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How to efficiently cut 4'x8' Coroplast sheets into signs??

Spencer_cBlue

Spencer_cBlue

New Member
We have started getting into the high volume yard sign market and we are have a difficult time finding the easiest and most efficient way to cut the standard 18"x24" or 12"x18" signs out.
We have a wall mounted cutter with a huge ruler track but the blade is wobbly and inconsistent, we have huge straight edges but that is just to damn inconvenient. So I was wondering if anybody could lend a hand and tell me about your methods or if there is a piece of equipment or tool/machine that allows this process to be streamlined.
Not looking for crazy expensive machines but willing to spend a little chunk of money.
Any and all help is appreciated.

Thanks.
 
T

Tim Corbitt

New Member
We also have seen a big uptick in Coroplast yard signs. We print the sheets and have two cutting stations set up. First off the printer the sheets are cut in half at the first station (Keen flat cutting table) located at the outfeed table. Then, we send 1/2 sheets to a second cutting station (keene wall cutter) for the short side cuts and then dropped into shipping boxes. Much faster then using our CNC automated cutting table.
 
Spencer_cBlue

Spencer_cBlue

New Member
Tim Corbitt said:
We also have seen a big uptick in Coroplast yard signs. We print the sheets and have two cutting stations set up. First off the printer the sheets are cut in half at the first station (Keen flat cutting table) located at the outfeed table. Then, we send 1/2 sheets to a second cutting station (keene wall cutter) for the short side cuts and then dropped into shipping boxes. Much faster then using our CNC automated cutting table.
Click to expand...
What models of cutting table and wall cutter do you have from Keene?
 
WYLDGFI

WYLDGFI

Merchant Member
Tabletop cutter if you don't have CNC. Always have the coro claw as well. Cut them to 18x48s then separate with the claw.
 
eahicks

eahicks

Magna Cum Laude - School of Hard Knocks
Tim Corbitt said:
We also have seen a big uptick in Coroplast yard signs. We print the sheets and have two cutting stations set up. First off the printer the sheets are cut in half at the first station (Keen flat cutting table) located at the outfeed table. Then, we send 1/2 sheets to a second cutting station (keene wall cutter) for the short side cuts and then dropped into shipping boxes. Much faster then using our CNC automated cutting table.
Click to expand...
This is what we do and is the quickest. Can knock out 10 sheets (100 signs) in less than an hour (aside from printing time)
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Yikes !?!?! That's kinda slow. We cut a sheet in 1/2 like mentioned above and take it to either a 30" Cutter or our fletcher with a fence. Total time is maybe 2 minutes per 10. The more ya have, the faster it goes. We are talking Cor-X, correct ??
 
Christian @ 2CT Media

Christian @ 2CT Media

Active Member
Gino said:
Yikes !?!?! That's kinda slow. We cut a sheet in 1/2 like mentioned above and take it to either a 30" Cutter or our fletcher with a fence. Total time is maybe 2 minutes per 10. The more ya have, the faster it goes. We are talking Cor-X, correct ??
Click to expand...
This is similar to us but with a our Multicam. Our first single sided sheet is 6 mins with load/unload, 2.5 print, 2.5 cut. Then every other sheet is 3mins as our printer and cutter work simultaneously and finish at the same time. We did a large school job where we averaged 30 boards an hour.

To the op, a flute cutter and wall cutter with fence will be the lowest cost and most efficient.
 
mpn

mpn

New Member
Do any of you use a cnc router with a drag knife for cutting contoured shapes effectively? Or which router bit if not drag knife?
 
Christian @ 2CT Media

Christian @ 2CT Media

Active Member
mpn said:
Do any of you use a cnc router with a drag knife for cutting contoured shapes effectively? Or which router bit if not drag knife?
Click to expand...
On our old iEcho and our New Multicam we exclusively use the knife on 4mm for contour or straight shapes. We use the E46 blade on the left.
8c5f602a56a0b0ead13e2689dcb77833.jpg
 
N

netsol

Active Member
we built a approx. 50" panel saw. works fine, although i have not done anything any of you would consider high volume
 
FatCat

FatCat

New Member
mpn said:
Do any of you use a cnc router with a drag knife for cutting contoured shapes effectively? Or which router bit if not drag knife?
Click to expand...

Before we got our Summa F-1612 we did run some coro on our 4x8 CNC table with a Donek drag knife tool. Honestly, it was OK at cutting simple shapes like circles, ovals, squares, etc.. but it struggled with anything more complex than that. It simply wouldn't do it clean enough for sale-able signs.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: mpn
WYLDGFI

WYLDGFI

Merchant Member
All of our coro cut to shapes is drag knife...thinner coro knife from Colex. Makes quick work of it all.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: mpn
eahicks

eahicks

Magna Cum Laude - School of Hard Knocks
Gino said:
Yikes !?!?! That's kinda slow. We cut a sheet in 1/2 like mentioned above and take it to either a 30" Cutter or our fletcher with a fence. Total time is maybe 2 minutes per 10. The more ya have, the faster it goes. We are talking Cor-X, correct ??
Click to expand...
I assume you meant this for me. I said less than an hour. Could it take 20 minutes? Sure. I could probably knock out 30-40 sheets in an hour if I rushed.
Was simply stating in an hour's time you could do quite a bit, like 100 signs which might be a typical order.
 
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