Faulty Cameo Blade??

[Dakflowers]

Dear All,

FYI

I was browsing the Silhoutte Forum and noticed several people in the USA have had problem blades and one lady (an administrator of the forum)suggested I inform the Silhouette team.
I sent an email and got a book back saying all the things I have probably done wrong !! too thick paper intricate designs etc etc. and expecting the Cameo to do things it could not do, it seemed that the team were blaming me and not the blade. I was a bit annoyed as I have definately not cut anything thick or inticate and as my blade is only two weeks old I sent a stern reply to them.

They did send another email back quite quickly saying sorry i was frustrated (an understatement) if I sent my details to them they would see what they could do. So I did and they have said that they will contact there Europe office and my complaint will go from there (I hope they may replace my blade as they have replaced all the ones in the USA that customers have said were not cutting correctly.)

Anyway I will wait ands see.

Hope this helps anyone else who is having the same problem

Dakflowers

[Fuschia]

I'm not surprised you were livid!! Its a shame when excitement of a new machine turns into a huge disappointment because they haven't thought enough about how to clean the blade if bits of card get into the housing.

Hope they replace your blade and I'm sure this post will help others who are in the same situation.

[DJG]

Thanks for the info Dakflowers.



Has the blade problem some people are having put you of Anne?

[bendog]

I am more than a little confused here by the attitude of Silhouette.
Have we all been misled?
Is the only real difference between the Craft ROBO and the Cameo the fact that it cuts up to 12" x 12"?
If, as Brian has said, the positions 1, 2 and 3 on the Cameo blade conform roughly to the blue, yellow and pink caps, what is the point of positions 4 - 10?
I also wonder why people are contacting Silhouette in the USA (or Europe)for help and advice when most of us here in the UK surely brought our Cameos from Graphtec or one of their agents? I am also wondering if we are, in fact, buying a machine designed by Silhouette and not Graphtec and that they are just distributers for them in the UK?
I have to say that I was a little surprised when, a few days after I bought my Cameo, I was talking to Neil at Graphtec about how we were supposed to remove pieces of paper from the blade housing and he really had no answer.
I think that there are not, in fact, any faulty blades, just a faulty design- spit, paintbrushes, make-up brushes, pins, vacuum cleaners are not the answer when we already had the answer on the old blade system - remove the cap, remove the dust/paper, and then replace the cap.
The fact that so many places have sold out of replacement blades for the Cameo less than a month after it was available to the general public (rather than its availability to a select few) should surely start alarm bells ringing.

[Angel13]

I am more than a little confused here by the attitude of Silhouette.
Have we all been misled?
Is the only real difference between the Craft ROBO and the Cameo the fact that it cuts up to 12" x 12"?
If, as Brian has said, the positions 1, 2 and 3 on the Cameo blade conform roughly to the blue, yellow and pink caps, what is the point of positions 4 - 10?
I also wonder why people are contacting Silhouette in the USA (or Europe)for help and advice when most of us here in the UK surely brought our Cameos from Graphtec or one of their agents? I am also wondering if we are, in fact, buying a machine designed by Silhouette and not Graphtec and that they are just distributers for them in the UK?
I have to say that I was a little surprised when, a few days after I bought my Cameo, I was talking to Neil at Graphtec about how we were supposed to remove pieces of paper from the blade housing and he really had no answer.
I think that there are not, in fact, any faulty blades, just a faulty design- spit, paintbrushes, make-up brushes, pins, vacuum cleaners are not the answer when we already had the answer on the old blade system - remove the cap, remove the dust/paper, and then replace the cap.
The fact that so many places have sold out of replacement blades for the Cameo less than a month after it was available to the general public (rather than its availability to a select few) should surely start alarm bells ringing.

Well written observation Bendog, lets see what constructive response you receive.

[Lucille]

I am more than a little confused here by the attitude of Silhouette.
Have we all been misled?
Is the only real difference between the Craft ROBO and the Cameo the fact that it cuts up to 12" x 12"?
If, as Brian has said, the positions 1, 2 and 3 on the Cameo blade conform roughly to the blue, yellow and pink caps, what is the point of positions 4 - 10?
I also wonder why people are contacting Silhouette in the USA (or Europe)for help and advice when most of us here in the UK surely brought our Cameos from Graphtec or one of their agents? I am also wondering if we are, in fact, buying a machine designed by Silhouette and not Graphtec and that they are just distributers for them in the UK?
I have to say that I was a little surprised when, a few days after I bought my Cameo, I was talking to Neil at Graphtec about how we were supposed to remove pieces of paper from the blade housing and he really had no answer.
I think that there are not, in fact, any faulty blades, just a faulty design- spit, paintbrushes, make-up brushes, pins, vacuum cleaners are not the answer when we already had the answer on the old blade system - remove the cap, remove the dust/paper, and then replace the cap.
The fact that so many places have sold out of replacement blades for the Cameo less than a month after it was available to the general public (rather than its availability to a select few) should surely start alarm bells ringing.

I can answer a few of these points.

The blade settings above 4 are for people who want to cut things like chipboard, many scrappers buy chipboard alphas, as you can imagine, they end up with a lot of letters they can't use, so being able to our own is cheaper.

Silhouette is just a name, it's a long story and complicated, but the bottom line is that when reading Silhouette read Graphtec America, so yes the machines were designed by Graphtec but not America. Graphtec is in fact a Japanese company who have been making cutting machines for the business market for many years. The CraftRobo and Wishblade were the first small machines aimed at the craft market.

I wonder imagine that GAS told you to contact Europe because in their ignorance of anything outside of the US, they lump us in with Europe, when in fact Graphtec have got an office here in the UK, so you don't need to contact any else but GUK, they will deal with all the problems.

