Can i cut magnetic roll in a vinyl cutter?

[Paul Stenning]

I’ve done this with varying success on our Graphtec.

We use 0.8mm, 0.6mm and 0.3mm magnetic (think our supplier calls it ferrous paper), it’ll cut deep enough into the thicker materials to give a guide for then finishing the cut with a blade, I wouldn’t want to do many like this, or too intricate a shape though.

0.3mm we’ve been able to cut all the way through.

[Simon Worrall]

I tried this the other day in anticipation of a big order.

I put a few layers of masking tape either side of the platen which is steel on my Graphtec, to keep the magnet from touching and sticking on that.

I cut some squares from .8mm material, with 6mm radius corners, cutter on very slow, one two and three passes at medium pressure (graphtec plotters are not measured in grams so I cant be more specific)

I got a pretty okay result on all the above, a single pass seemed just as good as three passes.

Really you only need to cut through the top vinyl layer, and you can break the shape out of the waste. With a bit of practice you can get an okay result, the top being smoothly cut and just a little bit of furring on the edges, but acceptable.
I havent had the order yet, so I dont know how it will go in any quantity, but I am happy to try.

As a back up I do have a dragknife attachment on my CNC so I can cut it right through if the results are not good enough, unfortunately the CNC does not have any sort of register system so that will be a challenge.

As an even more reliable back up I can always cut them out with a ruler and not have rounded corners, they are not expecting these – it was just something I would do if I could.

Trial and error. Thats how we learn!

[Duncan Wilkie]

Gerber makes a product called Gerbermag. https://www.spandex.com

[RobertLambie]

Hi Karen

Not that I have personally done this, but I think the angle of the blade might create better cuts.
cutters can have different angled blades depending on the material you are cutting, such as Flock.

If your machine has a Tangental cutting option, I would definitely run the machine on tangential mode as it will create better, more accurate cuts on such a thick hard material in comparison to sign vinyl.

This Mimaki vinyl shows some support brackets for stiffer materials. I think this is a good idea because I can only imagine the weight and stiffness of the material may not want to lay properly flat. Obviously irrelevant if you don’t have a Mimaki but my point is to keep an eye on the material bending over the machine curve properly as it will determine how good the cut is.

https://youtu.be/ahMPQ6UoQOc

[Simon Worrall]

Uh! That music! I might just jump out the window!

[Leslie Anderson]

This is very clever, i did not know you could do this, i have an idea for a customer! 😍

[Karen White]

guys, this is wonderful. I really appreciate the help and advice on this. 🤩
i saw the replies and started playing with some magnetic using an old blade and it has worked a treat.

i only used the old blade in case i wasted my good one 😃 it took me about 15 minutes of trial and error but got it working and happy with the results. thank you! xx

[Mark Johnston]

perfect timing karen!
i have just made a post about magnetic signs. i didn’t know you could do this either. 😎👍