Cut It Out! Which Die Cut Machine Requires the Least User Interface & Effect of Design Intricacy on Machine Performance

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective is to determine which die cutting machine (press, roller or electronic cutter) requires the least user interaction, resulting in most efficient use of time. I also determine how intricacy of design affects machine speed. I hypothesize that the press machine requires the least user time, because the platen plate exerts pressure evenly on the die to cut shapes. Intricate designs may take longer to cut, because they have more inches of steel rule embedded in the die than simpler designs. Methods/Materials I used 4 cutting machines: roller machine (plastic-coated roller), roller machine (steel roller), press machine, and electronic machine (with computer and eCAL software). I used 3 die designs: circle die, spiral die, and snowflake frame die. I also used necessary die tools, construction paper, and a timer. Each machine had a specific set-up and procedure, based on its mechanics. Stacks of paper were measured and cut in advance for each work station. I measured the amount of time I engaged with the machines to cut a sample size of 100 shapes per trial, excluding the amount of time the machines functioned independently. I ran three trials for each of the three die designs per machine, recording data in a chart. My experiment yielded 36 trials, with a total of 3600 shapes. Results Trial times were averaged for each design and recorded in units of minutes:seconds and hours:minutes:seconds. Circle, spiral, and snowflake frame results for the roller machine (steel roller) were: 11:41, 14:29, and 33:20. Results for the roller machine (plastic-coated roller) were: 6:36, 8:12, and 21:32. Results for the press machine were: 10:40, 10:54, and 1:21:03. Results for the electronic machine (with eCAL software) were: 11:57, 22:24, and 1:11:00. Conclusions/Discussion My product testing proved my hypothesis about the press machine to be incorrect. I found that the machine with plastic-coated roller demonstrated the least user interaction time for designs at each level of intricacy. Perhaps this is due to the mechanical advantage of the roller, distributing incremental pressure directly onto the blade of the die to cut the paper. My hypothesis about performance speed based on design intricacy was correct. The more intricate the design, the longer it took for all machines to cut the shape. Based on these results, I recommend the roller machine to users interested in cutting maximum shapes in a short period of time.

Competition history

• CSEF 2012 Product Science (Physical) (Junior Division Only) · Entry J2121

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

• All Physical Sciences projects
• CSEF Physical Sciences projects
• Every CSEF 2012 project