Nessan Cleary finds out why this cutter, though it’s been around a while, is just being introduced to the UK wide-format market.
Next to a printer, one of the most important pieces of equipment is a cutting table and there's an ever growing choice. This month we've been looking at the Mastercut 2200 from Blackman and White, which has been around for a while but is only just being launched into the wide-format sector.
Blackman and White itself has been around for over 45 years, mainly targeting industrial users from a range of different sectors from the garment industry to industrial roofing companies and specialising in cutting tables. It’s a family owned business with all the cutting tables designed and built in the UK. There are several cutting tables in the portfolio but Lewis Melia, head of business development and sales for Blackman and White, says that the Mastercut is the most suitable for the wide-format sector.
The thing that really sets this cutting table apart from the others available to wide-format users is that it comes with a laser. Melia says that it’s really aimed at the textile market, adding: “Digital textiles and fabrics is the big growth area. If you laser cut you don’t have to do any finishing to the edges.” He explains that the main advantage of the laser is that it seals the edges of the fabrics, which would otherwise fray with a more conventional cutting tool. The standard laser supplied is a 200 watt unit.
However, Melia notes that most people also want to be able to cut more traditional materials and so the Mastercut also comes with a conventional tool holder, which includes a number of utensils. There’s a high speed oscillating tool for materials such as foamcore and Coroplast, as well as a heavy duty oscillating head for media like Re-board, and some of the thicker cardboard products. There’s also a router option for more solid substrates such as acrylics and so on. There’s also a plotter penholder and it’s possible to fit an inkjet head and a label printer. As with most tables, the Mastercut can do V cuts, as well as scoring and creasing and of course, cutting.
You can load the laser and two active tools plus the router at any one time. The cutting tools are fitted to a gantry, which moves the length of the table on a rack and pinion drive. The laser sits on one side and a conventional tool holder on the other. The cutting works in conjunction with a registration vision system. Customers can choose from a number of systems, with the most common being Esko’s iCut, but there are other options including OptiScout.
Melia says that the system is extremely accurate which keeps wastage down to a minimum. It’s built on a box steel frame welded together for torsional strength. The bed itself uses a vacuum to hold the media in place. There are several different sizes available right up to 5m wide x 10m long, but with the most popular in Europe being 3.2 x 5m.
The cost depends on the size of the table of course and how the system is configured, including the tools and the power of the laser (there’s also a version available without the laser). But including the laser it starts at around £95,000 and can go up to £175,000. This includes the table, the cutting tools and the Rip software, but not the camera registration system, or the installation. However, there’s no annual maintenance charge and Lewis says the machines generally keep going for many years with minimal servicing.
It’s also worth having a look at the other cutting tables made by this company, which are not as robust as the Mastercut but may be suitable for some wide-format sign shops depending on the substrates being cut.