If you’re expecting to do any vinyl cutting, it’s time to start thinking about the quality of your blade.
It’s likely that if you’re cutting any vinyl and have forgotten some of these critical specifics on your cutter, you haven’t used it in a while. Even if you’re experienced working with this tool, you may need a little brush up of how to replace your vinyl cutter blade.
There are varying materials on the market and you need to have a good understanding of how to dial in your blade and other settings within the cutter. Read on for some helpful guidance.
Replacing a Vinyl Cutter Blade
Cutters have a pin on the top of them. You’ll want to press the pin and allow the blade to pop out. Grab the blade carefully and set it aside. Then take your next blade and put it in, but be sure to handle it carefully to avoid injury. All blade types will enter the same way as long as you have a standard vinyl cutter.
Blades
Standard blades come in 45- and 60-degree angles. Before you replace your vinyl cutter, be sure you know what type of cutting you’ll be doing. Different blades will allow you to have more precision and ease when it comes time to cut, depending on the job.
Most 45-degree blades are used for standard vinyl cutting. You don’t want to have the blade sticking out too far. It should extend about half of the thickness of a credit card.
By this, we mean the side-edge of the credit card. A good setting would barely prick your finger when it’s dialed in correctly.
Your extension will vary with different materials, so you’ll want to cut down to the bottom of the material but not necessarily all the way through it.
A 60-degree blade, designed for thicker materials, is also used for more precise cutting. The angle allows for a finer, pin-pointed cut.
Offsets
Another important issue in setting your blade is the offset of the blade. When you load your blade into the cutter, you’ll want to look into the control center and adjust speed, down-force, and offset.
Offset is the way that the cutting machine adjusts to the angle of the cutter. When you buy a blade, you’ll most likely receive an offset recommendation. Your cutter manual on the machine should also come equipped with recommendations on the offset of each blade.
The offset will come in any number between 0 and 1. Essentially, an inaccurate offset will have a negative effect on your cut. With extremely precise cuts, the offset could be the difference between needing to buy new materials or not.
Read More on Vinyl Cutter Blades
Ultimately, you want to have the most precise cut possible. Your vinyl cutter may have been set up a long time ago for entirely different projects. You want to ensure that you set up your vinyl cutter each time to cater to every new project.
If you have more questions about vinyl cutters or any of your projects, be sure to contact us for more information.
Simple Solutions International offers a full selection of plotter blades and plotter pens as well as a variety of useful tools for use in plotting and sign making such as plotter adapters, masking film, spray mask, and other sign making tools and accessories.