|
Laser Cutting Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Web site last updated May 10, 2012
Copyright © 2006-2012 Quilter's Paradise. All rights reserved.
General
What laser cutting services do you provide?
Our services are geared to the quilting and sewing industry.
We cut fabric for quilt kits and fabric shapes,
and acrylic plastic (aka Plexiglass) for templates and rulers.
Who can benefit from your laser cutting services?
Our focus is on quilting and sewing related businesses including:
Additionally, retail customers use our laser cutting services
for custom acrylic rulers and templates.
How large of a piece of material can be cut?
The size is limited by the size of the laser bed which is 18" x 24".
Can you give me examples of laser-cut products you have made?
We have a broad product line of laser-cut
kits,
shapes (
SnappliqueTM Shapes and
ImagiCutTM Duets), and
templates and rulers
that we make.
How much does the service cost?
Each job is unique and the cost depends on your requirements.
The total cost consists of two main parts:
We provide you a free written cost estimate based on the design you submit to us that you want cut.
How long will it take to get my job done?
It depends on the size and complexity of the job
as well as what is already scheduled for laser cutting.
Small jobs can be completed typically within a week.
Large jobs, such as cutting several hundred or thousand of an item,
can take a few weeks.
When we prepare a cost estimate for you,
we will also give you an estimate of how long it will take us to complete the job.
If you require a job to be done on an expedited basis,
we will attempt to work this out with you.
Please be sure to take into account shipping times when doing your planning.
I'm not located near your business. Can I still take advantage of your laser cutting services?
Yes!
Indeed, most of our laser cutting service customers are not local.
Fabric Kits and Shapes
Why should I use a laser cutting service instead of doing the cutting myself?
Time, effort and accuracy.
These factors become increasingly apparent
as the quantity and complexity of what's being cut increases.
Lasers are extremely accurate and they never get tired!
And, there's "opportunity cost" to factor in ...
consider what you could be doing instead of the drudgery of doing the cutting yourself.
What kind of kits can you make?
The great majority of kits use 100% cotton fabric and are either pieced or appliqué
(with a fusible adhesive applied to the appliqué pieces).
We can make kits using felt or wool as well.
Our focus is on kits in which a good number of the pieces in the kit
can be cut with our lasers.
For example, a pieced kit could contain well over 100 2-1/2 inch squares, rectangles,
and half square triangles with the tips cut off.
Appliqué kits contain arbitrary shapes that are often intricate.
Who provides the fabric for the kits?
When performing a laser cutting service job that involves making kits,
the customer provides the fabric.
Once we lay out how the laser is to cut the fabric,
we inform the customer how much yardage is needed based on the desired quantity of kits.
What if I want kits made for a pattern that I didn't design myself?
We can make the kits,
but we first need to get the permission of the pattern designer.
I know what a kit is, but what do you mean by a "fabric shape"?
A "shape" is simply a shape cut out of fabric.
They are typically used for embellishing and adorning your projects.
To give you an idea of what is possible,
we have created
SnappliqueTM Shapes and
ImagiCutTM Duets.
Remember ...
anything you can draw can be cut!
What if the shapes or pieces in a kit to be cut are for appliqué and I want a fusible adhesive applied to them?
No problem!
We have literally cut many thousands of shapes and kits whose pieces have a fusible adhesive.
This is a tremendous benefit to end users
because all they have to do is peel the paper backing off the fusible adhesive,
place the piece where they want on the background fabric,
and press.
We apply the fusible adhesive to the sheet of fabric prior to the shapes being cut from that sheet by the laser.
We use Heat N' Bond Lite as the fusible adhesive
and there is no need for you to provide it as we purchase it in large quantities from the manufacturer.
What if I prefer that a different fusible adhesive be used?
This is something that we can discuss with you.
I don't like cutting. Will you laser-cut the pieces for one kit for me?
Unfortunately, no.
Kits generally have quite a few pieces of varying shapes and sizes
which, as you would expect,
require digitizing and setup time.
The costs for doing so for a single kit would have to be born by that single kit
whereas if a large quantity of kits were being made,
the per-kit costs would be much less.
This is why our laser cutting of fabric services is oriented to persons and businesses
who intend to sell the cut shapes and kits as part of their business.
