fc9000 decal die cut and kiss cut

[Geneva Olson]

I've watched several videos on cutting die cut and kiss cut decals. But I haven't tried it on my machine yet. Main reason, I'm not sure how to create the artwork for the die cut to pup the decals out.
Does anyone have videos/ instructions on how to create the artwork for the die cut in coreldraw and/or flexi?

Anybody have advice on does and donts?

 

[Boudica]

You mean perforated cutting (perf cut)? I believe a "die cut" is where you have a cast die to cut a specific shape repeatedly.

Perf cut just needs a second spot color designated for the cut. So In Corel, you would have your CutContour path for kiss cutting, and a separate path for the perf cutting. that's how you get your machine to recognize it. I've never used flexi, but I would assume it's similar to every other RIP
Once you tackle that, then there is the "adventure" of dialing it on your machine. It takes a while.

 

[Geneva Olson]

I want to say I've seen videos where you can do the perf cut line in corel draw. but Ive also seen videos where you do the cut path in flexi. hit a pause button, adjust the blade holder and then do the perf cut. but I'm not sure.

 

[dypinc]

The perf cut line is the same as any other cut path in the design software. You just have to assign it to another condition on the FC9000 which is more of a challenge to set up that condition. I find Cut 8mm and Up 0.30mm works real well for me. I can not speak for Flexi but most RIPs allow you to select a cut frame and use the PDF trim box for cut as well which in that case you won't even need to design in a perf path.

 

[Boudica]

I want to say I've seen videos where you can do the perf cut line in corel draw. but Ive also seen videos where you do the cut path in flexi. hit a pause button, adjust the blade holder and then do the perf cut. but I'm not sure.

Sounds like a very manual way to do it. I think this is in the RIP, but some people will do it so that it does the Kiss/Perf cuts in the same run. I've also heard of kiss cutting the whole batch, then go back and perf cut. I think that's how I was doing it until it was decided that we don't want to do it. It was never very clean, and if it successfully cut the whole batch, without getting caught up on a hole because one fell out - they wouldn't separate easily or cleanly and left little tabs. So our finishing helper decided it was much faster and results in a nicer looking product - to just cut them down by hand and quit on perf cutting all together.

 

[Geneva Olson]

so if you have 100 2x3 inch decals, you hand cut them after they've been weeded?

 

[Boudica]

so if you have 100 2x3 inch decals, you hand cut them after they've been weeded?

100, 500.... yep. I do them in approx 4ft batches, and we have a pretty slick system for cutting them down. It goes MUCH faster than dealing with perf cut decals. Also, perf cut takes a lOT of time, and our finishing helper can cut these down faster than it takes to perf cut them. meanwhile, I'm kiss cutting the other batches. It works for us.

 

[ikarasu]

You know how your kiss cut is a spot color called cuntourcut or kiss cut it whatever the name is? Setting up a perf cut is the same.... But in onyx you call it perf cut.


Then you tell your software to use position 7 or whatever position you want to setup for perf. Position 8 and u is auto setup to perf I believe - that's where it'll cut, lift, cut , lift... It takes forever.


The best way is to put it in the second blade slot and just "kiss cut" with more pressure. You run the kiss cut.... Move the blade to the best slot and then run the perf - the important part is to make sure it's cutting front to back... In onyx there's a front and a back to the sheet, if you cut from the backside it'll start cutting from the front and roll over the stickers and cause an issue.

Here's an image of me perf cutting from years ago - using the kiss cut over the slot option, it's literally 10x faster ... Very rarely do I ever have an issue with it.

I don't use Flexi, but I do have it - so if you want a write up I can do one over the weekend for you.

 

[ikarasu]

And here's a video of square cuts to see just how fast it cuts without a million ridges - this is kiss cutting over the perf channel.... And then coming back and graphtec cutting with no need to move the blade position.


We do a lot of sheering as well.... Especially if it's just rectangles for sheer cutting, id say the graphtec is faster

 

[FCD]

This is how we do it:
On the software side, run it the same as you would a normal kiss cut.

-Use a 60 degree blade.
-Setup a new condition slot on your cutter. Move the cut tool to tool position 3 (the front spot over the channel).
-Make sure your blade is out far enough to extend through the thickness of the vinyl (you may have to run some test cuts to get it right.)
-Adjust pressure- this may vary depending on the vinyl.

You can usually get it cutting through consistently after a few test cuts. This will allow full cut through with 1 pass. If you get your blade depth right they should remain in place until you pop them out.

We keep one blade holder loaded with the 60 degree blade just for cut through decals.

 

[Joseph44708]

Take your finished artwork (pdf file) open it in Flexi and add a contour, Rectangle or a Oval cut line in any color then add a second cut line in a different color. (I use Blue for kiss cut and Red for straight thru cutting)
When printing in flexi go to cut screen and make sure kiss cut color is on top.
Click on kiss color click edit then put your settings in that you put into your cutter (speed, condition) then enter.
Now click on straight thru color and do the same process. Then print the file.
Make sure you set your cutter conditions up first (Speed, Force) (I use 4 for Straight thru, 5 for Kiss, 6 for Perf) these settings will never change.

 

[Joseph44708]

Here are my settings