Gerber M3000 Turbo flatbed cutter

[JWambeke]

Ok. I have been working with the gerber M3000 flatbed cutter for over a year now, and during that time I have not done any jobs with the crease wheel. During training with the gerber tech we did not even cover the crease tool but barely, because we truely did not expect to use it at all. I have the tool, and four crease wheels.

And now I need to put together some samples for a potential customer and I need a crash course in creasing cardboard.

Anyone out there familar with this? Any helpful information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tony Teveris]

I do not think it's anything more than assigning a tool to the path you want creased. The key most likely is assigning the correct "pressure". There should be crease tools in the tool list. Let me know if that is not good enough to get you going. I'm at home but will check tomorrow if something is different.

 

[JWambeke]

I use artpath, and while searching through the different templates I've found some different crease tool templates pre-loaded. E flute, b flute, ect... I need to know details. I can run that machine all day long, but I've got no experience with creasing cardboard.

I need to know recommended pressure settings, clearly you won't adjust the blade length, but I also want to know the differences in various cardboard materials.

I also don't understand what each crease wheel is intended for. they are all shaped differently and clearly serve specific purposes.

Consider me a complete newbie when it comes to cardboard.

 

[RycckG]

We do this all day long.. We do not use a Gerber but some basic principles will apply. e flute is the thinnest- 1/16", b flute - 1/8", c flute- 5/32. We never change the wheel until we crease Double Wall thickness.. The best answer is trial and error.. Esko/Kongsberg allows for the operator to set pressure dependant upon the flute direction. You will always need lower depth of pressure parralel to the flutes. I seriously doubt any setting will be found in your cad program, they are always carried at the table. Have you been able to assign the correct line style? The cad program will identify the line style and that line number must corrospond to the proper tool on the table.. This should be easy for Gerber to walk you thru over the phone.

Best of Luck,
Rycck

 

[particleman]

Pop some wheels in and start playing around. It should take about 10 minutes to figure out what works best. Once we have ours dialed in we pretty much don't have to change it. Working the crease wheel is one of the easier tools to deal with.

 

[ForgeInc]

We use that exact cutter. what do you need to know?

Keep your scores and cuts on different layers. Always have scores done first, then cuts.
The wide crease wheel works well for corrugates, the thinner one well for card stocks. experiment with depth of scores, many times we will actually set the score deeper than the material for a crisp score. Also, you will need to experiment with which side of the material is scored. On corrugated, we find that scoring on opposite side that is printed works best. on card stocks, we can get away with scoring on same side that is printed. It's not that hard really...an hour or 2 of trial and error and you'll have it down, no prob.

 

[JWambeke]

Thank you for all the information. I'm sure this is just the tip of the iceberg. Today is a good day for trial and error. I'm sure I'll be on and off here all day, asking more dumb questions... lol

In the meantime, anyone who wants to add anything.. please do... I'll take ALL the help I can get.

 

[Tony Teveris]

Trial and error is the best training for creasing cardboard as all boards are different.
I recommend they start with the templates (something Gerber offers and others don’t)
Then adjust the force and pressure in artpath till you get a clean score that doesn’t rip the board but leaves a decent crease.

The templates are for the stock we purchased and kept in a humid environment.
If the stock is very dry it becomes more difficult to dial in the correct pressure and depth. When its dry it tends to crack more, When it’s in a more humid environment it tends to crease clean without cracking. I would also recommend to crease both sides and see if you notice a difference between the top layer and bottom layer for some corrugates can be different.

 

[JWambeke]

Ok.. I use Illustrator for artwork. I save as an Eps. file. Open in Artpath. Everything has been converted to 1 layer. Seriously? Is it the file format I am using? Eps. files are one of the only file formats even compatible with the different programs like artpath and fiery. I generally prepare prints with a layer for artwork, a layer for cutlines, and in this case a layer for the crease path.

Do I have to import everything into composer and resave as a plt. in order to even view these seperate layers?

Or do PDF files generally transfer between programs better.

 

[Tony Teveris]

In the dialog where you specify the EPS file you also want to select "Keep Layers".

 

[JWambeke]

Thanks Tony

I got it to work with pdf... but I'm having a tough time getting the crease to work right.

I've got it creasing at about the same depth as the material, and it's not folding as well as I think it should. I've tried some different crease wheels, and I've played with the depth. Do I dare try to push that depth down deeper than the actual thickness of the material. (Also finding that the crease wheel is causing havok on my print... but I think that might just be a case of letting the print sit and cure for 24 hours before trying to crease it)

 

[RycckG]

Corrugated is graded by test and flute. Do you know the test and flute of the board? You cannot put too much pressure on the board unless you are cracking thru the liner.. Keep adding pressure. Is the problem score line parallel or perpendicular to the flute lines? Lines that run parallel will often “roll” around the flute line. The only solution to that problem is to perforate the score line. Place the score and add a ¼” x ¼” cut pattern directly over the top of the score…
Rycck