Cutting Thick Material...

[brainbucket]

Hi,


First time poster, long time stalker. I have a Graphtec FC8000-160 that I have been using for a little over a year. In general I really like the machine. I have had decent luck with most CutContours and been mostly happy with the results. One of the things that I got into this business for is printing motocross graphics with thick laminates. In this regard I'm having a pretty hard time getting the Graphtec to get the job done. I have a 60° blade installed and I have the pressure maxed out and the speed on 5 and I can't get the knife to penetrate the vinyl. Currently I'm using The Thick Stuff based out of the UK http://www.thethickstuff.com/mx-vinyl-dirt-bike-sticker-graphics-english.html which I don't know that I will use again because the print material (7mil) is wreaking havoc on my printer, and I'm having this issue with the laminate (20.5mil). I have used the Oracal 3105HT material with Pro-Shield 12 mil laminate, and it seems to do better, but not a ton. So is 27.5mil just too thick to cut on my Graphtec or am I doing something wrong? Is there an additional setting that I can get more pressure? I'll be honest I haven't spent the time to dig through the manual and see what I can find there, so if that is the answer so be it, I can do that, but thanks for any guidance anyway!

Thanks,
Brainbucket

 

[Gino]

Welcome from Pa..................................

 

[omgsideburns]

Have you tried double cutting?

 

[QuickSilver2605]

The new 8600 will do 59.1mil (1.49mm) according to their spec sheet, the only thing I could find on the 8000 was a max of 1mm. Some cross multiplication came out to 39.9mil (not sure if that is accurate)


FC8000 • Self-adhesive vinyl film, diamond grade, fluorescent film, reflective film, AmberlithTM , RubylithTM , window film, high-intensity reflective film*3 , paint protection film, up to 0.25 mm tick , sandblast resist rubber up to 1 mm thick, etc.

You will have to get a different blade and bladeholder to get to that thick I believe

 

[brainbucket]

I have tried a little bit of double cutting, but I have a pretty hard time getting the pressure correct on the second time around... Usually it will cut right through the backing paper, at least at first until I can adjust it. I may just have to resort to that, I just wasn't sure if I was blatantly missing something. I'm assuming the key is to not remove the material from the cutter before starting the second round of cuts?

Thanks for the info!
Brainbucket

 

[brainbucket]

I think I gotcha now. So when you do a double cut you add a second CutContour to the print file? Is there anyway to do that in Onyx as opposed to having to reprint the entire project?

Thanks,
Brainbucket

 

[J Hill Designs]

before you export to onyx: copy cutlines, repaste. now you have 2 sets that will cut right on top of each other

 

[jmag215]

Are you using the red tip and bigger blades made for cutting the thick stuff?

 

[John in Cali]

The red blade holder and corresponding blade is what you should use...