CUTTER BLADES
Your cutter may be a basic or advanced model however, all of that power and precision is channelled to your vinyl through the blade. So if you’re using the wrong blades, or if you’re using worn-out blades, or if your blade is installed incorrectly, all of that power and precision is nullified. If you use the right blade, install it correctly, and maintain it, you get to enjoy all the benefits your vinyl cutter can deliver. Think of your blade as the conduit of quality.
All Skycut Vinyl cutters sold by Pro Graphix use either a 45° degree 0r 58° blade. Over time the cutter blades will start to diminish which will result in inconsistencies in the cut or waste of media. If used consistently, every day blades can last up to 2 months before showing signs of wear.
45° Blade - Suited to cutting thinner material such as paper, cardstock (no more than 300g) HTV (PU)
58° Blade - Suited to cutting thicker harder materials such as reflective film, sandblasting film, HTV glitter and Flake, Flock, Sublistop, Subblocker.
COMPATIBLE WITH OTHER CUTTERS INCLUDING ROLAND CUTTERS
Replacement and Maintenance?
- When to replace? When you begin to have problems weeding your vinyl, or if you see visible degradation of cut quality, inspect the blade. Look for chips along the cutting edge. Sometimes the damage is obvious, sometimes not. If it looks good but works poorly, try a new blade and see if the quality improves. Obviously, you’ll need to keep some on hand so you can do this and replace it as necessary.
- How long does a normal blade last? There’s not a standard lifespan for plotter blades. Your mileage may vary. It depends on how much vinyl you cut, and what kind of materials you cut. The glass beads and metal flake used in reflective and metallic films dull blades more quickly than our standard types of vinyl. As noted above, how precisely you set your blade for the materials you cut affects its service life.
- Don’t cut too deeply. Paper dulls blades faster than anything. Cutting too deeply into paper release liners can accelerate normal wear, dulling the tip and making weeding more difficult.
- What about maintenance? Plotter blade maintenance is pretty simple. Keep it clean. A buildup of vinyl debris inside the blade holder can interfere with the proper rotation of the blade and degrade cutting quality. Inspect the blade holder periodically and remove any debris.
Correct Blade Depth:
Whether you’re buying and installing a replacement vinyl plotter blade or installing the blade in a brand new cutter, the first thing you have to know is how much of the blade should be exposed. If you have enough blade sticking out to clearly see and feel the tip, it’s probably too far out. Most new vinyl cutter owners improperly install the blade with too much of it protruding from the holder. Set it so that you can barely see the tip. Then take the blade holder and manually drag it across a sheet of vinyl making a box pattern or square. You should be able to weed that easily, but you shouldn’t see deep scoring of the release liner. If you flip the vinyl over, you should not be able to feel the cut line in the back of the liner. If you can cut vinyl manually without carving up the liner
Pro Graphix Cutter Blades use an offset of 0.35mm or 0.50mm
