LFP - Large-Format-Printing
Cutting King-sized Projects
Monday 06. May 2013 - New technology is making cuts into the traditional.
King Displays in New York City has been meeting the imaging and fabrication needs of the New York creative community for over seventy years. Using a mix of traditional techniques and the latest in digital innovation, King Displays has created everything from window graphics to banners to dimensional signage.
The company was recently in the market for a new piece of equipment that would expand its offerings and reduce production time. Investing in new printers had always been a focus, but now it was time for something on the finishing end.
Enter the flatbed cutter/router that allows them to trim, crease, and KISS-cut a variety of rigid and flexible substrates. (Note: King Displays is using the Colex SharpCut Flatbed Cutter Vision Registration System (www.colex.com).
The built-in camera accurately reads the register marks of the graphics and templates to ensure the right cut. The flatbed cutter also features an easily interchangeable triple tool head. The entire unit is changed, rather than just the blade itself. The vacuum table has six zones with individual blowers at each zone instead of one large blower for the entire machine.
“[A flatbed cutter] was something that we were looking at for a long time,” says Wayne Sapper, owner and president, Sales, of King Displays. “We figured that it was worth the amount of money to invest in it and see how it would affect our business. And I think it’s helped a lot.”
King Displays purchased a five-by-ten unit, which came with a fixed and oscillating knife and a router spindle. The company has since bought additional tools to expand its capabilities including the KISS-cut tool, v-carve tool, and crease wheel.
(Note: The SharpCut supports all tools for cutting on a variety of substratesfrom vinyl, fabrics, and foam board to wood, Sintra, and sheet metal.)
The flatbed cutter has allowed King Displays to pursue projects ranging from specialty displays to window graphics.