u/Jnliao77

Hi! I'm thinking of applying a Ninja DTF transfer to a 65/35 poly-blend jacket with a water-resistant finish. I know this is a risk for adhesion and 'pinholing.' Has anyone successfully done this on this specific fabric type? What temp/time/pressure did you use to get it to stick without damaging the water-resistant coating? As the jacket wasn’t cheap, I’m fine leaving the jacket plain if people think this is too risky but I’d otherwise think it’d look so good if I’m able to apply the dtf. Thanks in advance! :)

Also, I’m new to all this so if ninja transfers are considered cheap quality, I’m also open to trying other DTF vendors but I do realistically have a price range since this is a hobby. ;)

Has the Cameo gotten better, stayed the same or worse with successive versions? I’m asking purely in terms of cut accuracy. Specifically, how do the 5 and 5a compare to previous versions?

For context, I have owned the cameo 1, 2, two 3’s, and 5. I bought a 5a but returned it as it seemed faulty (i can get into that later).

My exp using the cameo 1,2 and 3 was that the electronic eye was super finicky about when it would register correctly or not. Like you’d do the same thing over and over and over again praying to god “this would be the time it saw the reg marks.” If it did though, I would say it cut accurately 95% of the time. Back then I would have 1/8” bleeds and it would hit them perfectly. Over time, I shrunk the bleeds to be almost non-existent and the machine still cut very accurately.

Fast forward to the 5. Not sure if it was the new hardware or software or both but even though the 5 is quicker and significantly quieter, its cuts are (now) not as accurate. Same job run twice (all same settings and materials), one will be good, the next will be wrong. How so? Well I’m cutting items which are supposed to be 8”x8” squares. Over half the time they come out 8” x 7.875”. A square is such a basic shape, this wasn’t event meant to be a test but it’s failing here big time.

I’ve had the machine since launch and only started noticing this issue in the last year or so. So I dunno what’s going on. It’s not the file so I have to believe it’s the hardware or driver or something else?

Doing research, people have said the right roller on the 5 lacks appropriate grip strength so drift and slips sometimes occur. If that is the reason—that’s messed up and silhouette should fix the issue regardless of warranty (but I digress).

Anyway, checking my right roller, it wasn’t cracked (I took it apart and put it back together to check). So not sure that can be blamed but who knows?

But to test that theory, I got a 5a but that machine was very screwed up—I think I got a lemon. Here was happened. Out of the box, I tried to have it cut one of my files and had a similar issue. My squares weren’t square. I did a calibration check and while it was perfect going the width of the machine, the length was all off. It was cutting just before the 1st calibration line and about 4cm short of the second. That seemed pretty significant to me and while I tried to adjust the settings, that was more confusing and ultimately didn’t work. The calibration needs to ask for 4 inputs, not 2. Knowing the % of how the cut is off doesn’t help when the cut is both locationally misaligned and scaling wrong. (Also, the test sheet should also print a ruler so you don’t have to have one handy). I also tested a print and cut and it was off as well. Staying at 1/16” off and ending at around 1/4” by the time it reached the end of the sheet.

As these files worked “fine” on the 5, it couldn’t be the files, right? These file cut on the 3 perfectly (tho slower and louder). So I returned the 5a after arguing w customer support that I wanted a replacement and they fought me tooth and nail. I cancelled the replacement request after they said they need copies of my files and a video of me working with the machine stating from turning it on, loading materials in, sending cuts and then a video as the cut happens. That’s a lot and I argued being a 10+ year customer—I knew what I was doing. The calibration being so off should have been enough. It was ridiculous.

SO, before I attempt to buy another 5a, is anyone else having similar experiences. The machines get quicker and quieter but more and more inaccurate. Is it the hardware or the software?

*ADDITIONAL CONTEXT
I performed cutting in both studio 4.5 and 5. Obviously, for the 5a, you must use studio 5 since they changed some things around including going from 3point to 4point references for print and cut (not that it helped). The 3 was the more accurate than both later machines but I don’t think I can go back to its slow and loud performance. Print and cutting 200 popup invitations took literally a month’s lead time.

Also, even though I tried calibration on the 5a, I’ve never had to calibrate any of my previous Cameo machines, they always worked out of box (when they worked that is)

Thanks in advance for any comments or stories.

Hello all,

I recently got a 5alpha (like 6 days ago) and it’s all sorts of messed up. When I ran calibration, the vertical cuts between. “1 and 2” were SUPER off.

It can’t cut correctly as it skews/scales everything.

I mess around w the calibration settings but nothing is helping.

Then I swap back to my Cameo 5 (and I also have a Cameo 3) and both work fine.

Customer service told me it’s software related and to purge my settings and do a clean re-install (which is kinda a ridiculous ask but I did it anyway) and nothing changed.

Moreover the cameo 5alpha isn’t working with both my Mac and pc.

What do you all think I should do? I’m not sure I want an exchange as I don’t trust the 5alpha now, esp since they tried to gaslight me. All my previous Cameos have never had this kind of misalignment out of the box. I’m leaning towards refund (though Silhouette customer service is obviously trying to avoid that).