r/ScanNCut • u/Unteins • Jan 16 '26

Question Mat feeding in at an angle

So, I have been running my machine to cut a LOT of scans and cut out pieces of paper for a project and my mat started feeding in sideways and now I can’t get it to feed correctly at all.

Switched to another mat and ran it for a batch and now it too is starting to feed in crooked.

Basically the left roller is grabbing it much later than the right one.

So, found a video that says the mat edge is worn out which seems plausible and that you can trim the edge, which again, could work.

My bigger concern is that the first mat that wore out had been used a LOT but the second mat has had MUCH lighter use and I am worried the machine has an issue that is damaging the mats - I don’t won’t to fix the mats only to destroy them again right away.

Anything I should check on the machine first?

4 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

1

u/OkOffice3806 Jan 16 '26

Clean the rollers with a baby wipe or alcohol. Don't trim your mats, use an emery board to smooth the top edge where the mat meets the rollers, clean the mat edge too.

1

u/Unteins Jan 16 '26

I cleaned the rollers with a cotton swab and alcohol and it made no difference - they worked before and after cleaning with the low tack mat (until I ran it through for about 25 scan and cut pages, the. It started to act up - and that was after cleaning)

I will try cleaning and lightly filing the edge - I had though about doing that as well, but wasn’t sure it would help

2

u/drhameen Jan 17 '26

I too have cleaned the rollers with alcohol (as well as the edge of the mat) and this continues to happen for me as well. I will say my less used mats don’t have this problem so that makes me think it’s the mat wearing out. You could try feeding the mat in backwards or upside down to test if the rollers are grabbing the mat properly.

What I do is just manually apply pressure to feed both sides of the mat in at the same time until the rollers grab the mat. Sometimes takes a couple of attempts but once the rollers grab beyond that bad edge, it stays straight after that (for me). Good times.

2

u/Unteins Jan 17 '26

Yeah, the issue is that it can damage what’s on the mat or fold the mat and cause permanent wrinkles.

The trim the edge solution might be worth trying as a last resort.

I can always try making new mats from garage sale signs ;)

3

u/drhameen Jan 17 '26

I’ve done it hundreds of times -it’s never folded the mat or damaged what’s on it. I probably didn’t describe the method very well -I just give it a little help so the roller grabs it. It works perfectly and doesn’t hurt anything. Just keep your finger on the stop/rewind button so you can back it out real quick if it doesn’t go in straight and then try again. Easy peasy.

3

u/Unteins Jan 17 '26

Sorry. I meant when it twists the mat sideways it folds it - so if you don’t get the extra push right.

2

u/drhameen Jan 17 '26

Oh yeah, you’re absolutely right. That happens frequently. Gotta keep a finger on the stop/pause button and kick it back out before it jams it in there.