can anyone tell me if there is a way to print/cut and stack?

[Mike Grant]

There is a print and Die-Cut machine on the market, I saw it advertised in a trade mag a few months ago. Sorry but I can’t remember the product/supplier name but I am sure one of the many knowledgable on here will be able to give you a name.

[Ian Higgins]

Hi,

The new Mimaki has a Di cut facilty. You print on one machine then put it in the other for cutting,
Saw it at Sign UK.

Cheers
Ian

[Checkers]

Hiya Michael,
Since you’re mentioning a rotary cutter, I would assume that you’re just looking for straight cuts?
The easiest way is to use stop blocks or jigs to accuately position the graphics on the cutter itself, then cut. With a little planning and measuring, just some thin strips of tape of heavy tape, taped to the bed of the trimmer should work fine.
If you want to get fancy and spend a lot more money, a cutter like the one mentioned here, http://www.paper-cutter.net/apc/t4850ep/index.html, will work for cutting multiple sheets, but it would be pretty much useless for small quantities or rolled goods.

Checkers,
a.k.a. Brian Born
Harrisburg, PA USA

[Michael Auger]

Ian,
Thanks for the info. Right now we’re using a Roland VersCAMM 300V for our printing. Which does a great job or printing and cutting. Do you know if the Mimaki will cut the back aswell?

Brian,
I’ll have to play with that. The KeenCut has some guides built on. I do fairly well with everything in the middle of the sheet. Where I have the biggest issue is with the stickers on the edge where I have to trim the exxess. I can get close but I typically end up with a very minor size difference. We’re talking a 1/4mm or less.

[Rodney Gold]

A laser would be ideal for the backing cuts , but its pricey (But can be used for a zillion other things) , we also use rotary cutters and paper guillotines for your type application albeit we do have lasers as the positioning and registration on the laser is a bit fiddly for short run straight cuts.
Perhaps an easier way on your SP300 is to cut the label and then cut the "outer" (the sticker + paper) a little deeper so it cuts the vinyl and scores the backing which would leave a visible "line" in the backing for your rotary trimmer/cutter to follow.
The downside of this method is the fact that the paper backing is highly abraisive and will shorten cutter life significantly , apart from which , peircing the paper on occasion will score the teflon cutting strip which will affect further cutting.

[Ian Higgins]

Hi,

Yes the mimaki will cut through the backing papet leaving .5 mm uncut so you can just pop the image out.
Cheers

[J_J_O]

Michael,

The Mimaki has a half-cut option, when the cutting process is finished you just push the stickers out. I have seen some results at Fespa2006 and it looks interresting. I am not sure what will happen with large stickers.

Personally I am looking seriously at the Fotoba digital cutting machines, they also offer possibilities to cut lots of other media upto 0,5 mm thick.
You can find more info here, there is a (large) video for download.

Regards,
Jaap-Jan

[David Rowland]

hi.. i cant see the video on the site there… where is it?

i missed that machine at ipex… certainly sounds interesting if it can do the hard trim verticle.

[Nick Minall]

Dave, I think they are the ones on the right hand side under the two black lines

[Rodney Gold]

What is the price of a machine like that? The 30" version?

[J_J_O]

They told me the price for a machine that cuts X and Y-axis is approx. Euro 13.000 to 18.000 and a machine that cuts only X is Euro 5.000 to 8.000.
The X cutter sounded good, however there is a problem.
When cutting large panels … lets say 85 x 220cm … the machine will cut the 85cm perfect, but it cannot handle the 220cm (the hardest cut) in the width of the machine. So the max. postersize is 155 x 155.

JJ

[Rodney Gold]

That sounds like a LOT of money for a machine that can only do straight cuts. The high tech trend in processing labels etc is laser based tho big sizes would be a problem as you need roll feed or large table sizes that would increase your cost significantly. You wont need high powered stuff , a 25-50 w Co2 would enable you to cut real fast. some have optical recognition devices that will read crop marks and cut accordingly. You can do incredibly complex cuts and even indeed engrave , perforate, weld and kiss cut with lasers. You could for example engrave and kiss cut paper for serialised labels or slice thru 1/2" acrylic , cut card , leather , foils, wood , cork etc. The laser never contacts the work either.

[J_J_O]

Rodney,

You seem to know alot about lasers.
Are you talking about machines like Esko and Zund?

As far as I know these machines start somewhere arround Euro 35.000,- and taking some options like router, tangential knive etc. you will get fast to Euro 70.000 – 80.000 Euros.

JJ

[Michael Auger]

JJ,
The Fotoba cutter looks like an interesting option. For the price though I’m not sure if its the best. Something I will for sure look into more though.

Rodney,
The more I think about it the more I’m liking this laser option. Are there some manufacturers / models you would recommend?

[Rodney Gold]

Suggesting a laser is application specific , we use 1m x 500mm Laserpro Explorers and Laserpro Spirits , all 30w.
These are general engraving lasers and dont have any form of crop mark recognition built in but are extremely versatile machines , round about EU 18k or so. You can feed material from front to back , so end up with a max processing capacity of 1m wide by however long you want , however the engraving area is only 1m x 500 , so if you feed stuff in , you got to panelise the job , sometimes difficult for coninuous long cuts. To slice up the small stickers is easy tho. Using one of our type of machines will expand what you can do BIG time , however it is not ideal for paper die cutting as registration can be fiddly (we made templates)

There are some substrates that lasers dont like and PVC (vinyl) is one of them , however kiss cutting sign vinyl will not produce the toxic gasses engraving or cutting thick PVC will.
<200w CO2 lasers wont cut metals at all tho.
Ideally you would want something that can recognise crop marks and has a Roll feed feature if you plan on processing label stock in any big way and this would most likely be one of the bigger and more expensive machines.
Beam Dynamics and Kern lasers have the machines that would be ideal , but are up there in the high priced stratosphere.
I can just tell you that a 30-50w Co2 laser , if used creatively and marketed , can make you a ton more money than a digital printer can.
If you combinbe the lasers capabilities with a print and cut device , you can really go to town with cutting substrates the print goes on. The laser by itself is a huge profit generator in many fields , for example instead of suppling the print that goes on a acrylic POS item , you can laser cut and fabricate the WHOLE item.

[Andy Gorman]

I’ve only glanced over this thread but from what I have gleened, you want something like a flat bed with optical recognition. A Zund flat bed with I-cut would do the job. In fact, it is probably the best set up I have seen for cutting pre-printed materials, both die and kiss cut.

Start saving though; the last one I used was about 75 grand, although it did have a bed size of 2400 x 1800mm. Smaller ones are available.

[Robert Lambie]

having only read andrews reply in this thread so far….

i had an email from printmax today offering various "second user" machines. one was a zund flatbed… spec as follows.

Zund 215 – (Second User)
The 215 is the next generation of the highly successful UVjet 215. The ability to print 4 colours significantly enhances print quality and variety of applications.
Email for Specifications • Model sizes: Up to 2150mm
• Speed: Up to 38m2/hour
• Resolution (max): 360-dpi
• Material Thickness: Up to 40mm
PRICE: £19,999

it may/may not be helpful, but thought ide post it anyway.