24
•
Some examples where more than one pass is recommended:
Cutting thicker denser materials, such as chipboard, where multiple passes allows the blade to
progressively “carve” through the material
Cutting fibrous materials, such as fabric, where two or more passes ensure that all of the fibers have
been cleanly cut
Cutting intricate or detailed shapes, such as script titles, from certain materials, such as cardstock,
where a single pass may leave certain spots not cleanly cut
Cutting rhinestone template material where a second pass results in much cleaner weeding of the cut
circles
Cutting or engraving with the rotary tool to avoid over-stressing a bit and to achieve cleaner results
2.03.3 Cutting Depth (CD) / End Depth (ED)
•
The depth settings are target locations on the Z Axis for the tool to attempt to reach based on the
Z Origin
being set to 0.
•
The
Cutting Depth (CD)
only appears when
Multi-cut
is set to
Off.
When
Multi-cut
is
2 times
or higher,
this same setting is called
End Depth (ED)
.
•
This setting is important because it controls how deeply the blade will attempt to penetrate the material. If
set too low, the material will not be completely cut. If set too high, the blade will cut through the material and
into the cutting mat or the backing sheet of a material like vinyl. It will also then cause tearing of materials,
such as paper and cardstock.
•
While it would seem logical for this setting to simply be the thickness of the material, the resistance of the
material (density), combined with the fact the blade is being pushed up due to an internal spring inside the
Force blade holder, means that a higher setting is required.
•
When using the rotary tool for cutting, the
CD/ED
is directly related to the thickness of the material, as well
as the height where the
Z Origin
is set. More information on determining the
CD/ED
is presented in
Sections 13.04
– 13.05.
•
When engraving or embossing, the
CD/ED
is the depth to which you want the tool to penetrate the material.
2.03.4 Start Depth (SD)
•
When using more than one pass, the
Start Depth (SD)
setting becomes available as shown in
Section
2.03.2
.
•
This is the target depth for the first pass only. This setting can be the same as the
End Depth
or it can be
smaller, which often makes sense when cutting thicker materials. Having Z-axis control, combined with the
Start Depth
and
End Depth
settings, allows the blade to work its way through thicker materials in stages
versus the usual way cutters work (trying to cut all the way through the material right from the start).
•
A good estimate for a
Start Depth
is to divide the
End Depth
by the
Multi-cut
setting. For example, if you
determine that an
ED
of 100 is needed and you’re going to use a
Multi-cut
of 3, then set the
SD
to around
33.
•
If three or more passes are selected and you have entered a separate
Start Depth
and
End Depth
then,
after the first pass, each subsequent pass will have a progressively increasing target depth based on a
linear calculation. Refer to
Appendix D2
for details on how the target depth for each pass is calculated.
•
Recommended depth and pass settings are available for a range of materials and applications. These
settings will be regularly updated as more testing is done. Refer to the table at the end of this chapter.
•
IMPORTANT!
With any recommended setting, you must still perform test cuts using small shapes or a
portion of your project to make sure the settings are sufficient for a great cut. Many factors play into how
well a material cuts including the dullness of the blade, the condition of the cutting mat, the material’s
exposure to humidity, and slight differences in setting the tension on the blade holder.
Summary of Contents for KNK Force
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