Die cut stickers one or two passes?

[bartlondon]

As per title I'm planning to do die cut stickers on Summa plotter and it's better cut on one or two passes?

 

[Gino]

Is this a trick question ??

 

[bartlondon]

Is this a trick question ??

Nope, just genuine question. Some people actually says two passes

 

[CanuckSigns]

I've never heard of anyone doing multiple passes for decals, sounds like something a government sign shop might do.

 

[kffernandez]

not for die cutting, but for thick materials or laminated items kiss cuts, i do prefer 2 passes than just 1. it seems to do less damage to my blade by maintaining the same pressure and points of contacts. not to mention more consistent cuts.
in theory, i'd do the same for die cutting, but it would probably take quite a bit of trial and error. [non-flex cut die cutting
]

 

[Saturn]

I pretty much only do die-cut stickers on my two S2Ts, and use two passes on everything. Much easier to get consistent cuts.

I also take care to setup 99% of the cutlines to have zero sharp corners—So the blade does both passes on the sticker in one continuous cut, without the head ever lifting off the material.

I've heard from a few sources that another larger shop nearby does 3 cuts as a rule. They have 12+ Summa cutters for their production.

 

[bartlondon]

I pretty much only do die-cut stickers on my two S2Ts, and use two passes on everything. Much easier to get consistent cuts.

I also take care to setup 99% of the cutlines to have zero sharp corners—So the blade does both passes on the sticker in one continuous cut, without the head ever lifting off the material.

I've heard from a few sources that another larger shop nearby does 3 cuts as a rule. They have 12+ Summa cutters for their production.

Thanks for your reply.
How do you deal when customer sends you project with sharp corners?
As Summa user how do you die cut to avoid having a bridges on stickers?

 

[Saturn]

Most customers do not send artwork that includes dielines, so I have a lot of control there. I'm also not afraid to change things and present it as offering more "durability," in the sense that it might snag or tear less being rounded. I'm doing mostly "stickers", so there's not often real designers involved before it gets to me. The one time I do prefer sharp corners is for plain rectangles. I change the 'sorting vectors' from 'off' to 'directional' and this is perfect for things like bumper stickers, as it allows you to cut a little deeper without fear of jams, and also gives better overall quality on the larger shapes.

I don't use FlexCut as a rule. For plain laminated calendered vinyl 1-3 "regular" cuts are vastly superior—much cleaner, and much faster. The only time I use it, is when I'm forced to do sticker sheets. It seems to be the only way to do unique cuts in a single job on the Summa, so I'm stuck with it there. Would be great if the cutter itself had a way to interpret 'CutContour-1', 'CutContour-2' etc. and allowed you to set the pressure at the cutter for each, rather than using regular cut and flexcut.

For my material, and the way I have my machine set to cut, the stickers are cut so that they're nearly falling out, but not quite. If you go too far, they end up causing jam or quality issues, and if you don't go far enough they end up diffiuclt to pop-out and leave fibers along the edge from tearing.

 

[bartlondon]

Most customers do not send artwork that includes dielines, so I have a lot of control there. I'm also not afraid to change things and present it as offering more "durability," in the sense that it might snag or tear less being rounded. I'm doing mostly "stickers", so there's not often real designers involved before it gets to me. The one time I do prefer sharp corners is for plain rectangles. I change the 'sorting vectors' from 'off' to 'directional' and this is perfect for things like bumper stickers, as it allows you to cut a little deeper without fear of jams, and also gives better overall quality on the larger shapes.

I don't use FlexCut as a rule. For plain laminated calendered vinyl 1-3 "regular" cuts are vastly superior—much cleaner, and much faster. The only time I use it, is when I'm forced to do sticker sheets. It seems to be the only way to do unique cuts in a single job on the Summa, so I'm stuck with it there. Would be great if the cutter itself had a way to interpret 'CutContour-1', 'CutContour-2' etc. and allowed you to set the pressure at the cutter for each, rather than using regular cut and flexcut.

For my material, and the way I have my machine set to cut, the stickers are cut so that they're nearly falling out, but not quite. If you go too far, they end up causing jam or quality issues, and if you don't go far enough they end up diffiuclt to pop-out and leave fibers along the edge from tearing.

So looks like you have mastered to perfection how deep you set the pressure

 

[Saturn]

So looks like you have mastered to perfection how deep you set the pressure

It's not as hard as people think. I think the biggest problem for new users is trying to work through a damaged blade and not realizing it. If it was 30 years ago, I'd try making money off my patented setup process—"Available now via DVD!" ;p

Another factor is there's no 'set it and forget it' with the Summa. You gotta kinda keep watching it the whole life cycle of the blade and stuff. Gets immensely easier the longer you're at it, but you gotta have more of a journeyman attitude about it than just a production monkey.

 

[myront]

Most times we'll cut twice but in a different way than described here. First cut to just cut the vinyl, 2nd cut is offset slightly larger and set to "punch-cut" aka Half Cut. Wouldn't want to do it this way for any run more than, say, 50 though. lol
Then go back and pull off the outer "ring"

 

[bartlondon]

Most times we'll cut twice but in a different way than described here. First cut to just cut the vinyl, 2nd cut is offset slightly larger and set to "punch-cut" aka Half Cut. Wouldn't want to do it this way for any run more than, say, 50 though. lol
Then go back and pull off the outer "ring"
View attachment 167366

I was thinking about doing this way so basically it would leave a bit of white vinyl around sticker. Shouldn't be any issue for most customers

 

[myront]

I was thinking about doing this way so basically it would leave a bit of white vinyl around sticker. Shouldn't be any issue for most customers

Shouldn't be any white around the edge if set up correctly and pull away the out ring as described.

 

[White Haus]

Most times we'll cut twice but in a different way than described here. First cut to just cut the vinyl, 2nd cut is offset slightly larger and set to "punch-cut" aka Half Cut. Wouldn't want to do it this way for any run more than, say, 50 though. lol
Then go back and pull off the outer "ring"
View attachment 167366

Why bother pulling away the outer ring?

 

[myront]

Why bother pulling away the outer ring?

Unprofessional not to.

 

[White Haus]

Unprofessional not to.

Says who?

 

[myront]

Says who?

Me, a professional.

 

[PortlandPrint]

I ran graphtec machines and we would do a kiss cut, then a die cut. The die cut for us was the the perf setting that sounds like a sewing machine. We did it as 2 passes because the kiss would perfectly cut the vinyl, the die would cut the backer. We felt it left smoother edges and we could run the speeds quicker. I would do all the cuts in our cut off channel and use the red blade. I think with 60 degree blade.