Hints To Get Odd Shapes Cut From Quality Materials

Many companies will have things that they need cut into shape and this is where third party companies have set their selves up to do the work. Indeed, contract die cutting is something that is best done by the professional. This, along with OEM Die Cutting has a huge following for sure.

What this process does is to cut out the same shapes over and over again from whatever kind of material that they are working in. This could be wood, metal or any kind of plastic which can be used for a lot of jobs. These cut parts are called blanks since they are literally just that and will not have anything added to them at this early stage of the process. The company can add some other decoration or embellishment sometime later in the process but this will probably be done by themselves or even yet another contractor.

One prime example of this is the upper part of any kinds of shoes or sandals. The shape is cut out with a machine which can cut literally hundreds or thousands in one run and then they are sent on so that the finishing work can be carried out. The blades used to cut out these blanks are very sharp and is usually bent into whatever shape the company requires. It is then mounted onto a strong backing block which is capable of cutting out the shapes much like a cookie cutter and dough and this is the easiest way to describe it. The difference here though is that they can either be used to cut out one shape at a time, or they could be used to cut out stacks of shapes when the materials allow this. It is not always necessary to have one cutter to each individual mount. Many manufacturers will certainly want to cut down on waste materials so they end up with more than one at a time being used. They mount them side by side so that very little material is wasted and this inevitably will cut down on the manufacturing cost.

Of course, industrial style cutters are not necessarily used for cutting out just cloth or leather. They can cut out key blanks or other such metal objects and there are some huge cutters which stamp out pieces fit to be used in heavy industry. These cutters are lethal, naturally, and this is why it is normally left to professional companies to take on this heavy work. Some people have had limbs amputated when care was not taken by those using these cutting tools.

One drawback with these cutters is that they can really only cut out flat shapes since the blades literally slice the material in one fell swoop. However, when it is materials like leather or cloth, of course the material can be molded into the correct shape with some top stitching or such once this initial work is done.

When it comes to paper, these cutters can also cut out many layers all at the same time. They are often used to put a fold in the paper too by pressing down on the shape but without it actually making a cut. This is how birthday cards and the like have such neat and crisp folds.