A GUIDE TO CNC DIGITAL KNIFE CUTTING TOOLS
A Guide to CNC Digital Knife Cutting Tools: Universal Cutting Tool, Electric Oscillating Tool, Pneumatic Oscillating Tool, Power Rotary Tool, Driven Rotary Tool, Wheel Knife Tool, Scoring Cutting Tool, V-Cut Tool, Passepartout Tool, Kiss-Cut Tool, Creasing Tool, Universal Routing Tool, Universal Drawing Tool, Raster Braille Tool, Ink Jet Tool, Perforating Tool.
CNC knife cutting machines most commonly use a “drag knife” tool – a blade simply pushed by the machine. The knife may be anything from a boxcutter blade in a holder to a hardened alloy of a customengineered shape. Drag knives are easy to use and easy to replace, but may have trouble with very tough or abrasive materials. If the material is very thick, the cut material will be in contact with the sides of the blade and produce increased friction. This friction will put stress on the blade and also tend to push the material out of place.
An “oscillating tangential knife” may be used for tough or thick materials. This kind of blade cuts part way into the material, retracts upwards, and then returns quickly. By doing this, strain on the material is repeatedly released instead of building up around the blade, reducing the chances of tearing the material or breaking the blade. Oscillating tangential knives may just be drag knives mounted to move up and down, or may be more specialized for downward penetration, like a chisel.
A rotary blade, often called a “creasing wheel”, may be used for cutting abrasive or hard materials, or for making indentations in any material. A rotary tool turns freely as it is pushed, and has one continuous edge. Very abrasive materials will quickly dull the pushed edge of a drag or oscillating knife, but a rotary edge doesn’t drag through the material. In many cases a hardened (titanium nitride) oscillating blade is tough enough and can cut quickly, but a wheel blade can be the ideal solution especially for thin, abrasive composites. The downside of a rotary blade tool is that the curve of the blade can push into the material in more than just one point, so where a drag knife might cut at just one point as it cuts a curve, a rotary blade might scrape the surface on the convex side of the cut.
Drag knives are the most susceptible to dulling by abrasion, and a duller blade will experience more stress as it is dragged, making it more likely to break. For this reason, drag knives are often cheap and easily replaced rather than re-sharpened. Oscillating tangential knives are more likely to fail in fatigue due to vibration than the other tools. Rotary blades tend to be much harder and tougher than what they’re cutting, and experience less friction, and so are the least likely to fail. A tool which is not sharp enough adds stress to the region it is cutting, which can result in jagged edges as the material bunches and releases, deformations like stretches or tears around the cut, or even shoving the material out of its fixturing.
Universal Cutting Tool
1. Wide assortment of drag knives available.
2. Very high cutting speeds.
Electric Oscillating Tool
Electric Oscillating Tool is ideally suited for cutting softer, medium-density materials. The high oscillating frequency makes it possible to cut at high processing speeds for greater throughput.
Depending on the application, Electric Oscillating Tool is available with a 0.5 mm or 1 mm stroke. To accommodate different substrates and levels of detail, STYLECNC offers a wide range of both flat and pointed oscillating blades.
Perforating Tool
Perforating Tool is designed for holding perforating knives. Perforated lines can be created more efficiently using perforating knives instead of an oscillating tool. Perforations support, among other things, the folding/bending of crease lines. They are thus more precise. In addition to traditional materials like corrugated cardboard, solid cardboard, and polypropylene, perforating knives also allow for vinyl to be perforated.
Perforating Tool Advantages
1. Suitable for e.g. wallpaper, folding carton, polypropylene, films.
2. High-quality perforating.
3. High processing speed.
4. Wide range of perforating knives available from STYLECNC.