# Standard Knife Pressure?



## tdeals (Dec 13, 2006)

Does anyone find that when cutting vinyl vs. other materials that you can set a "standard" Knife Pressure on your cutter and only change other settings (i.e., knife depth, knife offset, velocity)?

It was shared with me recently that "most" vinyl can use a standard Knife Pressure of 125g. However, I've been testing a couple of different vinyls and find that I do not use that high of a Knife Pressure, I actually use lower.

However, it would be nice to leave the Knife Pressure untouched and adjust other settings accordingly, which I will test today.

Just wanted to know if anyone else has been able to keep standard KP settings.

Thanks.

AB


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## Chani (Jun 18, 2007)

We rarely change the downforce unless we're cutting flock or reflective. We use the same setting for t-shirt and sign vinyl. 

We NEVER change the depth of the blade, and rarely change the cutting speed.



So...how ya liking your cutter?


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## mystysue (Aug 27, 2006)

Im with chani on this.
and the actual downforce is actually gonna vary with how your blade is set up.. so once i found the df that worked with the t-shirt vinyl.. I just leave it there..
unless doing flock.. like chani says


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

I agree with the girls the thing is you have to find that golden blade depth once you do unless you are cutting speciality films you rarely have to change your downforce if at all,, the blades I use and the depth setting of my blade does not require me to cut with a lot of down pressure I run around 60 grams downforce.


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## marcelolopez (Jul 16, 2007)

Most of the time, if not always, I use 60 grams down force, except when cutting JPSS.
I think Chani mentioned 30g. for JPSS, and it works OK for me.


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## Chani (Jun 18, 2007)

For some reason, it also matters what plotter you're using. On the Roland, we can use a downforce of about 60-70 for vinyl, but on our Graphtec, it takes 120.


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## marcelolopez (Jul 16, 2007)

Chani said:


> For some reason, it also matters what plotter you're using. On the Roland, we can use a downforce of about 60-70 for vinyl, but on our Graphtec, it takes 120.


In that case, I use a Roland and 60g for general use .


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## tdeals (Dec 13, 2006)

This is great feedback, thanks everyone! Love my cutter thus far and learning a lot.  I'll have to post a pic of my new "child" and I went with something different (Summa) to mix up the playing field around here! 

Given that I'm test cutting with various materials to learn my way around the forest, I'm having some variations with settings. 

I'm cutting 3 mil wall vinyl, Flock and Heat Applied Polyurethane (i.e., ThermoFlex Plus). I'm using my 36 deg blade for the wall vinyl & polyurethane with an average force of 80g but for some reason the ThermoFlex Plus is requiring more force. I'm using the 60 deg blade for Flock with 120g of force.

I will be saving my settings for quick access once I've confirmed these are the sweet spots.

Perhaps it helps too to do multiple jobs with 1 material before moving to the next. Would this explain why everyone who've replied thus far can keep the same settings? 

AB


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## tdeals (Dec 13, 2006)

Chani said:


> For some reason, it also matters what plotter you're using. On the Roland, we can use a downforce of about 60-70 for vinyl, but on our Graphtec, it takes 120.


Ah yes. So I'm not going bonkers here! I kinda thought there would be variation based on cutter make/model.


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## tdeals (Dec 13, 2006)

Chani said:


> So...how ya liking your cutter?


Here's my child...have to give it a name! It's a Summa/Summacut D75-R with stand and basket.

Sorry the pic is crooked but trust, the unit is not. 

AB


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## FredNeedle (Jul 10, 2008)

Hi,
I never change either feed speed or down force, unless I'm using speciality films. One thing to keep in mind, is if you cut too deep into the backing paper, it will make the vinyl harder to weed. It forces the 2 cut edges down into the backing paper & closes the gap between them. You need only to score the backing, and no deeper.

Regards,
Fred Needle


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## schenk (Jul 16, 2007)

i also use summa. with a new knive i use 65, when the knive gets older i use upto 85-90. i replace every 6 months a knive. i use turbocut and a velocity of 800.


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## tdeals (Dec 13, 2006)

schenk said:


> i also use summa. with a new knive i use 65, when the knive gets older i use upto 85-90. i replace every 6 months a knive. i use turbocut and a velocity of 800.


I've never used Turbocut and wow that's fast on the speed! 

Upon shipping, mine was set to 700 mm/s but I changed to English metric and now have cut it down just under half to a speed of 10 ips. That's a very conservative speed for now, though I have tested it faster and it has cut fine.


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## COEDS (Oct 4, 2006)

I agree, I don't cut fast either. I like to make sure things are going right. I still find myself watching it cut a lot. I do the same thing with embroidery. i just get fascinated with the creation happening as I watch. .... JB


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## tdeals (Dec 13, 2006)

COEDS said:


> I agree, I don't cut fast either. I like to make sure things are going right. I still find myself watching it cut a lot. I do the same thing with embroidery. i just get fascinated with the creation happening as I watch. .... JB


Me too!  I stand there and watch it like it's working magic. A cutter is truly a cool piece of equipment.

About an hour ago, I put it at the max cutting speed on a test cut just to see it fly and it zipped! But, I still was uncomfortable doing it and changed it back. 

AB


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## COEDS (Oct 4, 2006)

I want to add running your equipment at it's maximum will shorten it's life span or cause stress on working parts. ...... JB


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

Thats right you can't run the equipment full tilt and expect it to last. Words well said JB


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