Cameo 2 newbie setup help! Not cutting properly

[Coops]

Hi,

I've had the cameo 2 for a number of months but an still having issues.

Firstly, I feel that I have never set it up properly. It has never cut correctly and is always tearing.I read very good reviews about it but have always had issues.

When cutting the blade has to be manually set as it never changes it automatically.I also have to have it on either 8/9 as there is never a clean cut also I have it on slow speed otherwise it rips the material.

I have never been able to use the cutting mat either. It is very sticky and rips the material also when cutting I always cut the mat however when I reduce the blade it never cuts the material.

I want to cut some favour boxes for an upcoming wedding however I fear that I won't be able to do that.

Sorry if these questions have previously been asked, I have looked everywhere for help but have had no luck. The instructions for the cameo are non existent, can anyone recommend a book or website for beginners that might hero me out?

Thanks

[webtrekker]

Hi. I have a Cameo 2 but haven't used it for the past year after buying a Silver Bullet cutter. There were just too many problems with the Cameo, including all those you mention above.

You can reduce the stickiness of the mat by rolling a soft cloth (tea towel, fleece, etc) over it a few times, but this reduces the life of the mat. Cameo mats are expensive! I use cheap kids 'Messy Mats' in my SB cutter and spray them with 3M Re-Mount spray.

The particular problems that made me give up with the Cameo as a business solution were ...

• Very poor roller system, causing the mat to slip often, and no way of adjusting tension.
• Crap Print & Cut system that often didn't find the registration marks, ruining the job and costing me money in wasted materials.
• Rubbish blades and expensive too.
• Poor cutting force and no fine control over it.

It's also very noisy!

If you are planning on running a small home business with this machine, particularly if you want to cut materials other than vinyl, then my advice is ... forget it! Honestly. You'd be better off getting rid and putting the money towards a more robust cutter. The Silver Bullet does everything I need, but other good machines are available. I cut everything from thin paper to 650gsm printable magnetic sheet, virtually every day of the week, and rarely produce any scrap at all. Print & Cut, which you may be interested in for favor boxes, is especially good. It cuts spot on every time. You manually line up a red 'laser' dot onto your 3 registration marks, which is far better than the Cameo's hit-and-miss automatic system.

[viccar]

Having the blade on 8/9 is very high ! What are you cutting?

[Coops]

Thank you so much for your reply.

Wow those cutters are superb. I watched a few youtube videos and they are great however the price of them is a bit out of my budget.

I brought the cameo for vinyl and to create stencils originally however I cant seem to cut vinyl without it tearing.

I dont want to give up on the cameo just yet but its causing me so many problems.

I have tried to start a little home business with sublimation print onto mugs and thought the cameo would add to my business as I wanted to create stencils for glass etching but its just not working. Its disheartning too as I had a few ideas for it but its not going to plan ��

[Coops]

Vinyl for heat press onto clothes and thin card. No matter what setting I use it seems to tear the vinyl/card. When inset the blade size on the software it doesnt actually change it

[Reg]

I think you've got a damaged cutting tip,as for adjusting on my Silhouette portrait it is manual adjustment and it cuts vinyl for stencils very clean set on 2.

[Coops]

Ive only used it a handful of times (3 or 4 times) and its been like this since I purchased it. Could I have been supplied a faulty blade then?

I keep seeing all these great projects created with the cameo but it just keeps going wrong for me.

[willd]

There's definitely something amiss somewhere!

We use a cameo for garment print and cut transfers to a small degree, but mostly for heat press vinyl.

We've two, the one in daily use has had hundreds of hours of use. Failures, other than those caused by the operator, probably haven't reached double figures yet.

We do see some failures to read alignment marks occasionally, but ours just stops when it fails to read them, without cutting, so a second attempt generally produces the desired result.

They are quite noisy, and also fairly slow, but excellent for fine and detailed designs.

Edited to add - first thing to change is the blade as someone else mentioned earlier, seems the most likely culprit .

[Reg]

How long will my Silhouette blade last?
Unfortunately it is not possible to answer this question as there are so many factors affecting the lifetime of a blade. Cutting thicker, harder materials will wear out the blade more quickly than thinner, softer materials. Cutting an intricate design will also wear the blade out more quickly than a simple design. To ensure that your blade lasts as long as possible, always use the lowest blade setting possible. Using a higher blade setting than required may damage or even break the tip off your blade.

If you have the blade at 8 or 9 for vinyl you may have damaged it.

[scotty44]

I use mine almost everyday for small vinyl stuff...these are my setting and it cut's fine... It's a cam3 but my other one is a 2 and works with the same settings.. deffo try a new blade