Working with Chipboard....frustrated

[Gigi]

I'm a little puzzled by how it is cutting. The inner rectangle is clean and neat and it just seems to be that one section of the file where the problem is. I looked at the file and don't see any major issues with it but will try to cut it tomorrow out of the thickest chipboard I have and will report back. I do wonder if the blade is protruding a bit too much and/or there is too much force because of the movement in the cutting. I wonder if the blade is catching and dragging a bit. It almost looks like the blade may be chipped, except the inner part is cutting clean. I would still check the blade and would definitely be sure the blade is not extending too much and/or is not cutting into the mat.

I would definitely slow down the speed and see if that makes a difference. I usually cut most things at a high speed (750) - but when I have cut issues, the first thing I do is reduce the speed and that often solves the problem.

Do double check the blade and how far it is out, be sure it is not nicked, use the setting tool and slow things down and see if that helps.

If it is humid where you are, that could also cause issues especially with materials like chipboard. Humidity can make the best material next to impossible to cut. Just one more thing to consider.... (or if the material has been exposed to humidity even if it isn't humid right now).

Hang in there- you will get it!

[mmhockeyfan]

Hi,

Maybe try turning setting Soft Landing="off"? I used it to successfully cut corrugated cardboard squares. You might also want to consider continue lowering the speed until you achieve a successful cut. Here is some info on the forum regarding Soft Landing: viewtopic.php?f=44&t=4495&p=83696&hilit=soft+landing#p83696, which is where I had gotten the idea to try it with my corrugated cardboard.
I agree with Gigi that the material maybe causing the blade to drag. The blade is shifting as it cuts multiple times around the bottle neck.

Good luck!

[SandieGeek]

Dear Gigi and mmhockeyfan - thank you both for your help and support which helped find the correct recipe for Grafix chipboard medium weight 0.056 (approx 1.42 mm). I will give in this posting the recipe, followed by a second posting with things I took into consideration followed by a third posting with changes I made because I used a different mat.

New day, rested mind and GREAT results. I knew it that SB would not let me down. Maybe at some point when I will have more time on my hands I will also make a video tutorial.

Drum rolls please....

All cuts are done using THE SAME ORIGIN POINT that you set up before the cut of the first layer.

Create 2 layers of the same piece both sitting at the same X and Y on your virtual mat
Layer one: Turn the shape you want to cut into a dashed cutting line with the setting of 15 dash and 5 gap
Layer two: Same shape with continuous cutting line

STEP 1 - Cutting the dashed lined layer (Layer 1) - this step indeed helps break the fibers of the dense and recycled chipboard.

SOFT LANDING*
Cut Layer 1 only
50 speed
165 pressure
1 pass

STEP 2: - Cutting Layer 2

HARD LANDING*
Speed 40
Pressure 175
2 passes

If you notice shaving during this step Pause the machine and clean as much as possible. At the end of this step put painters’ tape over the cut line and burnish lightly with your bone folder. I say lightly because the machine’s table may buckle under the pressure if you press too hard. I did that and stopped further shaving during the multiple passes in step 3.

STEP 3 - Cutting Layer 2
HARD LANDING*
Continuous line
Speed 50
Pressure 180
4 PASSES

Results in attached pictures. This process took approximately 15 minutes but to be also taken into consideration the shape as a more intricate piece may take longer and also that I am still a newbie and still fibbing with the settings. This a RECORD if you asked me in comparison to another competitor hobby (not professional) machine designed to cut up to 2 mm thick chipboard which can take from 2 hours and up and you have no freedom to change any of the settings.

*For those who are new to the machine you can find how to change from HARD to SOFT landing by going into the classroom and look for the video entitled "Silver Bullet User Interface". Go to minute 2:50.

[SandieGeek]

Second posting - things I took into consideration...

1. Gigi, you are correct. Humidity can affect the chipboard. Sherri gave me a genius idea, if living in a humid area, freeze your chipboard at least 30 minutes before use. It works. Now I have a special place in the freezer for my chipboard and only take one sheet at a time as I use it.

2. Changed the knife. Probably from all the testing I did yesterday, although not visible with the naked eye the knife may have chipped.

3. The length of the knife. At first, I made sure the knife is sticking out of its housing at the same thickness as the media, but after 15 passes it would still not cut all the way through. So, I decided to make it stick just a tiny super whiny bit more than the thickness of the media. Just enough that when I ran my finger over, with the knife against the thickness of the media, I felt a small tug against my finger skin.

3. Chipboard and cardstock have one side with the grain which is bendier and one against the grain which gives resistance when trying to bend. When it comes to heavy duty cardstock and chipboard this should also be taken into consideration and if possible, the shape should be placed on the virtual mat so that the long cuts or curvy cuts fall with the grain. Only if possible.
For the newbies to better understand this concept, think of a steak (I hope you are not vegetarian). When you cut the steak along with the muscle's striations the cut is easy to do (that would be with the grain). However, if you try cutting the steak in the opposite direction of the way the muscle striations run you will manage but with a little bit of a struggle (that is against the grain).

I decided to cut this piece the hard way with the long cuts against the grain and diagonally because I wanted to test this machine and knife to its full potential. I knew it SB can do it.

4. Yesterday, I could hear like a the snag in the back of the machine but totally ignored it. Today I put my hand through and noticed that the back table is not fully flushed with the machine bed. I took it off and re-mounted it but with no change.
When the mat has no media or light media is all good, but when you put heavy media like chipboard the weight makes the mat snag into the table which probably caused the misalignment in the neck bottle when cutting. I will describe the solution to this in the next posting.

