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View Full Version : Need some advice on a potential job...



Nick Syrax
01-25-2012, 10:13 AM
The customer wants to cut a circle out of 1,500 sheets of 120lb cardstock and then have the paper be printed on a press. My question is this, can I do several sheets at a time? And using my 40W Zing 24, is this something I should take on. They need it in 1-2 weeks. TIA!!!

Martin Boekers
01-25-2012, 10:16 AM
He wants you to cut it first? Seems that would make it more difficult to print on then.

One thing, do some sheets as a test for yourself. Sometimes these light pieces either
blow around after you cut them or the are hard to pick up after being cut. What size are the circles?

Ross Moshinsky
01-25-2012, 10:26 AM
Buy some card stock and do a test. Isn't a pack of 25 less than $10?

Rodne Gold
01-25-2012, 10:27 AM
Should take about 1.5 mins per circle at most , including being loaded and unloaded , 40 an hour , 320-350 a day , 6 days a week , so 1500 should be ok for a week or 2. Im assuming its one circle per sheet. You will have little success stacking the sheets , the middle and bottom ones burn. Be aware you gonna have a discoloured edge , or make your customer aware.

Mike Null
01-25-2012, 11:46 AM
Why doesn't he print and die cut?

Dan Ashlin
01-25-2012, 11:57 AM
I would think that if you stack them, the smoke residue would get between the sheets and cause discoloration. Considering he wants them printed, I would think he would want them to be pure white so I wuld run them one at a time. Card stock shouldn't take too long to get through so I bet you could breeze through them pretty quickly.

Joe Pelonio
01-25-2012, 8:55 PM
I have managed to cut heavy paper (colored construction paper0 4 sheets at a time with some setup to prevent them blowing out the exhaust, but with that stuff it's one at a time.

Mark Sipes
01-25-2012, 10:01 PM
A better question is what is he willing to pay for a week or two of devoted laser time to cut paper......

Gary Hair
01-25-2012, 10:11 PM
The best way to do multiple sheets is to have something holding them down and use air assist. If the circle is large enough you should be able to cut a hole a bit larger and a bit smaller out of acrylic and use the two pieces to hold down the cutout as well as the surrounding paper. I did that for some invitations that a customer wanted cut *with* burnt edges. I put them on my vector table and cut them a bit out of focus - worked great!

Gary