DNA_Vinyl 262 Posted January 10, 2014 How small will a cutter safely cut letters? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,709 Posted January 10, 2014 Depends on which cutter. And experience/skill and patience of operator. As well as some vinyls you will be cutting. I have a Graphtec and can cut 1/4" in Avery chrome. I have posted those photos further back. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wildgoose 4,200 Posted January 10, 2014 Wow what a question. I think that is dependent on the cutter and the vinyl. My P-Cut was safe down to about 1/2" with most vinyl types. My Summa can go half that consistently but some vinyl still likes to pick letters up others do better. No matter what if you are going much below a half inch you are going to spend more time weeding than you would on regular text. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mb20music 760 Posted January 10, 2014 Also depends on the font, I could never get fonts like arial, times new roman to cut cleanly small, but had better results with some of the handwriting style fonts. But yes, it does depend on the machine, the higher end machines that use servo motors can cut smaller than the budget machines that have stepper motors. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slice&dice 2,450 Posted January 10, 2014 That's pretty much like asking, what's the MPG (miles-per-gallon) of a car? When I started my sign shop with an MH unit years ago, I tested that out. This was the result of a decal I cut for my wife's facial scrubbing device --- (using a dime for comparison of the tiny size text) --- Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jaybyrd 3,770 Posted January 10, 2014 I have been down to 1/8" with a LP2 but it ruins as many as it cuts properly. Graphtec I have cut arial at .089" which is just over a 1/16" but honestly at that size it won't stay stuck to anything anyways because of the minimal surface area. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted January 10, 2014 with the graphtec beyond the abilities of the adhesive like jay said and beyond my willingness to weed that small anymore LOL Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jaybyrd 3,770 Posted January 10, 2014 Small is where the printers win out over any cutter every time in my opinion. It's just not worth the hassle to cut and weed it like Scott said. I have done the Marines that Scott posted just to say I did it but in no way is it worth the time vs. having it printed. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mabscotthandyman 1,410 Posted January 10, 2014 why other then for saying i can cut this small. on my signs and banners i almost never need to go below 3/4 inch i can i did some signage for my sons truck and cut about 1/8 inch letters on that with my p cut but almost never have a call for small letters. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jaybyrd 3,770 Posted January 10, 2014 My small is usually in siser for clothing and hats. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted January 10, 2014 sometimes it isn't small it is about finesse, stacey did this and won a weeding contest right after we got the first graphtec and cleancut blades - 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DNA_Vinyl 262 Posted January 10, 2014 I knew it was a broad question to see what was out there. Thanks people. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wildgoose 4,200 Posted January 10, 2014 I knew it was a broad question to see what was out there. Thanks people. Ah ha. You were just bored and thought you'd kick a hornets nest didn't ya. That is definitely a topic of much speculation. The bottom line is when you really need to cut small it never goes smooth like the times you are just goofing off and get lucky. On a funny note, I did some small address labels for my nephew a few months ago (freebies) that had some 1/4" block text in three lines, overall height about 1" tall x 3" long. Not too bad to cut but the font was tough to get a clean weed and I had about 50 to weed and was getting upset when I'd loose a letter and mess one up. Well to make a long story more interesting I got pissed and grabbed a corner and just ripped one apart in my angst and I'll be danged if it didn't weed just perfect! So I just started doing the quick pull method and 80% of them weeded fine. I managed to salvage about half of the others by pulling a letter here or there and it worked out surprisingly well. He has since found someone in his local area to print some clear stickers to use so i don't have to bother with it anymore which makes a nice ending. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
