Written By Mark Batson Baril
PMC Die Cutters and Cutting Tools
The question came to us the other day on whether we worked with companies that dealt in PMC Cutting tools and could we suggest a source. The first part of the question led to the first part of our answer - What the heck is a PMC cutting tool?
Because of my “bag over head” knowledge in this area, and because others may also be in the dark on this one, the mission is clear. So here we go, trying to shed a bit of light on what they are and how they are used.
PMC turned out not to be a type of technology - it turned out to be a brand/manufacturer name. PMC (Printing Machinery Corp.) developed its first hollow die label cutting machine in 1940. The idea was to create a machine that could cut a variety of printed and non-printed materials accurately and quickly. What was developed was a machine that uses a cutting tool that acts as a high speed feed through punch. The machine pushes a large stack of materials up through the tool and the finished parts are ejected out the back of the machine, the tool, and finally the bolster plate. I have found that there are four major players in this type of machinery/cutting system - PMC, BUSCH, BLUMER, and VIJUK.
The machines are designed to feed sheeted materials that have been stacked to a height of up to 4" (102mm). Press bed sizes are usually small, staying in most cases less than 20" x 20" (508mm x 508mm). The machines can cycle up to 20 times per minute. If the part you are cutting is only .005" (.127mm) thick it means you can cut a whole mess of parts in not a whole lot of time. The manufacturers claim that on certain materials on certain machines the cut sheet rate per hour can easily exceed 1,000,000. Yes that’s one million sheets! Just to compare, a fully automatic Bobst Carton cutter on steroids may hit the mid teens (that’s thousands).
So why haven’t some of us been exposed to this type of cutter/tooling in the past? It may be that the machines are primarily used to cut very high volume common products with dies that are not steel rule dies. Plus they are used to cut some fairly usual but specialized products that many of us shy away from.
The list of products and services that work well on this type of machine include the following:
Some of the more common materials that are cut on these machines include:
Stacks of material are loaded outside the die cutting area and are automatically jogged and lined up. The stacks are held on all four sides throughout the die cutting operation which makes the possibility of a very accurate cut quite good. There are material shuttles that allow one stack to be automatically loaded while another one is being cut. This creates very little time in which the machine is not actually cutting. Parts do not have to be ejected back out through the front of the die and so the machine can constantly act towards cutting rather than cutting and ejecting. The tooling only makes contact with the cutting plate during the last cut of the stack. This means that tools last longer as the only friction they see is the material they are cutting.
The Tools:
Dies for this type of machine are quite simply feed through specialty punches. They are typically made in two ways. They are forged dies made from pre-ground rule that is bent and formed and then welded at the joint, or they are machined (usually wire cut) dies that are cut from a single block of steel. The height will vary from job to job and machine to machine but usually ranges from 1 1/2" (38mm) to upwards of 4" (102mm). The thickness will vary depending on the application and will have a taper that runs from small at the cutting edge to large at the base. Because the die will feed the finished parts through the center, all the taper will run to the outside of the tool. Support tabs, mounting brackets, and stripping knives are all items that can be built-in to help the operator speed the process and help the tool survive the incredible stress of the impression. Standard bolster plates are used within the machine to create a space for the finished parts to pass through the back of the die. On unusual shapes or large repeat run jobs, a custom bolster plate can be made for a perfect match.
Thanks for all the help from Brian at Stewart Industries (PMC Worldwide) and Lynn at Progressive Service Die Co..
PMC Die Cutters and Cutting Tools
The question came to us the other day on whether we worked with companies that dealt in PMC Cutting tools and could we suggest a source. The first part of the question led to the first part of our answer - What the heck is a PMC cutting tool?
Because of my “bag over head” knowledge in this area, and because others may also be in the dark on this one, the mission is clear. So here we go, trying to shed a bit of light on what they are and how they are used.
PMC turned out not to be a type of technology - it turned out to be a brand/manufacturer name. PMC (Printing Machinery Corp.) developed its first hollow die label cutting machine in 1940. The idea was to create a machine that could cut a variety of printed and non-printed materials accurately and quickly. What was developed was a machine that uses a cutting tool that acts as a high speed feed through punch. The machine pushes a large stack of materials up through the tool and the finished parts are ejected out the back of the machine, the tool, and finally the bolster plate. I have found that there are four major players in this type of machinery/cutting system - PMC, BUSCH, BLUMER, and VIJUK.
The machines are designed to feed sheeted materials that have been stacked to a height of up to 4" (102mm). Press bed sizes are usually small, staying in most cases less than 20" x 20" (508mm x 508mm). The machines can cycle up to 20 times per minute. If the part you are cutting is only .005" (.127mm) thick it means you can cut a whole mess of parts in not a whole lot of time. The manufacturers claim that on certain materials on certain machines the cut sheet rate per hour can easily exceed 1,000,000. Yes that’s one million sheets! Just to compare, a fully automatic Bobst Carton cutter on steroids may hit the mid teens (that’s thousands).
So why haven’t some of us been exposed to this type of cutter/tooling in the past? It may be that the machines are primarily used to cut very high volume common products with dies that are not steel rule dies. Plus they are used to cut some fairly usual but specialized products that many of us shy away from.
The list of products and services that work well on this type of machine include the following:
- Labels
- Wrappers
- Envelope Blanks
- Note Pads
- Credit Cards
- Identification Tags
- Deckle-edge postcards
- Game Cards
- Paint Chips
- Luggage and Price Tags
- Coasters
- Placemats
- 3-way Booklet Trimming
- Round Cornering
Some of the more common materials that are cut on these machines include:
- Embossed Paper
- Unevenly Printed Label papers
- Plastic
- Foil
- Mylar
- Paperboard
Stacks of material are loaded outside the die cutting area and are automatically jogged and lined up. The stacks are held on all four sides throughout the die cutting operation which makes the possibility of a very accurate cut quite good. There are material shuttles that allow one stack to be automatically loaded while another one is being cut. This creates very little time in which the machine is not actually cutting. Parts do not have to be ejected back out through the front of the die and so the machine can constantly act towards cutting rather than cutting and ejecting. The tooling only makes contact with the cutting plate during the last cut of the stack. This means that tools last longer as the only friction they see is the material they are cutting.
The Tools:
Dies for this type of machine are quite simply feed through specialty punches. They are typically made in two ways. They are forged dies made from pre-ground rule that is bent and formed and then welded at the joint, or they are machined (usually wire cut) dies that are cut from a single block of steel. The height will vary from job to job and machine to machine but usually ranges from 1 1/2" (38mm) to upwards of 4" (102mm). The thickness will vary depending on the application and will have a taper that runs from small at the cutting edge to large at the base. Because the die will feed the finished parts through the center, all the taper will run to the outside of the tool. Support tabs, mounting brackets, and stripping knives are all items that can be built-in to help the operator speed the process and help the tool survive the incredible stress of the impression. Standard bolster plates are used within the machine to create a space for the finished parts to pass through the back of the die. On unusual shapes or large repeat run jobs, a custom bolster plate can be made for a perfect match.
Thanks for all the help from Brian at Stewart Industries (PMC Worldwide) and Lynn at Progressive Service Die Co..
No comments:
Post a Comment