Issues with die cutting laminated prints

[gnatuw7180]

Hello all. New to the forums. I've been browsing and found some great info.

I've been having some issues with my printer/plotter setup.

I can't seem to die cut my laminated prints without applying WAY too much pressure and ruining the corners.

Should I be changing blades from regular vinyl to laminated prints? Or do i just need to be changing pressures? Right now I'm increasing pressure by double and it's still not going through the lam/vinyl.

Thanks!

 

[MikeD]

maybe a different blade would work for you. Not sure what plotter and blade you are using, but 60degree blades work for me.

 

[gnatuw7180]

Mimaki CG-160

right now I'm using a 37 degree

 

[gabagoo]

What kind of cutter?
I generally have to cut calendered with calendered laminate at double the pressure. You may have to make sure the blade is sticking out more on the holder.

 

[signage]

What laminate are you speaking of? IF one of the heavier ones you will need to do multiple passes.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

What kind of cutter?
I generally have to cut calendered with calendered laminate at double the pressure. You may have to make sure the blade is sticking out more on the holder.

Yes. Check to make sure your blade is protruding from the holder enough. If it's not there is a physical limit to how thick it will cut no matter how much pressure you throw at it. You don't want it to stick out too far, but it needs to stick out far enough that it can actually reach all the way through the vinyl and laminate.

Also make sure the blade is nice and sharp. Replace your blade regularly. Also make sure the cutting strip is in good shape and doesn't have a groove worn down the middle of it. IF it does then you won't get even pressure while cutting and this can also cause incomplete cuts.

Lastly, you mentioned your corners are getting boogered up. Make sure your offset is set correctly for the blade. Your cutting software should have some way to adjust this. Every blade and plotter will be different, but the manufacturer should have a recommendation on what it should be for a given vinyl thickness and blade combination. For our Summa 36 degree blades we keep our offset at .45mm, sometimes we bump it up a little if we're running really thick vinyl/lam though.

 

[MikeD]

I think you would be best off with a 60 degree blade with the appropriate offset for your tool holder. your corners are probably rounding because although you may have your offset value set correctly for your blade-tool holder combo, when the blade is sticking way out and you're cutting thick media, the offset entered in the control panel of the plotter will not be the actual offset that is occurring since the top surface of the media will be riding slightly higher on the blade. A fresh blade (60 degree,) with proper stick-out (just slightly more than the thickness of laminate and vinyl- and barely scratching the release liner,) should cut fine.
I hope that advice helps (and makes sense..I got hit in the head last night in a wood turning accident.)

 

[gnatuw7180]

thanks all. I'm going to order some new blades and do some tests.

never tried the multiple pass idea...is that something alot of you do?

 

[MikeD]

multiple passes are o.k. on a flatbed or sprocket fed plotter, but can be difficult to register on a friction fed roll to roll.