Die cutting multiple business cards

We’ve done simple die cutting, but now want/need to do something more complicated and are looking for both some explanation and advice.

What we want is to be able to die cut 6 business cards that are 0.25” apart at the same time. We would likely be using a 10 x 15 C & P, but it is possible we would be doing this sometime on our Heidelberg windmill.

It seems obvious that you cannot die cut in such a way that you end up with 6 cards and the outside sheet COMPLETELY separated. So when you ask for the die is there something you say to the die maker, like “Leave opposite corners slightly open” so the entire sheet will remain together. Then that brings up the next question.

If you are using heavy stock like a 130# cover or so, can you tear a stack of cards away from the outside area very easily?

Will that leave a little ear of torn paper at the corner?

Thanks for your help.

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You will want to nick the die or your die maker can do it for you. You can use a dremel with the thin cutoff disc. If you will be running these on your windmill make sure you leave enough room at the gripper and guide to lock up your die….it will need to be more than 1/4 inch because you will have die board that is bigger than your die. You won’t have that problem when you run them on your C&P. The nicks in the die will leave a spot (like a pimple) that will be seen on the card, you could sand paper the spot after diecutting.

Thanks for the advice. I’m going to send for the die today and see how things work out.

Another way I was taught to nick a cut rule is to hit it with another cut rule. Just plan out where you wants the nicks in the rules. The nicks are not reversible.

Business cards need to look sharp, and nicking/tearing them out won’t look good enough, in my opinion.

Why are you die-cutting them as opposed to trimming them on the guillotine after printing? Are there edges that aren’t straight?

If there is one straight edge to the card, I’d recommend making the die so that that edge is not cut at all and finish them off by making one cut (or two depending on how the 6 are laid out) on your cutter. No nicks, no cards falling out of shell sheets.

oops.

Thats why they make business card slitters. Dick G.

Will slitters handle heavy-weight stock? The only one I’ve seen in person couldn’t handle anything over 100 lb.

I have done a lot of die cutting on my 10 x 15 C & P. I have had quite a bit of success with a couple well placed nicks. I have also created a larger gap on one of the flat sides where I can put the piece in my paper cutter and trim it flush to detach the card from the sheet after die cutting.

If I am doing a large die cut piece I will leave a whole side open that needs a straight cut so the paper stays together. then finish the piece in the paper cutter.

Perhaps a bit of additional information would help explain my motives.

We like taking on projects that are hard to accomplish. We like the challenge.

The specific card in question is for a restaurant. So far we’ve printed a total of 17,000, one color, printed two sides. I’m not sure how they give these away, but they do give away a lot.

The design is centered on the front with fairly small type. On the center back is the logo. Those just cannot do anything but cancel one of them out.

So, what we do is print them on a sheet, fold the sheet registering the front and back together and glue them together.

The problem with throwing these on our cutter is that with all of that impression right in the middle they end up flattening out more than we like. Also we can get some offset from the logo on the center back to the center front at times.

Also cutting out the business cards (we keep them in fairly small stacks to keep them nice and straight), takes a good deal of time to cut out if you are doing 8,000 of them.

Also we got a business card at lunch yesterday (probably printed digitally) that had a yellow border on it that was about 1/16” wide. It was pretty evenly cut but I really want to be able to do anything anyone else can do as well or better. We haven’t had anyone do that kind of design at this point but the die seems like it would really help centering a design that comes close to the edge.

I used to raise print business cards, the cutter will flatten the raised, also the raised cards are hard to cut straight, we bought a table top slitter, no more clamp pressure and the cards come out straight. Dick G.

If you are hand feeding these business cards you may not have to nick the die. Use make ready stock and set the press up with out nicks. Add them if and where you need them…probably one at the top (towards feed board) of each cavity. On your windmill, the nicks will want to be at the gripper edge for easier delivery.
If you don’t have a dremel and cut off wheels, use a cut rule like Mikedprinter suggested. Place cut rule side to cut rule and use a hammer on the rule, to make a nick in your die rule. The harder you hit, the deeper the goove/nick in the cut rule.