Can you contour cut perf?

[john1]

I have a 30" SP300i versacamm and am wondering if you can contour cut perf on these machine?

If so, does it matter if it's laminated?

Thanks!

 

[PressPrintGraphics]

I have a 30" SP300i versacamm and am wondering if you can contour cut perf on these machine?

If so, does it matter if it's laminated?

Thanks!

I'd imagine so. I use a graphtec so I print out crop marks on regular vinyl, then apply them over the printed crop marks on the perf so the machine has no problem reading the reg. marks.

Give it a shot.

And to the lamination, unless you are making small cheap o's (if there is such thing), i'd laminate.

 

[Sticky Signs]

Yes you can. You should use a 65º blade so you'll have to change the offset. You'll also want to slow the speed down and adjust the pressure accordingly. 

 

[MarioDesign]

we laminate our perf with optically clear all the time. finding the crop marks on perf can be tricky so we just take a black sharpie marker and colour them in so the sensor finds them better.

 

[MikePro]

my trick for clear and perforated vinyl registration marks is the same... pause the printer after the first pass of the registration marks and lay down a 2"x2" piece of scrap vinyl you normally print on. Resume print and you're set!

i've also redrawn them after the print but it seems like more of a hassle and more chance to smear. My initial solution before that, for clear, was to put a piece of masking tape (4 pieces, actually) on the backside of the clear backing (under the registration mark)... worked like a charm... until one day my cutter "ate" my masking tape and took me forever to fish it out of the roller!

 

[john1]

Thanks everyone, So it contour cuts through the holes and everything fine? I guess if you are contour cutting a shape thats not laminated, you need to leave a 1/4-1/2" white outline just like anything else right?

 

[Farmboy]

Cuts fine. I'm not a big fan of putting lam on perf.

 

[Large Format]

Laminated yes. Un-laminated yes but poorly

 

[omgsideburns]

my trick for clear and perforated vinyl registration marks is the same... pause the printer after the first pass of the registration marks and lay down a 2"x2" piece of scrap vinyl you normally print on. Resume print and you're set!

This is definitely my favorite method. I have had issues with crop marks on reflective and darker colored vinyls and this always cures it.

 

[Retro Graphics]

I'm actually having trouble with this very issue. My perf has a white backing so that isn't so much an issue but the holes are throwing the eye off and it's not seeing the registration marks correctly. Sometimes it misses them altogether. Originally, when I last had this issue, my vendor advised to use a "fill" around the registration marks, and that seemed like it was going to work on the first try this time, (last time I just said screw it and trimmed the perf out after putting it on the window. However reading after the 2nd mark when it went to feed the length, the eye stopped as soon as it hit the fill and didn't even make it to the registration mark and then completely missed the 4th mark altogether. Wondering if there is a trick like lower or raise the eye? Using a Mimaki UCJV300-160. I only need to do a somewhat small section as the vehicle decal goes into the window for only a small section, about 8" into the rear side windows on a van.

 

[Val47]

Try cutting some black circles, or what ever your marks are, same exact size. Put those over the original marks. I've had to do this several times, and it works.
Have also used this method for CNC projects we send out to our CNC guy.

 

[natallica]

So far, works just fine using our Summa S160T, unlaminated. We do it quite a bit.

 

[Bill Modzel]

I've contour cut perf successfully but once installed I've sealed the edge with a 3/8" strip of high performance clear. It greatly reduces the tendency to lift, especially on vehicle windows.

 

[Retro Graphics]

Try cutting some black circles, or what ever your marks are, same exact size. Put those over the original marks. I've had to do this several times, and it works.
Have also used this method for CNC projects we send out to our CNC guy.

I will have to experiment with this method and see if it works.

 

[ikarasu]

I usually put down some transfer tape over the mark, take a ruler and draw the lines (our graphtec uses a half square) it's always cut perfectly after that.

For our CNC .. we just put transfer tape over it. Since it uses a camera and not a laser it'll still read the circles.

When I had a few dozen sheets to do... I did cut out the half square with black vinyl. I still laid down some premask over... Then just used a knife to position it over the mark. It worked pretty good as well!

Lots of ways to get around it... Works with reflective, prismatic, perf... Pretty much anything your. Cutters knife can cut accurately.