Header image Dieless Cutting
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Information to help you in your decision making:

What is dieless cutting?
Dieless cutting is the cutting of materials without the use of a tool to stamp it out. Most commonly these cutting machines use water or a knife to make a continuous cut around the profile of the object.

Why go dieless?

Any of the following conditions make dieless cutting the logical solution compared to traditional die cutting or cutting by hand:

  • Eliminate cutting dies and related problems & costs
  • Increase production flexibility
  • Reduce time to market-design a component and produce it in seconds
  • Rapid prototyping, samples & pre-production runs
  • Short, medium runs & 1 off production is viable
  • Material savings and reduced scrap rate
  • Materials are very thick (eliminate 'hourglass' effect)
  • Shapes are either simple or to complex for die cutting
  • No cutting by hand or with templates
  • CAD/CAM System used to design patterns

Types of dieless machines: Knife cutting and Waterjet

Knife Cutting SystemsAdvantages

  • Economically priced
  • Ideal for cutting leather, textiles, industrial fabrics, composites, paper & corrugated, gaskets (non-asbestos & tang), foams etc..
  • Eliminate delamination & drying of finished product
  • Capable of multiple 'depth' cutting, kisscutting, creasing, milling-routing, & plotting.
  • Consmables & daily operating costs considerably less
  • Modular tables available up to 18' in length
  • Conveyorized systems for continuous feeding of rolls or sheets
ATOM Flatbed Knife Cutting Tables: Flatbed knife cutting tables are the ideal dieless solution for oversized (materials up to 6.1M x 2.6M), difficult to cut, synthetic materials.  The machine is accessible from all four sides & dual cutting heads can be mounted for increased productivity.  Standard models like the 15155 (1,550mm x 1,550mm) & 30155 (3,050mm x 1,550mm) are the perfect solution for gasket sheet production.
 
ATOM Inclined Knife Cutting Tables:  Inclined cutting surfaces are the ideal dieless solution for cutting small leather hides & sheeted material under 1 M in depth.  The model 1610 (1,600mm x 1,000mm) is the logical choice where space constraint is an issue or for prototyping & small production runs.  The inclined surface improves visibitlity and accessability for the operator.
 
ATOM Conveyorized Knife Cutting Systems: Conveyorized cutting systems allow for a continuous cutting operation which maximizes production & throughput of cut parts.  The product (in roll or sheet form) is automatically fed into the cutting zone and once the components are cut, the conveyor feeds the finished product to the take-off table so the operator can remove the parts while the next cutting process continues.   Conveyorized systems are ideal for fabrics, technical textiles, composites, printed materials, thin foams and similar products.
 
ATOM Cutting & Milling Systems:  The combination of cutting & milling in one system allows companies to cut & mill foams for manufacturing packaging, tool case inserts & sound proof components.  The system can also be used as a stand alone mill for milling carbon fibers, dense rubber, hard plastic materials, wood, alloys and similar products.


Waterjet Cutting Systems Advantages

  • Faster cutting speeds
  • Ideal for thicker (4"+) and harder materials
  • Multiple cutting heads available
  • No thermal or mechanical distortion
  • Produces no dust, pollutants or toxic fumes
  • Features a very narrow cutting width (ideal for complex geomtry)

ATOM Waterjet Cutting Systems: Waterjet cutting systems pressurize water to over 60,000 pounds per square inch and force it through a microscopic orifice.  This extremely fine jet of water can cut accurately to within .001", making it ideal for a wide range of synthetic materials.  They completely eliminate recast layers, work hardening, thermal stress, heat affected zones and toxic fumes.  ATOM waterjet cutting systems are a flexible and effective cutting solution for a variety of industrial applications.

Options for Dieless Cutting Systems

Intelliview Lay-Planning Station: Intelliview is ATOM's solution for digitizing materials, automatic contour recognition and quality area marking.   These operations are necessary in the production of materials with irregular contours & geometry, or materials having defects and quality areas.  Precision, reliability, ease of use & integration with an automatic dieless cutting system turn the Intelliview into a perfect complement to a full featured automatic cutting system.
 
Intelli-Scanner: Intelliscanner allows for the automatic digitization of paper patterns or cut parts without the use of the traditional mouse or drawing board.  It automatically corrects optical distortions to export data in ATOM format ready to be cut or in .dxf format to be imported into a CAD system.
 
Overhead Digital Projection: Overhead digital projection allows the operator to identify parts and manage the nesting on the cutting system.  This option is ideal for the gasket industry as now scraps & remnanats can be cut with ease virtually eliminating material waste and excess storage.
 
Cut E Cad 2D Design Software: CuteCAD is an innovative software, designed to speed up the prototyping process and shorten the time-to-market of your products.  Three reasons why you should be using CuteCAD; 1) Parametric design of commonly used shapes, 2) Fast prototyping support & 3) Compatibility with DXF format.
 
Custom Nesting Software Packages: Nesting software is the key element to any dieless solution.  It actually completes the cutting system optimizing material yield & reducing the time for shapes to be processed.  ATOM has developed a series of software packages for a variety of market sectors or can develop a specific package to suit your specific requirements.
 
Interchangeable Tool Heads: ATOM has designed and developed a wide range of interchangeable tool head combinations for their knife cutting tables & systems.  This versatility allows companies to cut, kiss-cut, punch, mill, crease, engrave & plot a wide variety of materials on one cutting system. 
 
Material Handling: Standard and custom material handling solutions to increase your productivity.  Simple A-Frame roll racks, powered unwind units, web alignment devices  & automated sheet loading systems available.