All About Knife Sticker Cutting Machine
A cutting machine knife is a complementary device on a production machine that must be in a sticker business. It's small in shape, even very small for some brands, but its function is very important.
Talking about this small pointy thing, it's actually not just a way of installing. If my friend is a beginner and just has a sticker cutting machine, it's good to read the explanation below.
Cutting Machine Blade Size
At first glance, you won't see the difference. But try occasionally to compare some sticker cutting machine blades, pay attention to the tip. There will definitely be something different, except for one size being compared hehe.
1. 30 Degree Angle Blade
This size is highly recommended for cutting materials with a thickness of 20-30 microns. If the sticker material that you are using is made by a well-known manufacturer, there will be a description of the thickness of the material.
You can find sticker material with this thickness on most reflective sheets. For example seicholite, prolite, ablaze, xlite, goodlite, best, and the like.
2. 45 Degree Angle Blade
If the sticker material to be cut is polyflex or material for t-shirt screen printing, you should use this size.
This category of blades is recommended for cutting media with a thickness of 60-100 microns. But it should be noted, not all polyflex can be cut with this knife. This is because there are many screen printing materials whose thickness is above 100 microns.
Polyflex PU, PU stretch, foil, glow in the dark, printable, you can use this knife.
3. 60 Degree Angle Blade
This is the last type of cutting machine blade. Usually used to cut materials with a thickness of about 100 - 150 microns. It will cut sticker materials such as PVC, flock, glitter in more detail.
However, the above is not absolute. Because if you apply it, you should have three holders for three types of knives. If there is only one holder it will make timeless effective.
In addition, it will require manual adjustment again when you have to change the knife to the holder or housing.
In Indonesia, I see very few sellers who provide needles with an angle of 30 degrees. Most sell 45 or 60 degrees. And I also believe that I rarely or even never notice.
Anyway, when you buy it, thank you. About the various materials to be cut, the settings or arrangements are not so important. As long as the material is cut, that's fine.
Consequences of Wrong Use
Not a few sticker friends sent questions to me regarding this problem. Because previously I have also written articles about cutting machine blades. There are even those who have been in this business for years and just found out that there are different sizes of blades.
In my opinion, it doesn't matter which size you use. But what should be considered is how to adjust the pressure (force) and speed (speed).
If you really don't have a choice, just use the 45 degrees one so that it can play the function of the 30 or 60-degree blade. But you also have to choose, not all the materials brought by your customers can be cut.
If by chance what is brought is very thick polyflex, it will quickly damage or make the cutting machine blade blunt.
In the Indonesian market, there are cutting machine knives with different brands. Broadly speaking are Roland, Mimaki, Graphtec. In addition, there is a knife cutting machine for CraftROBO or Silhouette Cameo.
They all have different shapes. Don't ever think that Mimaki cutting machines use Roland or Graphtec knives. Will not enter the holder.
What is unique is the CraftROBO needle, a 20 cm wide cutting machine made by Graphtec. It has one type of blade. As for the settings when cutting sticker material, use the head holder.
The yellow head is for that thickness of the material, red is for that thickness and blue is for that thickness.
Although both are made by Graphtec, the Silhouette Cameo also has a different blade shape.
Advances in technology have also made it easier to cutting machine users. China, which then produces cutting machines, also produces holders that can be adapted to a variety of premium cutting machines.
So friends whose cutting machines are Liyu, Suda, PCut, Jinka, Innograph, Teneth, Rhinotec, Lidar and the like can use Roland or Mimaki cutting machine blades. The key is to replace the factory default holder with a Chinese engineered holder.
Choosing Sticker Cutting Machine Blades
What happens to a sticker cutting machine without a knife? It's better to have a cellphone without credit, you can still play songs or watch online videos. Maybe many already know that the cutting sticker blade has its own secret. Wow... just like a mystery hehe.
Here's a friend, actually the blade of the sticker cutting machine has a different tip slope. Take a look at the box for the blade of the sticker cutting machine in front of you, there must be a number accompanied by degrees or degrees. The usual 30 degrees, 45 degrees, and 60 degrees.
