Cutter Blade Angle?

I have an old manual C&P cutter that when I got it the blade was mounted strait and when a had i resharpened I mounted it the same. I have noticed at my job the print shop has theirs at an angle. I have also noticed this on other cutter at print shops I have visited. Is there a reason for this? Should my blade also be angled? And if so how much?

Thanks!

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If your cutter is designed so that the blade comes down with the blade edge parallel to the stick through the course of its movement then lowering one side will just make it dig deep into the cutting stick on one end.

DGM

Some cutters’ movement causes the blade to travel in a slight arc at the same time it’s traveling down and to the side. This means that when the blade is up in the waiting position, it’s at a bit of an angle. Some stay parallel through their entire travel. It just depends on how the mechanism is designed. What really matters (as said above) is how it contacts the cutting stick. The blade should be parallel to the surface of the table when the cut is complete. If yours is closing this way, it’s set up properly. If it’s not cutting properly or digging into the cutting stick it may need to be readjusted.

Michael Hurley
Titivilus Press
Memphis, TN

Since your cutter is a manual one, you can drop the blade carriage gently to the cutting stick with tissue on either side; once the blade contacts the stick, it should cut this tissue clean through on both sides (you can use newsprint if you don’t have tissue. Or a phonebook page.)

If the blade comes down hard on one side but doesn’t cut on the other, there should be little threaded posts above the blade that you can adjust which will balance the tension on the blade. Adjust these in minute amounts with the blade mounting bolts loosened a little (bolts that secure the blade into the blade carriage), until the blade is balanced, then re-tighten the blade mounting bolts.
IMO, the worst thing you can do is dig into the cutting stick too much and prematurely dull the blade over time/shatter the stick. Usually on mechanically assisted/motorized cutters you have to lower the blade a bit every time or every other time it is sharpened.

Thanks for the comments. Yeah the first time I put the blade back I just had the carrier lower and had the blade set on the stick so it was flush. Just was sure about the whole angle when i saw the one at work. Ill have to test the tissue out to see if it is truly strait.