Equipment/OldVinylCutter

Jinka Vinyl Cutter (JK721, 72 cm)
Model	Jinka JK721 (72 cm)
Sub-category	defunct
Status	Returned to Owner
Consumables	Vinyl, Paper
Accessories	Blade holder, Pen holder
Training requirement	no
ACnode	no
Owner	Hipster
Origin	Long term loan from Hipster
Location	Arts/crafts area
Maintainers	Hipster, Velyks, Det, Domas

Notice of Long Term loan ending: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/london-hack-space/JgVkE0AJe84

Instructions

Please read Jinka 721 user manual for more information.

Warnings

1. No magnetic devices should be placed in the vicinity of the plotter, specifically the carriage.
2. Don't leave pinch rollers pressed down while machine is not in use.
3. Don't move the carriage manually.
4. Don't touch carriage, metal roller, cutter and all moving devices when the machine is working.
5. Don't press top beam or lift up black rail.
6. Paper can be cut only when using self adhesive cutting mat.

Loading Paper

Adjust the place of pinch rollers according to paper width

Cutting plotter has 2 rollers and they can be moved along the guide rail. The handles of pinch rollers must be lifted before moving pinch rollers, hold the back of the roller and push it to the left or the right. Please don't pull the roller bars in the front, otherwise the machine precision will be affected.

The place of the rollers must ensure:

1. Pinch rollers should be in the place out of the scope of the pattern.
2. Pinch rollers should be 10 to 50mm away from the edges of the vinyl.
3. Pinch rollers shouldn't be let down on the conjunction of two connexting metal rollers.

Loading the paper

1. Lift the pinch-roller handles and let it away from metal rollers.
2. Insert the vinyl between metal rollers and pinch rollers of the machine from behind to front.
3. Align the front of the vinyl before cutting, since if vinyl is not well placed, serious deviation will occur. Ensure that vinyl is aligned by checking a straight side edge on front and back rulers.
4. Carefully check the vinyl before cutting: serious deviation will occur if vinyl is not well placed. If the vinyl is uneven lift the pinch rollers on one side to adjust and then press down pinch rollers. It is necessary to trial run vinyl several times to attain minimum deviation before cutting work.

Testing Machine

1. Turn on the machine. The carriage should move to the right side and the metal roller will rotate automatically, thus complete the automatic reset. If it fails to reset, press the RESET key.
2. At the same time when turning on, cutter bracket will be raised about 2 mm. Pressing ORIGIN key will make it fall down. Release the key to again raise the bracket. This shows the carriage and bracket are functioning properly.

If the machine is required to cut from an appointed location, press OFFLINE key. The yellow light will turn on. Press ← or → to move the carriage left or right. Press ↓ or ↑ to move the vinyl forward or backward. Now press the ORIGIN and the machine will work from the point at which the blade is located.

Test Cut and Force Adjustment

Test Cut

Once the blade or plotter is installed and the vinyl is inserted, preliminary test-cut should be carried out to check if the force of the blade or plotter is acceptable. To do so, press the TEST key.

Force Adjustment

Use F+ or F- to increase or decrease cutting force. Force should be enough to cut cleanly through vinyl but not the backing material. If the force is too high the blade and pressing strip could be damaged. The protruding portion of the blade tip should be about 0.5mm or less—length normaly is 2/3 of the thickness of the vinyl. First try using low force and increase to the optimal value.

Caution: Always test cut every time you use a new type of vinyl to check the cutting force.

Software

The Windows and Linux drivers are on the Whittenstein usb card that is attached to the machine.

We've currently been unable to get the FTDI Virtual Com Port drivers working with the cutter under OSX Mavericks. If you have success with OSX, please update this page.

Linux Instructions:

Download Inkscape, move items in the driver folder from USB card into: /home/.config/inkscape/extensions

Run inkscape and should be there under extensions, cutter/plotter.

Using Inkscape

Installation

Drivers are also located in the USB card taped to the vinyl cutter.