Why do manufacturers of sticker cutting machine blades make them with different numbers?
1. Blade Tip Slope
Any tilt of the tip of the blade must be useful. Here I try to describe its use. As a sticker cutting business actor, you certainly can't refuse when a customer comes and chooses the material they want to make a cutting sticker according to their needs.
And of course, you understand correctly, there are sticker materials that are tough, textured, soft, thin or thick. In comparison, Chinese or Taiwanese vinyl with brands such as Seichofix, Profix, Decofix, Goodfix, or even German output, DCfix is definitely thicker than Oracal or Mactac vinyl.
Meanwhile, reflective materials such as Seicholite, Prolite, Xlite, Goodlite and the like have a thinner layer. Even if you also open digital screen printing with flex or flock material, the thickness of the material is very different.
The flex or flock layer is made of a material that has rubber properties because it is used to attach it to the fabric by means of a heater or heat-press. Actually, the size of the blade of the sticker cutting machine is adjusted for different materials.
2. Blade Pressure
For materials that are thin, and don't require too much pressure, a sticker cutting machine blade with a sharpness of 30 degrees or 45 degrees is good enough. Meanwhile, for thicker materials, it is better to use a sticker cutting machine blade with a higher degree of inclination, namely 60 degrees.
The logic is like this, for thick materials it requires a deeper stab of the cutting sticker's blade. With the sharpness of the blade cutting machine sticker 60 degrees, the tip will easily cut to the base of the material so that it is cut off perfectly.
It will make the peeling process easier. Usually, what is done is to add pressure or force if the results of the cutting do not cut perfectly. Even though this is not the method recommended by the cutting machine manufacturer.
The force or pressure on the cutting edge of the sticker blade affects the ability of the cutting machine components themselves. The turning belt or belting will be forced to pull the holder while the cutting edge of the sticker cutting machine is cutting thick material.
If the blade of the sticker cutting machine uses a low degree, such as 30 degrees, the pull will feel heavier. Especially if the blade of the sticker cutting machine is a bit dull.
However, there are also sticker materials that cannot be cut with a cutting machine blade of 30, 40, or even 60 degrees. For example, super-dense sticker materials such as the Nikkalite Crystal brand require a special sticker cutting blade.
Likewise with 3M 3930 reflective grade diamonds, a specially recommended blade.
Learn How To Install
For the owner of a new sticker cutting machine, it means that it is the first time you buy it, you should first read how to operate it. Every purchase of a cutting machine should get a manual containing instructions for its use.
In general, installing a cutting machine knife is almost the same for most brands. Especially the brands made in China that use a blade holder that can be filled with the same blade.
The trick is to unlock the blade holder from the cutting machine head. Most use a screw or some kind of hand screw that can be turned. Rotate to the right to tighten and turn the other way around to remove it.
Then rotate the blade holder head. Turn it to the left until it releases so that the knife can be removed. Then replace it with a new knife by inserting the tip first.
Next, close it again and rotate the blade holder cover by turning it to the left. With the tip of the thumb of the left hand, feel whether the tip of the knife is poking or not.
If not, keep turning the top of the blade holder until the tip of the needle begins to feel on the skin of your right thumb.
Well, the matter of how much the tip of the knife comes out usually depends on habit. Do not tear the backing paper because it comes out too much. Also, don't cut the sticker material because the tip is too shallow to remove.
Fingering the Edge of the Cutting Machine
Cutting sticker knives that are familiar to cutting machine users in Indonesia are the knives for Roland, Mimaki, and Graphtec. Chinese cutting machine manufacturers, usually equip the needle holder so that the blades of the three brands can be installed.
However, you can change the blade by purchasing a holder made in China. Just choose the one that is suitable for the type of blade you like.
If you consistently use one type of sticker cutting blade brand, what I will describe below is just ignore it. Because there will be no problems. However, problems can still arise because more and more factories in China are producing cutting machine blades.
For only one brand, for example, Roland, sometimes there is a difference in the length of the blade even if it is only one millimeter. If this happens, what you have to master is to adjust the tip of the blade that comes out of the hole in the holder so that the blade can function properly.
