I'm looking for some help and tech advice from any of my family members who own a Graphtec FC4100 plotter, their success and failure stories of cutting sandblast stencil. The local county has contracted me to design, cut and apply the stencil to a concrete bridge wall as part of a road improvement and beautification project. Each wall is 23" high and 77' long. I've cut all my stencil by hand before, and ready to so again with this project unless there is a better way with my plotter. the deisng will then be blasted to a depth of 3/8".
All comments invited.
Signing off, Tony segale
Posted by Mark Sheflo (Member # 3608) on :
Never done on a 4100, but have on an older 40" (2100?). Cut pretty well...also you might want to check out this link from the Graphtec USA site.
I use Anchor resist with a 45 (I think)degree blade and it cuts well. I would cut the graphic in sections no longer than 6' long. Some times there is a tracking problem with long graphics.
Posted by Howard Keiper (Member # 1250) on :
Tony... Sorry for the late response....been out of town on a business tour. Re your 4100 and stencil cutting: Always, always, always use a sharp 30* blade. The CB15 K-30 is the right choice. If you're cutting Anchor, ose a force of 28-30 or so, if Hartco, use force 34-35. Always use tangential control. If Anchor, use an overcut (because it stretches) of .008" to .012"; if Hartco, use .012" and .012".
Speed=10 Q=1
Anchor is soft material..the pinch rollers will make silly putty out of it in no time. Use that which has the stripped edges..I think it's the 153 series that comes that way, in any event, avoid as much back and forth travel as possible. Hartco is not nearly so prone to material collapse and can usually tolerate the back and forth much better.
Be aware that adding the extra thickness, 30+ mils, to the radius of the drive roller will change the apparent scaling of the cut. You may not notice it in individual letters or graphics you cut, but you most certainly will if you attempt to put a decorative or weed border around the whole thing. The symptom is an apparent material shift in the X (long) dimension. The 3100 and 4100 can easily compensate for this...just be aware of this.
Always do a critical test cut...it'll make the difference between a so-so and an absolutely perfect cut.
Call me if you have any questions. Try to be with your machine and I'll walk you through the procedure. I'm available most anytime. Howard Keiper 707 746 7172 707 280 6360 cell
