paper cutting suggestions please

[Jiten Patel]

Mary,

I wouldn't use a damp cloth on paper/card to wipe off soot or residue....what does your white stock look like after you have done that? Use a medium to hard bristle art brush to brush it away....easier, cleaner and will not damage the cardstock.

[David Rust]

Hi Mary,
I didn't quite understand your comment, do you use the piece of scrap underneath or is this a bad idea because the top piece moves around? I am also using a helix running 100 speed, 16 power, and 800 freq. I'll try bumping up the freq and see if there is a difference.
I am cutting 65# matte finished paper, the residue doesn't wipe off very easily.
thanks for you comments!

[Mary Geitz]

Jit - I should clarify. I mostly work with coated paper and wiping it off is very effective. If I'm working with plain white cardstock, I will use frisket or or even post-it's. BTW, I LOVE your work. It is absolutely amazing.
David - if I need to cover the back of the paper so it doesn't get burn marks or residue, I use a low-tack mask to make it as if it's one piece of paper. If you have two loose papers one on top of the other, the top paper will not be sucked down to your table and will blow around. Does that explain it better?

[Jiten Patel]

Thanks Mary, much appreciated. Would love to see what you do with paper/card? Any pics or a website?

[Mike Null]

This morning I happen to have a job cutting 95 pound card stock. My apologies for the cell phone pictures but hopefully they'll show enough to let you see there is no smoke or residue on the front or back of this stock. I did no cleaning and just laid the stock directly on the acrylic grid and cut away.

The left most pic is the backside of the card; next is the front of the same crd; next is just cut and not removed from the engraver; next is the back of that piece and last is the back of another piece.

I think the most important aspect of clean cuts is adequate elevation of the grid above the table to provide for smoke evacuation. This grid is about one and a quarter inches above the table.

[Jiten Patel]

Mike....my question to you is what is that and whats it for?

I think the residue really depends on the type of stock you are using. We use over 180 different types and each one reacts differently. Some cut clean as, while others have serious black soot come off them....we put this down to the make up of each stock....dye used etc.

[Mike Null]

Jit

There are a dozen sheets full of various shapes and text which my client, an ad agency, will use to construct a story board for one of their clients. It seems a bit silly to me but it's their business. It will actually be done in a 3d mode but I can't really offer a better description than that. There are 7 colors in all.