Cutting Machine
Rotary cutting machine (round knife or circular cutting machine)
An electrically powered cutting machine with a circular blade.
It is:
fast
easy to handle.
Rotary cutting machine parts
Power plug - This is the part that plugs into the power outlet to give power to the machine.
Handle - This is used to pick up the cutting machine along with the control handle.
Guard - This sits in front of the blade and protects you from touching the blade.
Blade - This cuts the fabric.
Base plate - Sits under the first ply of fabric and the other fabric plies slip over it as the cutting
machine is moved.
Control handle - This is gripped to allow you to steer the cutting machine.
Power switch - Where you turn the machine on or off.
Motor - This rotates the blade at high speed once it is connected to a power source and turned on.
Grease inlet - The point at which grease or oil is inserted to lubricate the part.
Locking disc - Mechanism to hold the blade in place.
Emery wheel - Blade sharpener made of fine minerals.
Sharpener u bracket - A bracket that holds the emery wheel.
Push rod - This pushes the emery wheel onto the blade.
Sharpener push rod button - This should be pushed to engage the emery wheel onto the blade to
sharpen it.
Best suited for cutting:
straight lines
gentle curves
lays which are thinner than one quarter of the diameter of the blade. Heights of
lays may vary, depending on the size of cutting machine being used.
Cutting notches and corners are difficult! This is because the blade is circular and meets the top and
bottom plies at a different point on the lay. Therefore the top ply will be notched and the bottom plies will be
missed.
Drill
Used to make holes to mark the position of:
pockets
darts
pleats.
The holes made by the drill are very important. They help the machinist to quickly and
accurately sew the garment together by lining up the holes on different pieces of the garment.
The holes must not be visible from the outside of the garment when completed.
Drills can mark the position on fabric in different ways, such as:
injecting a fluorescent dye through all the plies
inserting a thread
piercing all the plies.
All drills need to be at 90º to the cutting table so the mark is in the same place on all the plies.
Straight knife cutting machine
A commonly used electric hand-held cutting machine which cuts fabric using an up and
down motion. This is used for cutting lays of greater height (between 10-35cm) and
patterns with sharp curves or inward corners.
It consists of:
a base plate - usually on rollers for ease of movement
an upright stand housing a straight vertical blade with an electric motor above it
a control handle
a sharpening device
various edges for the blade, depending on the type of fabric.
The cutting quality of the straight knife depends on the:
Motor size and speed:
o larger motors are more powerful but heavier
o high speed cutting machines cut faster but are harder for the cutter to control and turn
o heat is generated from the speed of the blade and high speeds create more heat, which could
affect synthetic or plastic fibres.
The height of the handle - it is awkward if it is too far above the lay.
The stroke - how high the blade moves up and down. Faster machines have longer strokes but shorter
strokes cut more smoothly.
The sharpness of the blade.
How easily the base plate moves.
The straight knife cutting machine is the workhorse of larger production cutting rooms. It is versatile and easy
to use and maintain. There are several sizes and type of blades that can be used, depending on what fabric
and quantity is being cut.
A straight knife cutting machine is used for :
Both woven and knit fabrics
Large sample orders and bulk production
Various garments including dresses, ladies' tops, skirts, shirts, pants etc.
Rotary cutting machines are cheaper and easy to use so most small companies would use them for all their
cutting. Larger companies with bigger production orders would use a straight knife. The same garment can be
cut out with either a round or straight knife.
Band knife cutting machine
A band knife cutting machine is different from a rotary or straight knife cutting
machine as it has a knife blade set up permanently on a cutting table. You don't
move the cutting machine around the fabric; instead you move the fabric past the
blade.
It is:
useful for cutting tight curves and cuts with more accuracy than a straight
knife
used mainly to cut large garments such as jackets or overcoats
more commonly used for menswear, than for womenswear.
The knife is powered by an electric motor and has three or more pulleys with a continuously rotating steel
blade mounted on them. Only one edge of the blade is sharp.
Die cutting machine
To die cut you pass a rigid blade through the lay of the fabric. It is a bit like a very
sharp cookie cutter!
The blade is in the shape of a pattern piece, such as a collar or pocket and it includes
the notches. There are supporting tie bars to stabilise the blade.
Most die cutting machines generally have a cutting arm supported by a single pillar at
the back of the machine. This swings to the side to allow the die to be placed on top of
the fabric.
The standard of cutting is very high, but the cost of setting up the dies is expensive. It
is more economical to use dies where there are large quantities of the same pattern piece to be cut. We find
that at Orchid, using a die cutting machine is impractical because of the variation in the garments produced.
For larger commercial workshops, die cutting machines are used for:
small parts of larger garments such as collars, cuffs and trouser pocketing
parts of smaller garments such as bras.
A cloth marker may be placed on top of the lay to guide the placement of the dies. Alternatively no marker is
used and the operator places several layers of fabric under the dies, being careful that the grain line of the
fabric is straight. The dies then punch the shape through all layers at once (a bit like a cookie cutter).