5. The SB cutting mat I used yesterday was quite buckled from all the testing (new mats on the way) and I ended up using the mat from another cutting machine I own which is now retired. Adjustments I had to make to the mat will be in my last posting. However, using a smaller cutting mat really helped with the stability during cutting. My advice would be, if your media is smaller than the cutting mat you are using, go for a smaller cutting mat.

6. If shaving occurs during cutting PAUSE the machine and clean as much as you can, because all those pieces can cause the knife to derail and shavings can also get tangled in your knife and inside up the knife housing. If too much shaving occurs put painters’ tape over the cut line and burnish lightly with your bone folder. I say lightly because the machine’s table may buckle under the pressure if you press to hard. I did that and stopped further shaving during the multiple passes.

7. Another thing I noticed and completely forgot about it. Probably from all the speed, movement, vibrations, etc that twisting knob that keeps the knife in place at the desired length has the tendency to loosen up. My quick solution to that was to simply apply painters’ tape around it. See pic.

Is it too bold to ask if maybe, maybe a 60 PLUS blade with serrated cut edge could be made and tested? I think this will also help with a dense medium. I don't know, something to throw in the suggestion box.

[SandieGeek]

As promised this is the last posting on how I made changes to a non SB mat and how I stopped the snagging against the back table.

I ended up using a Sizzix eclips2 cutting mat which fit my 12 x 12 media. Because the mat was shorter in width than the SB mat I had to think outside the box and make the appropriate adjustments.

Firstly I put the mat inside the machine and positioned to ensure that all the pinch wheels will catch the mat and that the first and last wheel will fall on the left and the right of the media I wanted to cut but still resting on the mat. (See picture MAT PIC1 - bottom picture)

Then I measured the distance on the right-hand side from the end of the sticky side of the mat to the inside machine wall. In my case I got a distance of 2 1/16�. I cut 4 strips of 130 lb cardstock at 12 x 2 1/16� and applied them 2 on each side on the front and back of the mat with double sided tape. (see picture MAT PIC2 - middle picture). This ensured stability of the mat during cutting as it was flushed against the inside wall of the machine. Thick cardstock also ensures no curving occurs during the back and forth of the mat against the wall of the machine while cutting.

In order to stop the “snagging� as described in step 4 in my previous post I took a piece of 12 x 12 80 lb cardstock and used double sided tape to attach it to the back of the mat at the 6� mark. (see MAT PIC3 - top picture). DO NOT use thicker than 80 lb as any ticker, especially if cutting chipboard will be too tight once the pinch wheels are down and the mat may not go easily back and forth.

It is only after I made these adjustments and put the chipboard on the mat that I used the spacer to insert the knife.

The end of my novel I hope everything made sense and that it will also help others with chipboard cutting.

[mmhockeyfan]

Wow!! So cool! Congratulations!
It is fun to test out various media and find solutions. Thank you so much for sharing your solution to cut heavy duty chipboard. I know I have some in my craft room begging to be used.

[SandieGeek]

You are most welcome, I always LOVE a good challenge

[Gigi]

Wow - what a thorough posting, thought process and tons of information. First of all - congratulations.

You reminded me of the things that I normally say to check and didn't this time because you said you were using a new mat. And you were/are so right. If the mat is warped, that will definitely affect your cutting.

I checked my chipboard supply and I don't have any Grafix (have a lot of their plastic but not chipboard) - nor do I have any chipboard thicker than .030. You certainly do not have to do this, but if you would like to send me a piece (or tell me the best place to get some) I would love to test cut it and get a feel for what you have gone through. I am so impressed, honestly, with your persistence and patience. I am not sure I would have hung in there that long to find the solution if it was for me. I have all of the patience in the world if I am helping someone else, but not so much when I am doing it for myself! LOL

I have never had the knob on the blade holder loosen. Be sure it is very tight before you cut. You should not need to add tape to it.

Again, thank you for sharing all that you did.

Oops,as I went to post this I saw your final post. Wow. We don't recommend using other mats, but I understand why you did and appreciate the adjustments made. You should feel very proud of all that you accomplished!

[SandieGeek]

Hi Gigi - I have no problem sending you some sheets of my chipboard but not sure how you could share your address privately.

The part with attaching cardstock on the back top part of the mat I'll have to do it for an SB mat too to avoid snagging against the back table which rests like an 1/8" higher than the machine's bed.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining and I can live with it.

[Gigi]

I will PM my address to you in a minute. Thank you. I am really curious now!

I do vaguely remember my mat catching on occasion when I had the older Silver Bullet with the acrylic tables. I finally adjusted them, but don't remember how I did that! With the platinum machine, the attached metal trays are awesome and such an improvement. Love them and quickly forgot that I had used anything else for years! Not rubbing it in, just saying that Sherri is always looking for ways to improve and does what she can.

Will PM you now - thanks so much!

[Bikeracer]

Just random thoughts.....

The blade shape actually gets wider the further it is from the tip, so cutting thick materials can end up a bit like a ploughed field with material pushed up and out, which in turn can make the blade holder bottom out if the blade stick out is barely enough for the thickness of the material.

From my limited experience a lower pressure but multiple passes makes less material pushed out at the edge of the cut.
It's also all too easy to snap the fine point of the blade off with too much pressure on dense material I've found and not readily apparent without a good magnifying glass. A few years ago I bought a cheap hand held plastic microscope from Amazon probably about the same cost as a new blade and it makes it very easy to see any damage.

Allan

[SandieGeek]

Hi Allan, thank you for the tip. You are very correct. I've been testing this for almost 3 days and tried many settings. When I tried low pressure barely had any shavings but after 15 passes it would still not cut all the way through so I had no choice but to make changes to get the result I wanted. But putting painters tape over the cut lines keeps the shavings under control.