a job and the cutter has completed cutting it, lets show you the rest.

       First you must take the cutter out of remote mode to control it manually.  To do this simply hit the REMOTE key.

       Now you cutter should be in the Local mode.  Use the appropriate arrow key to scroll the material towards you until you can see your entire cut. 

       Use a pair of scissors or use the cut slot and razor blade to remove your completed design from the loaded material.

       Now using a weeding tool, remove the excess material from your design, so only the image that you want on the garment is left over.  Now, flip your image over onto your t-shirt and follow the application instructions for your material.

Tags: cg60-st, mimaki, piranha, samurai, vinyl cutter