Contour/profile cutting around digital prints

[matthew]

I'm unsure how you guys would proceed with a common situation I hope to remedy:

Job: contour cut digital print
Substrate: doesn't matter
Details: I want to mount a digital print to a piece of material, then load into the router and profile cut.

It seems easier to apply a dig. print to a flat piece, that's why I'm curious how you'd handle this. Or is it even feasible without ruining the print graphic?

Thanks.

[wcsg]

Can't you cut a substrate first then wet/dry apply your print?

[Brady Watson]

Depending on the shape of the part being printed, often times printers will only print on a full sheet or something that they can fixture on their machines.

I have done this in the past and to be successful, it requires that you talk to the printer personally or have a clear understanding between you and your customer. You need to ensure that you both use the exact same vector outlines/boundaries to both print and cut the parts. This has to be made crystal clear to the printer. Many times the printer will print targets on the substrate itself that you can use as a reference. In other words, your 0,0 point may be up and over an inch on the printed substrate. Pop a sharp v-bit into the router and use it as a pointer to set X & Y zero and to ensure that everything is square an parallel before cutting. Other than that, you should be fine.

-Brady

[artisan]

I have done this often.

First....are you actually printing on the substrate or are you applying printed Vinyl? If you are applying the ink directly to the substrate, then you can cut most on the router with no effects other than heat discoloration on some plastics.

Second....if you are applying printed vinyl to your substrate then it's a whole different animal. The type of vinyl makes a difference with cast vinyl being the better choice....but ALL vinyls are subject to tearing when cut with a router. Use a sharp "downward" spiral to press the vinyl to the substrate...otherwise you will wind up with vinyl shards wrapped around your bit. Once you've lifted the vinyl anywhere....you must STOP and restart the process. The air from your router will worsen the process if allowed to continue and once again you'll have vinyl strips wound around your bit. The vinyl is designed to resist tearing and must be cut cleanly. If possible, I would prefer laying the vinyl over the pre-cut substrate and then trimming. If you've never done this, just use plenty of water, which will allow you to reposition your vinyl until it's where you want it and let it dry overnight.

Thirdly....the Z Zero point is simple....add it to your print as a dot or tiny circle that you can use like a registry point. Good Luck.....D

[gamisano]

Here is what I would do, and have done...

create the shape to be cut in Ilustrator, or Corel draw, or whate-have-you. Take that shape, off set it by 1/2" or so and place the pic to be printed inside the offset border and crop it. This way, your print will be a bit larger than the substrate, and you can just trim the excess. This will work great especially if the edges will be hidden by a frame, or another layer of substrate. If you have a border on the print you may need to add make it thicker to compensate. Also, WET APPLY!!! I use rapid-tack, as it allows for me to reposition the graphic at anytime prior to squeegy-ing the graphic down.

This is the method I used for this sign:

http://members.cox.net/rocketsigns/IMG_0202.JPG

[matthew]

I appreciate you comments!

I'll try to clarify:
I'm printing solvent prints and mounting them to 4x8 sheet stock. Since my goal is to speed up production I do not want to apply many decals to irregular shapes-too tedious NO WATER for me.
Does Transfer taping the whole sheet help?

THanks again

[gamisano]

You could transfer tape it. Its an added step, as well as cost, as as opposed to rapid tacking it. The transfer tape will add rigidity to the graphic, making it easier to controll as you squeegee the print down. If you do it this way, I say leave some extra transfer tape off of one side, then when you apply it place that excess onto some scrap substrate that buts up against the starting edge of your material. This will act as a hinge and allow you to square up your graphic with the substrate more easily.

[matthew]

thanks guido,
but I meant transfer taping the 4x8 prior to cnc cutting the shapes. Was wondering if this will protect from cutting chips scratching the prints, and have a sacrifical layer to cut through.

thanks

[mklafehn]

Mat,

One of the main reasons I purchased the bot was to contour cut graphics printed on my solvent printer.

I have sucessfully developed a procedure that somewhat mimics an ICUT machine without the sophisticated laser guidance system, and of course the $100K price tag.

The only manual part of the procedure involves punching or drilling holes in the printed and mounted piece where the registration marks are. Usually its only 3 or 4 so it only takes a minute or two to complete this task. After that, you load the whole sheet on the router, run the program and it contour cuts as many pieces as will fit on the panel you are using.

I have been able to get the tolerance to around .015", which is pretty good, but you will need some bleed on your graphics to account for minor flucuations.

Since there is a fairly involved setup process initially, it would be best to email me to discuss the actual procedure. Also, you must have proximity switches installed on your bot as I use those to repeatably setup the registration holes.

As an aside, the program I developed this in is Illustrator and ArtCam or VCarve. But it certainly can be ported to other software programs once the basic format is understood.

images@digicomimaging.com

Mike

[dvanr]

I ask for ref marks printed in the media advance direction. This can be out from printer to printer. It can be tweaked but most don't bother or don't realize. Knowing the specified distance you can check the ref points. I do that with a camera mounted on the bot.

The camera also acts as a virtual bit, I use that by marking the bit size on the print and zoom in or out to get the reticle the same size and then do an air cut. I do this with the first one of a run and then cut just using the ref marks. So far no problems.

[gamisano]

Mike,

I'd also be inerested to know the details of your method.

Regards,

Guido