How to Determine the Best Clamping Pressure for A Cutter Job
Proper clamping pressure is essential for effective cutting. Here are a few tips you can pass on to your Challenge customers, to help them make sure they're setting their clamping pressure the right way.
How to Find the Right Clamping Pressure
The best clamping pressure varies based on the paper you're using (thickness, coatings, paper pile width, etc.). If your paper surface is being marked by your cutter clamps, that's a sign your pressure is too high. Look out for pile distortion and inaccurate cuts, other indicators that your clamping pressure should be adjusted. Adjust until you find a clamp pressure that's firm enough to hold the paper, but loose enough to avoid any of the problems just mentioned.
Take Advantage of Electronically-Controlled Pressure Settings
Does your cutter have electronically-controlled clamp pressure? Once you get the right pressure setting, be sure record it for future reference, or you can store the clamp force directly to your cutting program.
If your cut job involves different paper pile widths, you may need to use different clamp force settings during the job to avoid damaging product or inaccurate cutting. Having programmable clamp pressure per cut is ideal for label cutting and other projects where paper pile widths can vary greatly throughout the job.
Current Titan 265 and Champion 305 and 370 programmable paper cutters do include programmable clamp pressure per cut as a feature as standard equipment.