Materials
Which materials can be cut with the M A Series III press and press knives?
Most flexible materials like:-
Rubber
Carpet & Textile
Pattern Books
Felt
Sponge
Foam
Plastics
Cotton
Fabrics
Gasket Materials
Polyester
Textiles
Shoe Materials
Carpet
Paper & Card
Cork
Electronics
Leather
and lots more
What thickness can be cut?
Quite a variety of thickness can be cut, but there are limitations.
(This is assuming the cutting die is in very good condition.)
Lets say for about a 200mm (8” approx) circle.
Some examples are :-
Thick Veg-tan Leather will cut fine even 8mm possibly 10mm.
Very 'boardy' (hard or old) sole leather maximum is more likely 1 to2mm thickness.
Multi layer stiff paper perhaps less than 1mm, soft cardboard 4 t0 6mm.
Most foam 12 to 14mm .
Soft multi layer vinyl-cloth combination material 8mm.
Soft fabric 8 mm possibly 10mm.
Hard stiff cotton fabric 3mm.
Warning:-
Attempting tp fotce the M A Series III to cut thick and hard material(or multi blade die with thick material), will resuly in damage to the M A Series III .
Should this occur, it is time to up-grade to a hydraulic machine, as you have forced the machine beyond it's design capablites.
As you can see the theme is all about the softness and flexibility, hard 'woody/boardy' product is somewhat limited, maybe small pieces can be cut.
While this information is for 19mm(3/4”) cutting dies, other die heights may be used, although a change of cutting board thickness is required (see spec. chart on M A Series III instruction folder).
While the head height has quite a range of adjustment height wise, operating clearance above cutting knife does not change regardless of die height or head adjustment, it is a little over 12mm (1/2”).
This last statement may be a little difficult to get your thought process around, for although you can adjust the clearance above the knife by quite a lot, the stroke is fixed so it will only cut correctly when adjusted to the correct point (about 12mm above any height die).
EMBOSSING OF LEATHER
Some embossing of harness (veg tan) leather is possible with the M A Series III clicker, generally limited to plates with about 9 sq " 60 sqr cm (approx) of open plan embossing.