help figuring cutting charge

[eye4clr]

I'm developing my own estimating database/form.

Seems like I've got printing, laminating, design prep, and waste accounted for. But now I'm trying to put a number on cutting. Any suggestions?

Things going through my mind are maybe figuring differently for small stickers and larger cut jobs like big vehicle graphics. Again, suggestions?

[Barry]

This is where estimating can get difficult as not only does size come into play, but so does the complexity of the cuts and quanity. You almost have to print/cut a test image to assign it a difficulty level. The big problem is that you are often quoting the price on decals before the artwork is complete.

[John Miller]

I don't know about the rest of you, but my 545EX is not the most precise cutter I've ever used. I just printed 250 2" dia. stickers, I printed & cut the job in two batches of 125stickers. I put a .125 bleed around each one to assure a good cut because the color of the background bleeds out to the edge. When I weeded the job, there was no white showing, but the cut was .030" from the edge on some of them. In my opinion, that's not too good. I've had the tech guy from my supplier out twice to "tweek" my machine. The print/cut calabration function doesn't seem to do much when I try adjusting it myself. My point regarding your cutting formula is that some provision should plugged in to account for contour cuts that are unacceptable & mean the job must be re-outputed.

[eye4clr]

What? you mean that things go wrong!!!

Of course I'm kidding.

I'm thinking along the lines of some sort of complexity factor, size, copy equation.

Thanks for the idea Barry.

[GraphiXtreme]

I'm working on some software that I'm about ready to release for public consumption (not free though). Contact me offline if you want and I'll share my concepts.

[Nester]

I base my cut charges on area - square feet. If I cut 144 1" diameter circles this equals one square foot. If I cut one 12" square it is still one square foot. This is not the best method, but it does work if your looking for simple.

[Barry]

Originally Posted by Nester

I base my cut charges on area - square feet. If I cut 144 1" diameter circles this equals one square foot. If I cut one 12" square it is still one square foot. This is not the best method, but it does work if your looking for simple.

Problem with that is the 144 circles will take about 100x longer to cut than a 12" circle. In cases where there is a LOT of cutting it should reflect that in the price.

[Nester]

Barry,

You're right. I neglected time. If you want to really get down to the nats eyelash here's some info that might help. I hope the math is correct.

A SC540 has a maximum cut speed of 60 cm/s. Convert to inches and the SC540 has a maximum cut speed of 117 feet per minute (linear). If the circumference of a circle is 3.14 inches and there is 144 circles this equals 452 linear inches, which is 37.7 feet. Divide the speed of the printer, 117 feet per minute, by 37 feet you have 3.2 minutes to cut 144 circles. You will have approximately 28 seconds to cut a 1 foot square.

This info does not include postion time of the blade nor the up & down travel time and distance of the blade before and after the cut.

1 centimeter/second = .0328 ft/second
60 centimeter/second = 1.96 ft/second
60 seconds x 1.96 ft/second = 117.6 ft/minute.

[Barry]

Originally Posted by Nester

Barry,

You're right. I neglected time. If you want to really get down to the nats eyelash here's some info that might help. I hope the math is correct.

A SC540 has a maximum cut speed of 60 cm/s. Convert to inches and the SC540 has a maximum cut speed of 117 feet per minute (linear). If the circumference of a circle is 3.14 inches and there is 144 circles this equals 452 linear inches, which is 37.7 feet. Divide the speed of the printer, 117 feet per minute, by 37 feet you have 3.2 minutes to cut 144 circles. You will have approximately 28 seconds to cut a 1 foot square.

This info does not include postion time of the blade nor the up & down travel time and distance of the blade before and after the cut.

1 centimeter/second = .0328 ft/second
60 centimeter/second = 1.96 ft/second
60 seconds x 1.96 ft/second = 117.6 ft/minute.

The math sounds good, but it does not take into account that the cutter is not doing a full 11ips when doing a circle. The 11ips number is probably a straight line rating.

[eye4clr]

Originally Posted by Nester

Barry,
A SC540 has a maximum cut speed of 60 cm/s. Convert to inches and the SC540 has a maximum cut speed of 117 feet per minute (linear). If the circumference of a circle is 3.14 inches and there is 144 circles this equals 452 linear inches, which is 37.7 feet. Divide the speed of the printer, 117 feet per minute, by 37 feet you have 3.2 minutes to cut 144 circles. You will have approximately 28 seconds to cut a 1 foot square.

1 centimeter/second = .0328 ft/second
60 centimeter/second = 1.96 ft/second
60 seconds x 1.96 ft/second = 117.6 ft/minute.

Nice post! That's just what i was seeking. Thanks.

Slept through too much math. At least that's what i tell my mom.