I don't think Graphtec realised what a problem the new blade was going to be, as most of their industrial machines are for vinyl cutting, which doesn't have bit and dust, they have * up and hopefully given time they will put it right.

It's only my opinion, but I would imagine the reason the replacement blades have sold out so quickly is that people who are not first time buyers know it's important to keep a spare blade, so have been buying them and the retailers didn't anticipate this when ordering in the first lot of stock.

The only difference between Graphtec America and Graphtec UK is were the offices are based and they each have their own advertising budget, which is why I prefer to support GUK, who sponsor these forums for us and not put my money into GA.

I'm sorry your upset, I would be in your place hopefully this will clear up a few of your concerns, if not I'm sure an email to GUK not GAS who couldn't give a monkeys about people here in the UK.

[bendog]

I would like to see the "book" that Silhouette sent to explain what we are all doing wrong just as I would like to know exactly how thick is too thick and how intricate is too intricate. Perhaps, until the problem is sorted regarding the new blades, new buyers should be given the old blade system rather than the new one and new blades should be recalled and swapped as soon as a better one is available.

[Dakflowers]

This is to answer Doreens question has it put me off. No I think the cameo is brilliant only the blade is the problem. I use my Cameo with my old Robo cap blades it works fine but obviously cannot cut thicker card. One of the reasons i bought it.

Also the only reason I contacted USA site was to advise them of the blade problem not to get anything back particularly I think the more people who complain then perhaps they will change the design of the blade then that will help all of us.

I am in the throws of buying a new blade from Graphtec anyway but will be very careful to clean it out everytime I use it.

Anne
Dakflowers

[Dakflowers]

Bendog this is one of the emails i had from USA Site.

Hello,

This concern would indicate a concern with the cutting conditions or with the blade itself. There are several reasons why the Silhouette may go through the cutting process and delivering a torn or ragged cutting results.

Some designs when cut on a smaller scale, or which are more intricate (or a combination thereof), may not deliver as clean of cutting results, especially when cutting thicker materials. The quality of cut may depend on the combination of the scale, intricacy, and thickness of material being used. Some of the suggestions we have would be to enlarge the image so that it has larger shapes to cut, or to use a different material type that is thinner. Please note that some fonts and imported images may not be designed for optimal cutting, so we cannot guarantee that every true type font or image will cut well with the Silhouette. You may confirm if this may be the concern at hand by drawing a basic box or circle and cutting it on the same type of material where the torn or ragged cuts were being experienced. If the quality of cut is good and you are not seeing the same issue, then your issue is simply with the combination of material thickness, scale, and intricacy.

This issue may also present itself if you have attempted at any point to cut a material that falls outside of the recommended thickness range or which are overly dense or abrasive in nature. Certain materials that are overly dense, such as thin metals, for example, would not be able to be cut and would impair the blade. Certain other material types that have abrasive natures, such as chipboard or sandpaper would also impair the blade or dull it very quickly. If you have attempted to cut such material types that fall outside of the recommended range, you would need to replace your blade as you find the quality of cutting results lowered with other materials that do fall within the expected cutting range (such as vinyl, paper, cardstock, etc). We would discourage further use of such abrasive materials as they will require you to replace the blade more frequently.

Likewise, please note that the blade will dull much more quickly with thicker materials, even as they fall within the expected range. The blades for the Silhouette should typically last up to 6 months depending on usage and the type of material being cut. Please note that thicker materials will wear down the blade more quickly and the average life for heavy users will be closer to 2 - 4 months. Blade life will vary based on the material type and frequency of use. The thickest material the Silhouette will cut well would be 80 - 90 lb weight cardstock, such as Bazzill cardstock. Attempts to cut thicker materials or certain materials the Silhouette is not designed to cut that are more dense (such as shrink plastic, foam, chipboard) may ruin the blade or result in the blade dulling very quickly.

Dakflowers

[Angel13]

I'm pretty sure that GUK are aware of the Blade problem, there are other UK members on other forums who have complained about the blade and the biggest complaint being that if paper fibres get stuck in the blade housing, how are you meant to remove it.

[Lucille]

Personally I would prefer a blade similar to what we have been using, where you can take the old blade out and just replace that part, then for me personally I would like to buy a pack of 2 replacement blades rather than just 1. That way I can have 1 spare and 2 for the different media type eg. 1 for chipboard and 1 for card and paper.

I'm sure they will sort the problem out as soon as it's possible to do so, now they are aware of it.

[DJG]

I do hope so Lucille. I've sent my blade back for brian to have a look at.

[Lucille]

I do hope so Lucille. I've sent my blade back for brian to have a look at.

What happened to yours? If you have already said somewhere I missed it.

[Neries]

With all the problems with blades wearing out so quickly Graphtec need to look seriously at introducting a stronger blade which is up to the job of cutting thicker materials and can be easily cleaned out. It is no good having the settings to change the blade if the blade is not up to it.

They also need extra settings in the software for heavier weight card etc. which corresponds with the 4 to 10 settings on the blade. The heaviest card is quoted as 163 gsm.

They are advertising in magazines that the Cameo does what crafters have been asking for 12x12 cutting mat and to cut thicker materials. Sorry looks like it fails on the cut thicker materials. No one wants to keep buying new blade units all the time.

[DJG]

What happened to yours? If you have already said somewhere I missed it.

It doesn't show beneath the housing until it's on number 9 and it doesn't cut 160 on any number including 10.
I know 10 is too high for 160gr but I started of at no 2 and worked up.
When I first got it it cut 300gr on number 4. It was fine till a few days ago. I've only cut card nothing else and it was the same card I cut when I first got it.
I've used a paint brush to try and get any card out of the housing but there doesn't seem to be any there or if there is I can't see it.
Something is stopping the blade moving and protruding like it should which means it can't move to cut the card