Windows

(Tested on Windows 8.1 using Inkscape 0.91)

• Install FTDI drivers: http://www.wch.cn/download/CH341SER_ZIP.html
• Install Inkscape
• Install pySerial
  1. Download pySerial (".tar.gz"): https://pypi.python.org/packages/source/p/pyserial/pyserial-2.7.tar.gz
  2. Extract the "serial" subfolder from the zip to the following folder: C:\[Program files]\inkscape\python\Lib\
  3. Restart Inkscape.

NOTE: You may need to download the 2.5 version of pyserial. Also may help if you run Inkscape in compatibility mode.

OSX

(Tested on OS X El Capitan version 10.11.4 using Inkscape 0.91)

• Install FTDI drivers: http://www.wch.cn/download/CH341SER_MAC_ZIP.html
• Restart computer
• Install Inkscape
• Install pySerial
  1. Download pySerial (".tar.gz"): https://pypi.python.org/packages/source/p/pyserial/pyserial-2.7.tar.gz
  2. Extract and install pySerial. In Terminal execute:

   cd Downloads
   tar xfvz pyserial-2.7.tar.gz
   cd pyserial-2.7
   sudo python setup.py install

• Restart Inkscape

To find which USB port is assigned open Terminal and run:

   ls /dev/tty.wch*

Copy whatever usb device you got (e.g. /dev/tty.wchusbserialfa130) as "Serial port" in Plot window in Inkscape.

Settings

In Inkscape go to "Extensions -> Export -> Plot...". Update your settings to match the following. Settings that are different from default are printed in bold.

Connection Settings

• Serial port: COM1 (Might be different. On GNU/Linux something like: '/dev/ttyUSB0')
• Serial boud rate: 9600
• Flow control: Hardware (RTS/CTS)
• Command language: HPGL

Plotter Settings

• Resolution X (dpi): 1002,0
• Resolution Y (dpi): 1002,0
• Pen number: 1
• Pen force (g): 0
• Pen speed (cm/s or mm/s): 0
• Rotation (°, clockwise): 0
• (Unchecked) Mirror X axis
• (Unchecked) Mirror Y axis
• (Unchecked) Center zero point

Plot Features

• Overcut (mm): 1,00
• Tool offset (mm): 0,25 (0,00 when using a Pen for plotting)
• Use precut: Checked
• Curve flatness: 1,2
• Auto align: Checked

Cutting

Make your objects to path:

1. Edit -> Select All (Ctrl+A)
2. Path -> Object to Path (Shift+Ctrl+C)

Start cutting: Extensions -> Export -> Plot... -> Apply

Linux: Writing to serial port

The vinyl cutter will happily take HPGL piped over serial, eg in Linux: cat filename.hpgl > /dev/ttyUSB0

Make sure you have write permissions for the ttyUSB0 device, a quick temporary hack for this is: sudo chmod 0777 /dev/ttyUSB0

Note: If you have multiple USB serial devices, the cutter may not be ttyUSB0

What you use to make the HPGL is up to personal preference. Inkscape can export as HPGL, and has plugins for both Linux/OSX (InkCut) and Windows (Inkscape CAMM-GL) to help fine tune cuts.

Note: Inkscape 4.9+ generates large HPGL with all the coordinates as a single line. This buffer overflows the black vinyl cutter causing it to crash. Smaller designs may be fine, otherwise manually add a carriage return after each instruction by using a text editor.

Protip in vi: :s/;/;\r/g

Specification

Model Item	JK721
Max Paper Width	720mm
Max Plotting Width	630mm
Gross Weight	25 kg
Packing Size	96 x 35 x 43 cm
Interface	Serial Port & USB Port ( Optional )
Language Format	DMPL/HPGL
Max Plotting Speed	800mm/s
Max Cutting Force	500g
Cutting Tool	Imported Hardness Alloy Steel Blade
Power Supply	AC90V~AC240V

FTDI USB Details

Product ID: 0x7523

Vendor ID: 0x1a86

T-Shirts

You can heat press designs onto t-shirts using the Heat Press.

Consumables

You can cut vinyl, plot on paper using a pen. Paper and cards can only be cut when using self adhesive cutting mat.

Suppliers

• The Vinyl Corporation

External links

timewasters-place.com - Inkscape Plot extension author's personal blog