Flatbed cutter - Drag knife vs kiss cut tool

[Zendavor Signs]

We just got installed a Multicam Apex 3R, and it has knife cutting capabilities as well. We are comfortable with the router aspect of this machine, but knife cutting is new to us. We have a Graphtec plotter, but this machine is quite a bit different. I notice this machine (like the Summa flatbed cutters as well) have drag knives and kiss cutting knives. What is the difference between these 2 knives? It appears you can use the drag knife to kiss cut as well, so what is the point of the kiss cut tool? What I am trying to do is die cut decals then cut out the pieces.

 

[CanuckSigns]

I'm not sure about you machine, but on our summa flatbed, the kiss cutting tool is mostly used the same way a normal plotter is used, for die cutting vinyl, then the through cutting knife is used for cutting all the way through the vinyl and paper.

The kiss cut tool can be used to cut through vinyl and the backer paper, but there is more setup involved (at least with the summa) the through cutting knife is automatically set by the machine.

 

[ProColorGraphics]

I have a Summa F. The kiss cut and drag knife do the same thing. The difference is the kiss cut knife is used in a tangential module. It is cuts better, especially on small details.

 

[Superior_Adam]

Yes the two tools could technically do the same as the other. A drag knife won’t kiss cut a well you just need to play with it and make sure the depth only goes through the vinyl not the backer. Kiss cut tools will cut better detail than a drag and could be set with enough pressure to go through the backer but you would not get as good of a cut as the drag going all the way through