Cutting down rolls of inkjet paper

Carnie Bob · Jul 30, 2024

Quick question- has anyone here cut down larger rolls to smaller - lets say 24inch down to 2- 12 inch rolls using a saw??

Lachlan Young · Jul 30, 2024

That would be a huge mess of dust and chewed up edges. You'd need a proper slitting setup (like the manufacturers and aftermarket converters use). There are some 'dry lab' papers (i.e. specific conversions of inkjet papers), but I think the widest they go is 8" rolls.

I'd start by asking why you can't cut the thing down after printing (is it extremely long?), and only if the answer is definitely negative would I start looking at roll conversion services (they supply various industries, there'll be something quite local to you I bet) or asking the paper manufacturers what the MOQ for 12" rolls are (more than you'd hope, less than you'd think - usually).

bdial · Jul 30, 2024

Not rolls, but thick-ish stacks, for covers for a gallery catalog. It came out ok, as I recall. The cover was an irregular shape, and there was no budget for getting it die cut.
Probably best done on a band saw with a fine tooth metal cutting blade. My second choice would be a miter saw with a very fine carbide tooth blade.
You’d want to use the best blade you can get your hands on, along with a good quality saw.

Don_ih · Jul 31, 2024

bdial said:
Probably best done on a band saw with a fine tooth metal cutting blade.

A band saw would be the good choice, but a metal-cutting blade might clog very quickly, since it's not made for clearing sawdust from a cut. Any choice of saw will not make a smooth edge and will likely cause the paper to rip as it unrolls, since it will likely create hitches.

If I had to do it, I'd use a tablesaw and cut in ~1/4" at a time. It'd be necessary to rig something up to roll the roll in place above the blade.

Carnie Bob · Jul 31, 2024

Lachlan Young said:
That would be a huge mess of dust and chewed up edges. You'd need a proper slitting setup (like the manufacturers and aftermarket converters use). There are some 'dry lab' papers (i.e. specific conversions of inkjet papers), but I think the widest they go is 8" rolls.

I'd start by asking why you can't cut the thing down after printing (is it extremely long?), and only if the answer is definitely negative would I start looking at roll conversion services (they supply various industries, there'll be something quite local to you I bet) or asking the paper manufacturers what the MOQ for 12" rolls are (more than you'd hope, less than you'd think - usually).

I should have pointed out I have done this with silver rolls, I am more interested in ink rolls, probably need to bite the bullet and just do it. when cutting silver there was no dust problems and I put in my lambda. Inkjet is just a subbing layer over a paper, I am not sure how high quality the paper is.

koraks · Jul 31, 2024

Carnie Bob said:
I am not sure how high quality the paper is.

Generally similar to RC silver halide paper. Paper base, PE lining on both sides. For inkjet, ank ink-receiving microporous layer on top (no gelatin), for silver halide, a subbing layer and then the gelatin stack on top. The base including PE lining can even be identical between them.

Lachlan Young · Jul 31, 2024

Carnie Bob said:
I should have pointed out I have done this with silver rolls, I am more interested in ink rolls, probably need to bite the bullet and just do it. when cutting silver there was no dust problems and I put in my lambda. Inkjet is just a subbing layer over a paper, I am not sure how high quality the paper is.

If you got away with it before, you might get away with it again. The surface of silver gelatin papers seem much more resilient to potential damage than most fine art inkjet surfaces though - and I've had several rolls over recent years from Schoeller/ Canson that hadn't been well handled at the factory. Some wide format machines will yell at you if the paper isn't within about a mm of specified width (had that happen with another major inkjet paper maker) as it measures the sheet onboard.

Cutting down rolls of inkjet paper

Carnie Bob

Lachlan Young

bdial

Don_ih

Carnie Bob

koraks

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