Linear inch of die knife - rule of thumb?
We’re new owners of a Heidelberg GT that will only be used for die cutting. We’re not experienced, and are in learning mode. We’ve been fortunate to have worked with a fantastic partner in the past, and will be continuing work with them - but want to bring some of the production in-house. We’re having dies made for 50pt chip components that are used in student learning kits. What’s the rule of thumb for max linear inches of knife in a given die, given this is a 60 ton press?
Image attached. For reference, that’s a half letter sized sheet of paper.
We know our die maker can help guide, but I want to get a head start on drafting the layout and estimating the number of dies needed for each product.
Thanks!
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I can’t answer your question but suggest you get some education on the subject. There is a trade association, IADD (International Association of Diemaking and Diecutting). For instance, here is a publication of theirs.
https://library.iadd.org/1tep1uf/
At one time I was a supervisor in a folding carton plant and we had a 30X40 inch flat bed die cutter. Die cutting does not always work the way you think it does. For instance, our steel rule dies did not have to cut all the way through the paperboard to do their cutting. The die would cut into the board and then before it got all the way through, the board would pop apart. When the machine was running slowly, you could hear the “pop” when this happened.