In fact, the blade settings are often neglected. As long as you can cut it is considered complete. Even though the sticker material used is different. For example, if after using a vinyl sticker material and then you cut the reflective type sticker material made in China whose brands are quite a lot sold in Indonesia, sometimes scratches appear between the letters.
This will be very annoying. Especially if the scratches that appear instead cut the reflective sticker material which is quite thin and made of paper.
I once got a cutting machine blade for one brand but made by a different factory in China, I had to adjust the top of the holder to raise and lower the tip of the blade to make it fit properly, it can be used to cut vinyl and reflective sticker materials.
So mastering the science of feeling the tip of a cutting machine knife is the right move to deal with this problem. If it doesn't fit, you've succeeded in cutting the vinyl sticker material, but failed to cut the reflective. If it sticks out too much, it is certain that the reflective will be damaged.
New Blade But Not Working
A cutting sticker blade is an object in the form of a needle that is installed in the holder with the function of cutting sticker material. From here you will understand how important the function of this small object is.
The sticker cutting blade is also called the sticker cutting machine needle. While those who like to abbreviate can change their meaning. For example, buying a cutting machine blade, it could be the one given by the shop owner with acrylic or zinc cutting needles.
Is that possible? Yes, because if you browse the internet with the keyword cutting machine, there are lots of them. Well, if what you have is a sticker cutting machine, that means it's not for cutting other materials other than sticker material.
OK, let's get straight to the point. Wow, how come the language suddenly became very scientific, bro, hehe.
If you bought a cutting sticker blade a month ago, and you don't cut the material every day because your area is affected by PPKM, suddenly when you order the sticker material, it won't be cut.
It's cut off, just not completely. You must be annoyed. Then angry in his heart cursing the cutting sticker blade. Weh, when a blade is an inanimate object, why are you cursing and being angry.
As it turns out, there is one thing that is actually very, very embarrassing. Can you guess what I'm going to say?
"I'm dizzy, the material is only reflective made in China, thin. How come it doesn't cut," said Machfut from Bintan Wrapping Sticker Tanjungpinang variation a few days ago.
Clogged Dust
On a whim, he unlocked the cutting sticker blade holder and found that at the bottom end of the holder where the tip of the blade poked a little, there was dirt.
Do not compare the thickness of dirt on the surface of the holder with the thickness of dirt on the road. On the highway, there was horse dung as thick as it was crushed by a vehicle tire straight away. It's just the smell.... hehe.
Meanwhile, if the dirt in the form of dust stuck to the tip of the cutting sticker blade holder is only one millimeter, it is very confusing. How can I not, the tip of the blade is only raised one millimeter or less, this dirt is one millimeter thick.
The solution is easy, let's listen to Machfut's comments again. "I poured a little gasoline on a soft cloth that I folded, a tissue is okay, I took off the blade, then I rotated the bottom end of the holder on the cloth soaked in gasoline until it was clean," he said.
Then the cutting sticker blade is inserted again into the holder. This time the cut on the sticker material is really easy to pick up or pick at. Because the tip of the cutting sticker blade is not blocked by dirt.
So where did the dirt come from? One useful tip for you from Bintan Wrapping, it could be from the sticker material. Especially if you like to save the rest of the sticker material for next time.
Clogged Pieces of Material
Sometimes the material is piled up for a long time, scattered around the room. If you see it with the naked eye, you don't see dust or small particles flying in. Then something fell on the surface of the sticker material.
And I'm not sure that you clean the surface of the sticker material every day hehe.
"Actually, the sticker material that is dirty with dust can be felt when you touch it with the palm of your hand. If it's clean, you just opened it from the plastic, it's smooth on the palm of your hand," Machfut explained further.
The solution is also very easy, check the tip of the cutting sticker blade holder as often as possible. In addition to dust, there are also pieces of sticker material that are stretched on the unsung holder.
This can happen when you cut a design that has lots of small pieces so that if something gets loose and gets stuck at the end of the holder, it's a disaster.
Hopefully, this article about cutting machine knives helps. ***
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