Hi Folks, Can anyone share their thoughts on building a paper cutter? I want to cut vinyl paper 0.2mm ( Peel and Stick ). Paper would cut in 3 inches x 8 feet strips. Thanks
Can you give us a better idea of where you are headed with this. Are you wanting an 8' flat bed to where a drag knife could be used? Are you wanting to do this cutting on a roll-to-roll setup? How wide do you need for the initial roll?
Hi Rick, Thanks for responding. Yes , a 8 foot flatbed with a drag knife is exactly what I would want. Printed 2mm Vinyl ( 17 feet by 8 feet ) will be fed through a roller. Each cut will have to be 3 inches wide. Total around 41 pieces and I will be doing 6 sheets in total so a fair amount of cutting. I have seen different drag knives on the Internet and if you have a recommendation I would like to know? As per the flat bed build, would you recommend the V Cut series or C? And what kind of a slider assembly? There seem to be a few and not having any experience don't know the best way to start. Appreciate your thoughts. Chandra.
Suggestion using a simple parallel rail system mounted to a sheet of plywood with multiple blade holders set at 3" spacing along a sliding crossbar. You would need to rough cut a sheet 36" wide from the mother roll but the setup would yield eleven 3" strips in a single effort leaving 1.5" of scrap each side. The system shown is just a rough concept. You will need springs wedged into the front of the blade mounts to maintain pressure and you will also probably want a parallel wiring system to keep the crossbar square. The blade holders shown are a rough concept made with aluminum angle but if you have access to a 3D printer, you should be able to create a much simpler system. While this concept could easily be modified to where you didn't have to pre-cut the sheets and thus waste could be eliminated, it would require a rather substantial aluminum tube framework which would greatly increase the overall cost.
Rick, This looks fantastic! I will start with this and keep you in the loop on the progress. Thanks a bunch. Chandra.