Serial number: N/A
Manual: US Cutter MH Manual (Actually quite good, provides a lot of detail on the manual setup of the machine)
This is a generic plotter/cutter that speaks HP-GL over a serial port. There are many like it, and this one is ours. Normally, this comes with a very expensive and user-friendly sign cutting software. Instead, we have Inkscape, which is free, but less intuitive.
The graphics you want to cut have to be in a vector format. You can use Inkscape's Tracing function to convert your image, but it may require some manual cleanup before sending to the cutter.
To send your document to the cutter, open your file in Inkscape, and go to Extensions > Export > Plot…
The settings you want to use are:
| Connection Settings | |
|---|---|
| Port Type | Serial |
| Parallel Port | |
| Serial Port | COM3 |
| Serial Baud Rate | 9600 |
| Serial Byte Size | 8 Bits |
| Serial Stop Bits | 1 Bit |
| Serial Parity | None |
| Serial Flow Control | Software (XON/XOFF) |
| Command language | HPGL |
| Plotter Settings | |
|---|---|
| Resolution X | 1016 |
| Resolution Y | 1016 |
| Pen number | 1 (The plotter ignores this, there's only one “pen”) |
| Pen force | 0 (The plotter ignores this) |
| Pen speed | 0 (The plotter ignores this) |
| Rotation Degrees | 90 |
| Mirror X Axis | No |
| Mirror Y Axis | No |
| Center orgin | No |
| Plot Features (You may want to adjust these) | |
|---|---|
| Overcut |
1mm if using as a cutter 0mm if using a pen |
| Tool (knife) Offset Correction |
0.25mm if using as a cutter 0mm if using a pen |
| Precut | Yes |
| Curve Flatness | 1.2 |
| Auto Align | Yes |
| Rotation Degrees | 90 |
| Mirror X Axis | No |
| Mirror Y Axis | No |
| Center origin | No |
If nothing happened, check that the plotter is actually turned on: Its serial port still appears even if the printer itself is off. If it was already on, press the Setup button and make sure that the Baud Rate there matches the Baud rate that you are using (9600 by default and in the above settings). Power-cycling the printer will restore the baud rate setting to 9600.
If you get an error saying “Could not open serial port”, check that the plotter is plugged into the lab computer using its USB-B port. Make sure that the button on the USB hub next to the printer's USB cable is pushed down. Otherwise, the serial port may have changed: You can find available serial ports in the Device Manager.
If you want to use a higher baud rate, you can configure it to do so, but usually the cutting speed is the main bottleneck so there's little point. It reboots into 9600 baud so for the next user please remember to set it back.
Can Guests use: Yes
Training Required: No
Tool Status: Working