Cutting adhesive back foam
We cut a lot of foam that has adhesive backing, which naturally gums up the knife and causes us to shut down numerous times to clean all the adhesive off the knife and components. Has anyone experimented with the settings of the Paragon to reduce the amount of build up on knife ? I am wondering if like in "fusing " of material, does the heat of the blade contribute to the problem?
Comments
Similarly are the challenges when cutting fusible materials, if the material has a low melting point, the heat generated from the reciprocating blade will fuse multiple plies together when the blade contacts the fusible fibers for too long.
For those reasons these applications typically do require additional attention to the knife and sharpener/presser-foot assembly/cutting parameters then when cutting a more natural type material.
That said, There are a few ways in which fusing and adhesive transfer can be controlled:
- Can the Max Knife RPM be reduced while cutting?
- Can the cut speed be increased?
Reducing the RPM will reduce friction, try reducing the Min/Max knife RPM in smaller (50-100 rpm) increments. If possible increase the cut speed (forward velocity) so the hot blade will not be in contact with the fibers for as long. After making adjustment also observe/determine if the material is pushing or the knife motor is laboring, if all is OK, let it cut a few pieces (2-3 yards) and observe if build up or fusing is improved.- Make further adjustments to RPM and cut speed if there is still fusing present and the material is not pushing or the knife motor is not laboring.
Other affecting factors: