What to do if the rail on my plotter is cut up?

[Mikeg21]

Hey guys, I have a Roland GX 500 plotter and the Teflon rail that goes along. The whole plotter has cuts in it and I’m noticing my film is punching up where those cuts are made. How can I fix this? Is there anything I can do to repair this or do I need to order a new part for it?

[Bham]

About the only thing you can do is pull it out of the channel and flip it over. That is if the other side is in good shape. This usually works one time. After that you will just need to order a new strip.  

[Dano]

The elcheapo amazon replacement strips are pretty good. I try to keep at least one on hand just in case. Same with blades, you never know when you might need one. Or even better, someone local might need one and you get to be a hero and exchange some good will.

[Tintguy1980]

You may already know the following.

 

If the grooves are from long time use go with the above recommendations, otherwise, you might consider re-calibrating blade pressure, check for damaged blade point, clean the blade tip with a sweep or two using a tooth brush, and or replace blade if damage to tip is noted.

 

When repositioning the strip (flipping or replacing), ensure there are no high / low spots. Those strips should last a long time without carving occurring when pressure is dialed in with a precision balancing act between cutting usable material only and not cutting cleanly.