The CNC Tangent Die Cutter

Instruction Book

If you have any questions, please see a DM Staff Member

Digital Media Tutorial Written By John Eberhart

Using the CNC Tangent Die Cutter

Preparing your Cutting Blade:

The CNC Tangent Die Cutter is used to cut material up to 3/16” thick. Is uses a small steel blade fitted into a holder and rotates the blade as it cuts. Unlike like a laser cutter, this machine can cut with no kerf, no burnt edges, and it can cut flammable materials.

To get the most life out of your blade, you should grind away a bit of the tip of the blade on the stone located at the machine. You also want this to be at a slight angle. This will help extend the life of the blade and help prevent the tip of the blade from breaking off.

You should also grind away the little bur located at the back of the blade so it sits better in the tool holder.

Edge of Blade

Grind the tip back way from the edge of the blade

Loading your blade into the holder:

Using the provided screwdriver, remove the tool holder from the cutting head assembly.

Loosen the thumb screw and insert the blade so the back side of the blade is in line with the center line of the holder. Also make sure it is fully seated in the holder. You will need to wiggle the blade in the holder to make sure it is all the way in.

This blade is inserted backwards. Notice the difference in the blade’s position relative to the blade holder.

Finally, tightened the thumb screw that holds the blade.

Note: If you cannot get to the screw holding the head in place press this button and the heads will rotate so you can access the screw. If nothing happens, press the “Remote/Local” button and try again.

Setting the Blade Depth:

You need to set the depth of the blade to match the thickness of the material you are cutting.

Too Low - It will not cut all the way through

Too High - You can dull or break your blade

To set the depth, loosen the thumb screw and twist the depth adjustment. You should be able to feel the tip of the blade as it just sticks beyond the material.

Tighten the thumb screw and inset the blade holder back into the machine using the provided screwdriver.

Setting the Height of the Cutter Head Assembly:

Loosen the two knobs on the side of the head assembly.

Push down on the plunger on the other side of the head assembly. Turn the crank on the top of the head assembly until the plunger just touches the top of the material. Test the plunger a couple of times and fine tune you depth.

Tighten the two knobs.

Note: If you do not set the head assembly to the correct depth of your material, you can/will break your blade.

Height Adjustment Crank

Setting the Machine Origin:

When you first turn on the machine, you need to set the origin. To do this, make sure the machine is in Local mode. You can change this by pressing the “Remote/Local” button.

Move the cutting head to the position where you want the job to start cutting. You can move the head by pressing the arrow buttons.

Remote/Local Button

Arrow Buttons

Move head to location where you want it to start cutting

Press the “Origin” button to set the machine origin.

and place that into Adobe Illustrator. This is an older version of Illustrator and exporting as an Adobe

Exporting from Rhino to Illustrator

Select Curves and move them to close to the origin.

Choose File Export Selected

“

Name the file and browse to the folder you want the file to be in.

Under Save as type: select “Adobe Illustrator”

In the export options, make sure your scale matches your intent. This will be 1:1 if you have been modeling lines according to the

Open Adobe Illustrator(Need to do this at the machine located next to the cutter)

Choose File-New to open a new Illustrator document.

Set your document size to match the material size you wish to cut.

Click OK

Click File>Place to import the DWG file from Rhino.

Choose the DWG file to place.

At the prompt, choose “Original Size” to keep the scale the same.

DWG file imported into illustrator

Unrolled 2D Shape, loaded in to Adobe Illustrator.

I set different colors for cuts, creases, and lines I want to draw.

Red = DrawBlack = CutGreen = Crease

Setting up file colors to cut from Illustrator

You can organize your cutting, drawing, and creasing operations by either color or layer. We recommend by color.

Making a Dashed Line in Illustrator cut as a dashed line:

If you make a stroke a dashed line in Illustrator, the Mimaki cutter will not recognize that as a dashed cut. It reads the pathways as vectors only.

This is a trick to covert a dashed stroked line into a “real dashed” pathway.

Select a line and make it a dashed line in Illustrator by setting its stroke.

Select the dashed line and make its weight (thickness) very small. I.e. 0.01pt.

This will prevent the Mimaki from cutting a noticeable double line.

With the dashed lines selected, choose Object>Flatten Transparency...

In the Raster/Vector Balance, move the slider all the way to Vector.

Click OK.

There is now a new path around each dashed line. This will cause the Mimaki to cut the dashed lines twice instead of a single line. However, because it is a very narrow line it should not be a problem.

When you launch Adobe Illustrator. The “Mimaki FineCut” software should auto launch.

If it does not, in Illustrator under the Window menu, choose “Mimaki FineCut”

The following Window will appear.

Launch Mimaki FineCut and click the “Cut” button.

Click on the “Cut” button

Click OK on these pop up warnings that might appear.

The FineCut Interface

Illustrator file to be cut located on the cutting bed

Color or layer file organization option

Different colors or layers can be used for different types of cuts

Note: You can click on the file itself and scale and move it around on the cutting bed.

Make sure this says “FC2 Series”. If it does not - see a DM Staff person.

Machine origin = Lower left corner of the machine

Y Ax

is

Y Ax

is

X Axis X Axis

You can adjust the rotation, location, and size of your illustrator file in the Mimaki FineCut software. However, it is probably better to do this in illustrator before getting to this point

Do not mess with these options.

These tools are used to rotate the illustrator file, move it, and scale it to fit the board.

Mirror is an option to check if you are cutting through thick materials such as C loop cardboard, foam core, or gator board. The cut quality is better on the back side of the material so if you mirror your file, it will cut it upside down.

Illustrator file mirrored and rotated.

To choose the type of cut to use, click on the side arrow icon next to the color and layer tabs.

At the pop up menu, choose

“Specify the Plot Condition On Each Color”

Note: If you organized your illustrator file by layers, you can do the same.

The following window will appear, click “OK” to continue.

To the right, you can choose the type of cut you would like to make. This is coordinated to the type of material you are cutting. Click the down arrow and choose the correct material.

Black Colors - Cutting E Loop Cardboard

Red Colors - Drawing with the Pen

Green Colors - Creasing the Cardboard

Click on the plot icon to preview your cut and cut your job.

Click on the preview button to see how your job will cut.

You can choose how the machine will cut the lines.

If you choose “Each Color” the machine will draw, crease, or cut by color, instead of randomly doing it.

Click Play to see the Cutting Simulation

Press the “CE’ button on the die cutting machine.

Then the “Remote/Local” Button.

Also press the “Vacuum” button to turn on the vacuum table.

Sending the Job to the Machine:The machine has a remote mode and a local mode. Click the “Remote/Local” button to switch between the two. If you are sending a job from the computer, the machine has to be in remote mode.

Press the “Plot” button to send the job.

The cutter head will move to the cutting position and start cutting.

If you get this error window, it means you did not press the “CE” button and the “Remote/Local” Button.

Press those and try re-sending the plot.

If it still does not work, please see a DM Staff Member for assistance.

Piece Cut Out

Creating Custom Material Profiles

From the fly out Arrow, Choose “Edit Plot Condition”

Click the Add Button to add a new material profile

Give a new material profile name.

Set the Speed and Pressure Settings.

Click the “Plus” Button to add additional passes.Ie. More cut passes of the knife.

Tool number sets the knife, pen or creaser to cut.

1= Knife Tool2= Creaser Tool3= Pen Tool