Specifying The Pen Conditions; The Cutter Pen's Conditions - GRAPHTEC FC 4500 Series Service Manual

10 SPECIFYING THE PEN CONDITIONS

In preparation for starting a cutting operation, this chapter provides instructions on achieving optimum cutting
conditions by specifying the cutter pen's blade type as well as the cutting FORCE, cutting SPEED, cutter
OFFSET, and cutting QUALITY settings.
The cutter pen conditions for cutting media consists of the following five elements.
(1) Extended length of the cutter blade: See the table below to adjust the extended length of the cutter
blade to suit the thickness of the medium being used. For instructions, see Section 2.4, "Adjusting
the Length of the Cutter Blade."
(2) Cutting FORCE: Specify the FORCE setting based on the reference FORCE values listed in the
table below.
(3) Cutting SPEED: Specify the SPEED setting based on the reference SPEED values listed in the table
below.
(4) Cutter OFFSET: Specify the OFFSET setting based on the reference values listed in the table below.
(5) Cutting QUALITY: Specify the QUALITY setting based on the reference values listed in the table
below.

10.1 The Cutter Pen's Conditions

Optimum Cutting Conditions by Media Type
Medium
Film for outdoor signs
Decorative film
Transparent or
semi-transparent film
Reflective film
Fluorescent film
Rubber for sandblasting
Thick paper
Compressed styrofoam
High-luminance reflective film
Blade Part Nos., Displayed Blade Types, and OFFSET Values
Blade material
Supersteel blades
Ceramic blade
Sapphire blade
Other
Plotting pen
When a blade type has been selected, the default OFFSET value can be adjusted within a ±5 range.
Select OTHER when you will use a hard-to-cut medium that requires an OFFSET setting that is not listed
under any of the blade types.
Select PEN for a plotting pen.
FC4500-UM-251-9370
Thickness (mm)
0.05 to 0.08
0.08 to 0.1
0.08 to 0.1
0.08 to 0.1
0.20 to 0.25
0.5 to 1.5
0.3 to 0.5
0.8
0.25 to 0.3
Blade's part no.
Blade type
CB09UA
CB15-10U
CB15U
CB15U-K30
CB15-10C
CB15-05S
Blade used
CB09UA
CB09UA
CB09UA
CB09UA
CB09UA, CB15U
CB15U-K30
CB15U
CB15U-K30
CB15UA
Display indication
Displayed OFFSET
09U
15-10U
15U
15U-K30
15-10C
15-05S
OTHER
PEN
149
10 SPECIFYING THE PEN CONDITIONS
FORCE SPEED
10 to 14 30 or less
14 to 17 30 or less
14 to 20 30 or less
14 to 20 30 or less
20 to 24 10 to 20
17 to 36 10 to 20
28 to 40 10 to 20
37 to 42 10 to 20
23 to 24 5 to 25
Specifiable
range
0 ±5
0 ±5
0 ±5
0 ±5
0 ±5
0 ±5
1 1 to 45
None None
QUALITY
2 to 3
2 to 3
2 to 3
2 to 3
2 to 3
1 to 3
1 to 2
1 to 2
1
Default
OFFSET
17
18
28
28
18
9
1
0