Vinyl cutters

Vinyl cutters

Fabrication Processes

Published in Manas Chanda, Plastics Technology Handbook, 2017

Very large vinyl banners may be produced using large-format inkjet printers of >2.5 m width, or computer-controlled airbrush devices that print the ink directly onto the banner material. Readily available banner templates may be used or a color graphics file can be created with standard tools for high-resolution digital printing. Banners are also produced by applying individual elements cut from self-adhesive vinyl by a computer-driven vinyl cutter. A vinyl cutter (or vinyl plotter) is a computer-controlled plotting device with a blade instead of a pen. When a vector-based design created in a software program is sent to the vinyl cutter, the latter cuts along the vector paths laid out in the design from vinyl sheet or other material. The design may then be removed from the sheet and used for scrapbooking, card making, sign making, sewing, or many other crafts. Thus, computer-designed vector files with patterns and letters can be directly cut on a roll of vinyl that has been mounted and fed into the vinyl cutter. Large-format vinyl cutters are available for those using the machine to make large signs or other large-format designs. These machines tend to cut vinyl only.

Do makerspaces represent scalable production models of community-based redistributed manufacturing?

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Journal Information

Published in Production Planning & Control, 2019

Patrick A. Hennelly, Jagjit Singh Srai, Gary Graham, Royston Meriton, Mukesh Kumar

The FIX facility is equipped with a soldering station, 3DP, vinyl cutter with dedicated computer, mechanical tools, woodworking tools, drill press 4′×8′ CNC router (for wood and plastic) with dedicated computer, power tools such as saw, drills, angle grinder and belt grinder.

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Fabrication Processes

Do makerspaces represent scalable production models of community-based redistributed manufacturing?