Help to cut out MX Decals laminate

[Versus]

Hi everyone..
i'm hopeing someone here knows a neat trick or can help in any other way on how to contur cut laminated vinyl for MX decals (wich is really thick).
We are using a Standard Roland VP-540..

Any help is appreciated :)

[kraigsnowden]

Harder Press, and adjust the height of the blade doesn't do it?

[SOA]

you need a different blade, in the UK they are called sandblaster blades.
2 years ago we had the standard blade all the way out on 300 pressure and still nothing, put a sandblaster blade in 150 pressure small amount of blade out, cuts like a hot knife through butter.
thats cutting convex with pro shield lam.

[TresL]

and slow it down.

[Jackpine]

Try using a 60degree blade.

[Rooster]

You may need to flatten out the input and output paths of the media if you're laminating with 12 mil. Use a 60˚ blade, slow it down and use higher pressure on the cutter.

The thickness of the laminate required me to do this with my Summa cutter. No problems cutting through the media, but it wasn't draping over the cutter correctly and was leaving high spots that the blade would drag across between cuts. The 12 Mil laminate was essentially turning the vinyl into a rigid substrate and required setting the cutter up between 2 tables so that the media laid flat as it went through the machine.

[Flame]

Exactly as has been mentioned. Best tool for the job is a flatbed cutter. :)

[Malkin]

We had good luck with slow speed and a triple pass on the cut.

In order to get the cuts to line up on top of each other properly, I stacked 3 cutcontour lines in the file. For each shape the lines were all layered right together, this caused them to cut one after the other in the cutting order, before moving on to the next shape.

Only had 1 job like that so far, and that method worked fairly well.

[Versus]

Thanks for the answers so far.

Here we actually do stack the cut path 3 times. But 70% of the time it dosent go real well, often we need to cut alot of it out with a knife.

The flatbed thing we already figured, but the economy isent really that good to do that upgrade at this moment :)

We ahve thought of making somekind of table to make the vinyl go in and out flat.

The Sandblasterblade sounds really interesting. What exactly is the difference? at the moment we are using the 60 degree blade..

[Rooster]

Thanks for the answers so far.

Here we actually do stack the cut path 3 times. But 70% of the time it dosent go real well, often we need to cut alot of it out with a knife.

The flatbed thing we already figured, but the economy isent really that good to do that upgrade at this moment :)

We ahve thought of making somekind of table to make the vinyl go in and out flat.

The Sandblasterblade sounds really interesting. What exactly is the difference? at the moment we are using the 60 degree blade..

If your blade isn't fresh you'll have trouble with the thick stuff. A 60˚ blade is considered a sandblasting blade. At least with Summa it is. I stuck a 60˚ double sided blade in recently and it sure cuts nice. I can get through 6 mill with a 12 mil lam in 1 cut at less than 400 grams pressure, so you need to either change your blade or figure out why yours isn't getting it done with 3 cuts.

The tables to flatten out the vinyl's path should be your first priority though. It made the biggest difference with my set-up.

[MarioDesign]

We have a VP540 also and have contour cut the Convex Material with laminate. We use a 60 degree blade and turn the heat settings up a little to help soften the vinyl and it works great.

[sb317]

We tried running the Convex 6mil vinyl and 12mil laminate through a plotter at a local sign shop. Aside from scratching the vinyl while moving from one cut to another, the cuts also got more and more off register as the cutter went along. The cuts were off by about 1/2 inch by the time we got to the end. Is this an issue with the speed of the cut? I figured the scratching was from the material bowing up. We are going to try the 60 degree blade and try to flatten the path of the vinyl out also. I'm new to this and have found this site very informative. I hope I can get this figured out.

[TresL]

Slow it down.
I run my Roland SP300V at:
Speed: 2
Downforce: 275

I also try and keep the sheet length to less than 60"

[TresL]

What settings are you using o the Summa?

I'm still trying to find a good mix of speed & downforce and getting the Flex-cut working.
I'm using a 75T

If your blade isn't fresh you'll have trouble with the thick stuff. A 60˚ blade is considered a sandblasting blade. At least with Summa it is. I stuck a 60˚ double sided blade in recently and it sure cuts nice. I can get through 6 mill with a 12 mil lam in 1 cut at less than 400 grams pressure, so you need to either change your blade or figure out why yours isn't getting it done with 3 cuts.

The tables to flatten out the vinyl's path should be your first priority though. It made the biggest difference with my set-up.

[Rooster]

What settings are you using o the Summa?

I'm still trying to find a good mix of speed & downforce and getting the Flex-cut working.
I'm using a 75T

They change every time I do MX graphics. I'll do test cuts until I get the right cut depth. I don't bother to change the speed from my regular settings. The big thing is to straighten out the feed path.