Die cutting technique is used to make When birthday cards, wedding invitations, tissue boxes, and marketing collateral are manufactured in bulk. The utilization of this technique is common in many industries to create bulk collateral accurately.
To achieve better precision, we tend to use the die-cutting technique on low tensile strength materials, such as foil, paper, sheet metal, rubber, corrugated fiberboard, etc.
However, there’s more to the die-cutting process than we have talked about. The tools and equipment that create a complete setup for precision die-cutting are extremely important. In this article, we have discussed five important die-cutting tools, such as patch tape, cutting plates, counter board, etc.
5 Necessary Die Cutting Tool
A die-cutting machine uses several tools and equipment. All of these tools and equipment play an essential role in the entire process of creating a card, business card, or wedding invitation. Understand more about these tools and learn what you should use in the manufacturing process.
Cutting Plates and Jackets
For high-precision designs, we need high-quality jackets and plates. These cutting jackets and plates help you cut the design in the exact proportion each time as desired. You can look for some quality brands for cutting jackets and plates, like Mercury, Heidelberg, Thompson, or Bobst.
If you use a lower-quality jacket or plate in your process, then you may often experience inaccurate results and faulty dimensions. This may also increase the cost of production, which will ultimately make you pay for the money you saved in buying low-quality jackets and plates.
Counter board
The preparation of counter boards involves the use of extra-hard material to help sustain them longer. This is the reason counter boards these are prepared using Jute Tag, Vulcanized Rubber, or Press board. Sometimes, recycled boards are also used to prepare counter board on multiple occasions depending on the purpose.
Any genuine counter board is available largely in pearl grey tone, which is best for medium-length machines. With the hard edge of the press board, you can get a clean, square channel, which is best for outlining crease or score.
If you are purchasing Jute Tag counter boards, these may be available in manilla color. These are common for short-run usage, as it has less hardness when compared to other counter boards.
Tapes
Another essential tool used in die cutting process is tape, such as patch tape, accu-shim tape, etc. All of these tapes have a different purpose, let’s explore more:
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Patch Tape, also commonly referred to as profitape, is designed for the dieboard. We use it on the underside to patch the common low points created in the board. These patch tapes are self-adhesive, and you don’t need to moisten the end to hold it to the wood material firmly.
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Accu-Shim Tape is also a self-adhesive tape prepared with stainless steel, and you can buy it in different sizes.
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Double Face Tape is a fixing tape used to fix our counterboard and cutting plate. You can easily apply this tape without any challenge, and it will perfectly hold two materials together.
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Fit Shim Tape is created with hardened steel. These are also self-adhesive tapes that we use to level a plate or press. Remember that Fit Shim Tapes are sensitive to pressure.
Knives
You can use a knife with nine shims and two blades for precision cutting.
Scoring knives are highly durable, and you get a convenient case to store this properly.
Clean up Solvent
As the name suggests, the utilization of clean up solvent is to eliminate adhesive stuck on the laminator, machine sides, machine parts, or flexo folder gluers. You can also use cleanup solvent to remove the grease and oil that spills on tools, floors, or hydraulic machines. the use of clean up solvent is also common to remove any adhesive or oil on the counter board left by patch tape or other self-adhesive tapes.
Bonus: Die Mallets
There are majorly three mallet types for the die-making process:
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Standard Die Maker’s Mallet is a standard mallet created with elastomer. The material is highly durable, it doesn’t break or splinter easily. You can even replace the heads of this mallet when it starts wearing out.
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Die Maker Mallet is a polyurethane mallet, which is red-colored and extremely durable due to the material used.
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Rawhide Mallet has a rawhide covering prepared with wood material. These are most common in the manufacturing process across different industries.
Conclusion
The use of die cutting technique is common in the industry for many functions. For example, creating beautifully cut business cards or die-cut marketing and sales collateral. However, while using the die-cutting process, manufacturers need to ensure the quality of tools and equipment used. Without the desired quality and material, the precision of the final product is not up to the mark. This also ends up increasing the total cost of the process because we have to make up for precision errors.
Read above to know more about the five essential die-cutting tools, such as patch tapes, mallets, cleanup solvent, etc.