Templates and Rulers
Tell me more about the acrylic plastic that you use to cut.
We use high-quality, cast acrylic plastic that is commonly referred to as "Plexiglass".
Rulers and templates use 1/8-inch thick acrylic which is the same thickness
as the rulers and templates quilters and sewers use with a rotary cutter to cut their fabric.
The most common colors we use are:
clear, transparent fluorescent green, transparent red, and transparent blue.
Click here
to see all the available colors.
For Longarm/Midarm templates,
we use high-quality, cast acrylic plastic that is clear and 1/4" thick.
If I want just one of a particular template, will you cut it for me?
This is something we can discuss.
As with kits,
the digitizing and setup costs for doing a single template would be born by that template
whereas if a large quantity of template were being made,
the per-template costs would be much less.
This is why our laser cutting services are oriented to groups, organizations and businesses.
What do I need to provide you to cut a template or ruler?
There are 4 basic things we need to know:
Ideally, what we need is a drawing that is to scale.
(Inclusion of dimensions and angles is always helpful.)
A "vectorized" electronic drawing is needed,
such as an ai, cdr, dwg, dxf, eps, pdf or svg file.
If a hardcopy drawing is being provided,
it is best to do so on graph paper;
however, our accuracy is only as good as the drawing.
If what is to be cut is a very simple shape, such as a square or circle,
you can simply provide us the shape's dimensions.
If you want such things as words, letters, numbers or lines engraved,
we need to know exactly what you want.
Additional cutting typically occurs if you want one or more holes cut into the shape.
Holes can be used for hanging the template/ruler on a pegboard or for marking purposes.
Again, a drawing is best to specify these.
As mentioned above,
the choices of acrylic color are clear, transparent fluorescent green, transparent red and transparent blue
with clear being less expensive than the colored acrylics.
If you require a different color,
please let us know and we will work with you to find the best color.
How many of the ruler/template that you want.
Have you cut acrylic for things other than templates and rulers?
Yes!
Here is a list of several projects that we have done
that will hopefully inspire you and give you an idea of the wide range of possibilities!
We have made name tags for companies and organizations, such as quilt guilds,
out of clear, acrylic plastic
with each individual's name engraved on it.
We have made charm holders out of clear, acrylic plastic for quilt runs
where each shop in the run gave away a free charm
(see picture at right).
A very popular product that we cut is
purse/bag bottoms,
cut to the customer's exact dimensions.
We have cut templates from 1/4" acrylic for use in stitching specific designs with a Longarm/Midarm machine.
Do you provide screen printing capabilities?
Not at this time.
The templates and rulers that we have produced to date
have writing and lines engraved onto them by the laser (versus being screen printed).
There are 2 main advantages to engraving versus printing:
When silk screening, the acrylic pieces are first cut and then silk screened by a separate machine.
This requires that the silk screening process be very exact
when lining up the machinery with the piece to be printed
so the markings and letters are printed precisely where they need to be.
Based on input from some of our customers,
while this works most of the time,
errors do occur.
When doing engraving,
the engraving and cutting are all done by the same machine
based on the same digital drawing so no errors occur.
Also, of note, the engraving is done on the back, or bottom, of the template/ruler
to eliminate so-called parallax errors.
When engraved this way,
the markings are physically touching the surface of the material to be cut or measured.
It doesn't matter whether you view the marking from an angle or straight down;
the marking's apparent position on the material doesn't change
thereby ensuring accuracy.
However, if the engraving is on the top of the template/ruler,
the marking is separated from the material by about 1/8".
Hence, when you view the marking from an angle versus straight down,
it's apparent position on the material changes slightly.
Silk screen markings can wear off over time;
engraved markings do not.
If you have a project that might benefit from our laser cutting services, please
contact us
for a free estimate!
Follow us:
Please report any web site comments or problems via our Contact Us page.
Suite 140
Escondido, California 92026
(760) 738-9677
(760) 738-9877 (fax)
Directions
ImagiCut Duets
Gift Certificate
Laser Cut Quilt Kits
Longarm/Midarm Accessories
Notions
Other Cool Stuff
Patterns
Snapplique Shapes
Software
Threads