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Need Help Cut ACM twisting....

C5 Service&Repair

C5 Service&Repair

New Member
Hi Im dealing with getting ACM cut at the vendor from full sheets down to real estate riders, then printing them on a UV. Problem is they are arriving twisted, almost like a propeller. if I get a short side flat on a table, the opposite side will have one corner up about 1/4 to 3/8".
Anyone dealt with this and have a trick to flatten them out? I'm getting hundreds of them so not as easy as just twisting them back by hand (which Im doing but is slowing me wayyyyy down....)
 
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CanuckSigns

Active Member
Do you know how they are cut? We had the same issue when we cut narrow pieces on our stand up cutter with the ACM pizza wheel cutter, a table saw does a much nicer job.
 
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equippaint

Active Member
A shear with an improper gap adjustment could probably cause this. Just like cutting metal with hand shears curls up the skinny side. Id be real surpised if theyre cutting this down with a table saw.
 
James Burke

James Burke

Being a grandpa is more fun than working
Definitely stress in action. Anytime you roll a material (aluminum) or extrude/calendar a composite, you're going to build stress. Sandwich the two together and you're likely to get a mixed bag of issues...compression and tension...but each holding the other in check...until you cut them apart. Do a google search of the subject and you'll note that you're not the only one facing this problem.

If they're just riders, I'd try putting them in a clam-shell laminating/heat press to see if you can warm up the composite just enough to get them to relax...then weight them down while they cool.


JB
 
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Evan Gillette

New Member
Interesting problem, definitely part of the manufacturing or processing as mentioned above. None of the other solutions seem reasonable to me if you are running thousands or even hundreds of them. I would guess that you are not purchasing top quality material if you are running high quantity. My first step would be to work with your supplier to see what they can do, and if they are not willing to take on the problem where it is occurring then get a different source/brand of material. Do you mind sharing the brand/source? It frustrating and time consuming dealing with problems that are outside of your control. For onesies twosies its easy to adjust workflow to get it done, but in a production environment you will always be better off finding the root cause and solving the problem there.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Switch vendors. We get the same deal and maybe one here or there is a little misshapen, but not 100's. Without seeing all of your bad blanks, It really doesn't seem as though they are using a table saw. Besides, 3mil metal is always gonna flex a little, if the correct tools are not used.
 
AMGearhart

AMGearhart

New Member
We've had this issue too. But ours were cut on a router here at work. I could hold the sign on it's edge and see the warping by as much as a quarter of an inch. They were 2ft by 3ft signs, .080 aluminium. The guy running the router said it must have come from the vendor warped, but cutting them out of a 4ft x 8ft sheet shouldn't have given them all the same type of warping. I suspected that the router was overheating them? But the guy running the router disagrees. Unfortunately, I can't always print then cut, cause the router can cause dragging or scraping. And the UV ink doesn't always stick the best to the metal.
 
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Superior_Adam

New Member
AMGearhart said:
We've had this issue too. But ours were cut on a router here at work. I could hold the sign on it's edge and see the warping by as much as a quarter of an inch. They were 2ft by 3ft signs, .080 aluminium. The guy running the router said it must have come from the vendor warped, but cutting them out of a 4ft x 8ft sheet shouldn't have given them all the same type of warping. I suspected that the router was overheating them? But the guy running the router disagrees. Unfortunately, I can't always print then cut, cause the router can cause dragging or scraping. And the UV ink doesn't always stick the best to the metal.
Click to expand...

If your not able to print then cut because the router scrapes or the ink does not adhere your not using the right equipment. I UV print thousands of 3 x 7 blanks on 040 aluminum for a company that owns storage units with full bleed ink and have zero problems with the router scrapping or the ink not adhering.
 
White Haus

White Haus

Not a Newbie
Gino said:
Switch vendors. We get the same deal and maybe one here or there is a little misshapen, but not 100's. Without seeing all of your bad blanks, It really doesn't seem as though they are using a table saw. Besides, 3mil metal is always gonna flex a little, if the correct tools are not used.
Click to expand...

This.

We get ACM cut from our vendor all the time (on an actual cnc table saw) and they're perfectly flat. Edges sometimes need a bit of cleaning up but they're definitely not warped. I do know what you mean though, but this only happens whenever we cut ACM on our sheet cutter. Definitely sucks trying to get them flat again.
 
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